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Which phono preamps among these three?

1. Manley Chinook Tube phono stage
2. Whest PS.30R
3. Aesthetix Rhea

I picked these three because they are currently available for sale in audiogon, and all three have very good reviews. All three are a bit over my budget at the moment, but I expect to get enough fund in the short future.

I mostly listen to Jazz (50s-60s) and classicals, occasionally pops and rocks. Rhea is more expensive than the other two, but Rhea supports three inputs while the other supports only one input, switchable to MM or MC. The other two cost about the same as used Rhea.

If you are to pick one, which one? For what reason? Is one definitely better than the others? Or, they are pretty much in the same league with different characteristics?
ihcho

Showing 2 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,111 posts
 
Any particular reason why you are limiting yourself to the units mentioned?
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,111 posts
 
I was always asking this question why Atmasphere doesn't have any stand alone phono preamp??!! I like very much so their products and Mp-1 is in my list for next line stage!

It looks like we will finally be producing a phono stage for one of our larger distributors.

I've always held the opinion that building the phono section into the preamp with the line stage allows for better performance, on account of the fact that all the connections at the output of the phono section are hard-wired. Both our MP-1 and MP-3 were initially built as stand-alone phono reproducers with built-in volume control and input switching.
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