Z phono or PP 2

I have no familiarity with the NAD unit, but I own a Zphono. The Parasound is well built, handles both MM and MC cartridges, and sounds fine. I have seen used units for sale here at around $100, which is a stone cold bargain, IMHO.

I had the NAD PP2 paired with a rebuilt Philips GA312 TT with a Grado Blue cart and the music I played from it sounded kind of sterile and bland to me. Later I tried a Cambridge Audio 640P in place of the NAD PP2 and was a lot happier. You can find the 640P for under $200 easily new.

Thanks guys. I just wanted to add that my funds have gone up for this project. I forgot I had a refund from my FSA coming my way in the next couple of days. I can go to $600 new or used. As always, i'm looking for sonics and high value.

Jolida JD-9A. List price $450. Nice big power supply (unlike the wall warts of all the lower cost phono preamps) and tubed buffer stage. Highly configurable for gain, output, capacitance and resistance. Also easy to modify to improve the sound further by upgrading the power cord and putting in better tubes, op amps, and/or capacitors.

I upgraded from a Cambridge 640P about a year ago. I swapped in better tubes, power cord, and Vibrapod isolators. I'm ver happy with the sound--smooth, detailed, linear, no hint of midrange glare, better dynamics.

I agree with Johnny. The Jolida JD-9A is a best buy in this price range. In my system, and IMO, it was significantly better than a Parasound Zphono, Musical Fidelity X-LPS, Bellari VP129, and Cambridge Audio 640P. It was much quieter, had better midrange bloom, and presented a more three dimensional soundstage.

But all this begs the question... what cartridge are you planning to use? Is it high or low output?

01-20-12: Mingles
I agree with Johnny. The Jolida JD-9A is a best buy in this price range....

But all this begs the question... what cartridge are you planning to use? Is it high or low output?

All the more reason to recommend the JD-9A. It has low, medium, and high gain settings plus separate standard and higher gain outputs. It also has DIP switches to match capacitance to just about any MM cart you'd have and resistance settings for just about any MC cart. I have little doubt that the big improvement in sound I got with the JD-9A is a combination of its serious power supply and its ability to match just about any cartridge you plug in.

One thing very cool about this phono stage (at this price) is that you can even optimize it for a high output moving coil cart, which is often too low in output for the MM input and too high for the MC input on <$200 wall wart phono stages.

For $600, I'm pretty sure you can find a Dynavector P75 here on the 'Gon. Probably less. I haven't looked for them in a while, and their aren't any currently listed. If you can get the mkII version, even better.

For the money, nothing is more flexible and sounds better IMO. Had I not had a great phono stage in my Bryston B60, I'd very happily buy one. Another great one is the Simaudio LP3. Pretty sure they go for much less than $600 here as well. The Dynavector is better, but it's also more expensive.

Hopefully you've got a good table and cart. The phono stage can only amplify what it's fed. The phono stage is crucial IMO, but it's not going to fix a bad signal.

Thanks guys. I'm new at this analog thing so bear with me. I found a used turntable in the local craigslist. The TT is nothing to rave about but it was in pristine condition. The table in question is a Yamaha YP 211. Now, I've done some research and they are not highly regarded but I didn't want to spend too much. I've been reading now for a couple of week and decided to get a decent phono stage because I feel that eventually I will upgrade the TT down the road. I hope that by getting a decent phono now that the TT is the only thing I need to upgrade down the road when I learn how to calibrate and do all the other analog stuff.

Update: I just pull the trigger on a Jasmine LP2.0 mk II.