In alphabetical order:
Allnic H1201
Herron VTPH2
used Klyne 7PX(3/4/5).
Allnic H1201
Herron VTPH2
used Klyne 7PX(3/4/5).
Do they make a quiet great sounding phono pre amp??
Hi, I have purchased and listened to 3 phono preamps which are: A musical surroundings phonomena, musical surroundings Nova II, and a Manley labs Chinook. The Manely labs Chinook is by far bettter sounding then the first two (double the cost too). But, All three have given me nothing but trouble (noise,noise,noise even terrible clipped signals!), and 2 of them basically failed on me. So before I go DIGITAL, can someone please tell me who makes a phono preamp in the $2,000-$3,000 range (tube or solid state) that I can rely on, and sounds as good or better than the Chinook?? Thanks.
Matt M
Matt M
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- 94 posts total
http://www.libertyaudio.com/products/b2b-1-all-fet-phono-preamp Google for plenty of reviews too. From it maker Peter |
If you want silent backgrounds like that of digital go solid state. Tubes have an allure, but at a cost. Many reviews are done by tube aficionados that blithely over look reduced (poor) bass and tube noise. Many of them are also in the late stages of middle age or can honestly be called old. Hearing does diminish over the years. The Manley Chinook is just one such example. I have read rave reviews about this tubed wonder. When I heard it, I heard tubes. The ParaSound JC3+ is a better unit without tube hiss and tube cost. It will cost hundreds of dollars to retube a Chinook every few years. Especially if you go with exotic tubes. This is not an anti-tube rant. I have heard excellent examples of tubed gear. None of it was cheap. It costs more to do it with tubes than with solid state, especially with a phono stage. If the original poster wants a decent phono stage that is very quiet below a 2500$ price point, solid state is probably the way to go. |
I’ll fourth the Herron VTPH-2. I can’t imagine that you’d be disappointed in it, Matt, although at a list price of $3650 buying it new would exceed your stated budget somewhat. I’m pretty sure that the lower of the two gain configurations it is offered in (64 db) would be fine for your 0.3 mv cartridge, but you would want to confirm that via a call to Keith Herron (who is completely wonderful to deal with, btw). Most people purchase it in that configuration, rather than the 69 db configuration that is offered for use with cartridges having extremely low output. Also, spec-wise it would be a fine match for your Jumbo Shrimp preamp. Regarding noise, it has a FET-based (solid state) input stage, with the rest of its signal path in the 64 db configuration using two 12AX7 and three 12AT7 tubes (some of those tubes also serving the signal path for the separate moving magnet input). I have the originally supplied tubes in mine, and it is absolutely quiet even when heard via my Stax electrostatic headphones with the volume control at max, which is far higher than the control would ever be set with my 0.5 mv cartridge. Good luck. Regards, -- Al |
- 94 posts total