Anyway you slice it... (whether it be pure tubed, SUT/tube, FET/tube, and yes even with some solid state devices, etc... ) I truly believe that we should try and remember that we, as vinyl lovers, should all feel thankful and blessed that we have so many great and talented designers who are able to provide us with a plethora of fantastic options that are available to us at so many different price points that it allows us all to have the opportunity to be able to enjoy the great sonics that vinyl can provide :)
I do not understand how anyone would be able to categorically deny the worthiness of a component that they may have never even heard in their own system, simply because of a certain capacitor, wire, passive/active device, etc... that is being employed. I’ve always believed that the worthiness of a component is a combination of the entire circuit design and the sum of all the parts working together seamlessly vs just one sole aspect of the component in question... not to mention the importance of system synergy.
We are all individuals, with our own set of ears, with our own unique way of hearing sounds. We all have our own set of listening preferences and sonic priorities. What is important to one, may not be to another. But, what we all "mostly" have in common is the love of music and being able to reproduce that in our homes :)
I know that it is the opinion of many, that in order to have a high gain phono amp that it must have to be a Solid State or FET design or else there will be just too much noise. For those people I would suggest the Wavestream Kinetics Deluxe Phono Amp. I have admired Scott Frankland’s audio design work (phono, preamps, amplifiers) for decades but was never in a financial position to afford them. However, over the last couple of years, I have suffered 5 unexplained strokes and have recently been diagnosed with two cancerous tumors. I have come to realize that we may not get any mulligan’s in this game of life.
So, on Feb 17, I placed a deposit with Scott for his most recent Wavestream Kinetic Level 5.1 Reference phono amp. His phono amp has always been on my "bucket list". It is an all tube design currently using (2 x 12AX7, 4 x 6DJ8); with extremely low noise ( I believe with the external power supply, noise is below 1uV (one-millionth of a volt ); providing 3 front panel selectable inputs = two MC at 62 dB of gain (without the use of SUT’s or FETS) with a useful cartridge range of 0.2mV to 1.2mV and one MM output at 42dB (you are able to choose your MM gain or you can have 3 MC ); having both balanced and RCA inputs and outputs; adjustable loading available on the back panel via custom loading plugs; and an essentially flat RIAA EQ curve within one tenth of a dB (.1dB) from 3 Hz to 40 Khz. *** The above specs are from the best of my recollection - if you have interest, please consult with Scott Frankland to confirm. He is wonderful to communicate with. ***
It is very dynamic, both in the micro and macro sense, throughout the entire frequency range. It produces rich harmonics that are exhilarating when listening to violin/cello/acoustic bass, both reed and brass instruments, vocals, etc... all without sounding syrupy. It is extremely quite, plenty of gain and very pure sounding... due to not having to use any FET or Solid State devices, no need to use Step Up Transformers and their extra set of interconnects and connections or having to fight with hum issues.
It is a very well thought out design, by an extremely talented designer and a true gentleman who is absolutely fantastic to deal with, Mr Scott Frankland. I feel very blessed to be able to have this piece in my system. At $9K new, I feel it is an absolute steel. Once in a very great while, you might see one come up for sale on the used market, but not very often. I consider this to be a true testament to the greatness of this phono amp as people who own it, hang on to it. It is not a "flavor of the month" type piece, but rather something that you cherish and would like to pass on to your children.
In any case, just another excellent option to be considered :)
As for SUT's are concerned.... Not all SUT's are created equal. There are some great ones, and others that are not so great. I have a vintage Hirata Tango that has an exceptionally wide bandwidth with no ringing. When used with some phono stages ( that are not up to the same refined standard of my Wavestream ) the Tango can absolutely improve the sound of those phono stages. However, as nice as some SUT's can be, it is imperative that you match the SUT to your cartridge and phono stage. You can't just simply use multiple different cartridges with a single SUT. Just too many variables with gain, output, impedances, etc. You also have to contend with additional interconnects, possible hum issues, etc.
Wishing you all the very best of health, love and happiness!
Don
