For 2k the Gold Note PH-10 is an amazing, very flexible phono pre. Should work with almost any cartridge MM or MC because of its flexibility. Do a search you will find over a dozen reviews online. Sound wise I love it!
Is a separate phono pre really necessary?
I have an upgraded Rega P3 that is now essentially a P6 (groove tracer subplatter and counter weight, Rega Neo ps) that has a Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC star mounted on it. It is then connected to a Park Audio Budgie Ten SUT and then to a Rogue Audio RP-5 preamp.
This question is about the phono stage in the RP-5. Would upgrading to a separate phone preamp of around $1,000 to $2,000 be a worthwhile upgrade from the internal phone preamp in the RP-5? And if so which phone pre do you guys recommend (notwithstanding all the caveats about subjectivity). I'm thinking of the soundsmith mcp-2, PS audio stellar phono, parasound jc3 jr., maybe a Manley Chinook if I can find a good deal.
The wrinkle is the loading requirements for the zephyr mimic star: >= 470 ohms. This makes a lot of phone preamps really not suitable for this cartridge (hence premaps with adjustable loading via a pot) because of the static loading options are mostly well below 470 ohms on most phono preamps
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While the phonostage in my Luxman L-509x is no slouch and is actually very good, my recently aquired Sutherland Insight LPS MM/MC phonostage preamplifier is a definite upgrade in terms of bass response, clarity, detail retrieval, etc. Might be a touch drier than the Luxman but the Sutherland's dynamics are impressive and sometimes startling. |
The Phonostage is critical to the performance of a turntable. I recommend a tubed Phonostage. But also would wait until you can afford more than $2K maybe $3K. Then go for a used Phonostage… I recommend looking at Audio Reseach, Conrad Johnson, or VAC… these are amazingly great sounding and will last forever. Presto is a newer contender. I went through increasingly expensive phonostages until moving into the $5K new range. There is a very significant benefit to getting into the $5-10K range and used you can do that for maybe half. Can’t just be any phono stage in this price range it needs to be carefully chosen for its sound. |
@rodman99999 Sadly Rega's have built-in interconnects and I'm not sure I can find out the impedance. However, I'll certainly keep that in mind (it slipped my mind). @rsf507 Thanks for the suggestion of the Gold Note PH-10. @ghdprentice I'm also leaning that way as well. I would dearly love an Audio Research pre but size limitations prevent me from those brands.
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