Phono preamp comparison: Herron vs. K&K


For those of you who listened to them side by side: how do you compare the sound of the Herron VTPH-1MC to the K&K Maxxed-out Standard and to the K&K Maxxed-out Premium ?

The sound of a phono preamp is very dependant, among other things, on the cartridge used, but anyway I am supposing you listened to them in good to very good situations. I use a Shelter 501 MKII.

By the way, they are both hard to find in the used market, but I have seen some Herrons, and not a single Maxxed. Can we conclude anything of that ?
tabaregg
One thing I point out to everyone who tries the K&K: give it time to break in. The change up to around 200 hours of actual signal time is monumental. Things continue to get better up to about 4-500 hours. There's a lot of transformer wire in the K&K that needs exercising. That said, I am constantly delighted by my K&K and have owned it for around three years. The last round of upgrades has really made the unit quite special.
The prices (from the K&K site) of the Standard and Premium KITS are 1.3 and 2.4 K$, so it is quite important.

Can any of you tell what sonic differences to expect, what different results you'll have from those to options ?

Of course, it is a great thing to know that later you can take the upgrade path with a fair price.

Regards. T.
Doesn't the cost of the maxed out K&K get very close to the cost of the Herron VTPH-2.
The K&K Maxxed-Out standard is like $1500 built and the premium like $2700 built, a few hundred less for each in kit form. I think the VTPH-2 is $3500?