Help trying to return to vinyl


After many years in the digital realm, I came across a Michell Gyro TT I couldn't pass up (always did love vinyl) but I'm finding it more difficult than I anticipated to "re-tool" my system to accomodate this beauty (beast?).

I'm looking to set up a "vinyl only" system along side my digital so I was looking for a phono stage (preferably with MC gain or I will add a step up) and a line state to go direct into my amp. I don't need a preamp with CD, tuner etc. - just a HIGH QUALITY volume control and some gain. Is there such a thing as this? The closest I have seen is the EAR 834P with volume control but I'd like a little better quality than this. Of course there are plenty of separate phono stages out there one can put in front of a preamp but why should I buy a preamp with all the connections etc for CD, tuner, aux1 etc. when I'm not going to use that?
any ideas?
rmueller01
The best phono stage with volume controls I know of is the Aesthetix IO w/volume control. It is expensive, but very good. And it has all the gain you'll ever need for going direct to the amp with just about any cartridge.
You might take a look at a transformer based passive volume control. A simple one can be put together quite inexpensively. Look at bentaudio.com for more info. Then you have the whole universe of phono stages to choose from without the constraint of needing one with volume control, which are uncommon.
I am recently going through the same transformation from pure digital, home theatre set up, to vinyl with tube phono and preamp. I use same power amp and speakers. There is no reason why you cannot find a preamp that can house all your digital and analog gear together. Usually, a full functional preamp is alway sonically more superior. A used ARC Ref1 or Ref2 plus a phone amp will be perfect for this purpose.

My experience is that you will end up buying more than what you intially plan to spend. You really need to think about your need and listening habit to make the right choice to start.