PrimaLuna Phono ??

I had the board installed and was very disappointed. Dumped the PrimaLuna. Purchased an external phono pre and was pleased, EAR 834.

I had one in my PL2, it was fine. There was not too much difference btw it and the Parasound Zphono, the Zphono seemed to have more gain, maybe a tad more quiet. I got the Zphono with a TT so i sold the Primaluna plus the Zphono can be used with both mm and mc carts.

I did trade up to a Pro-ject Tube Box SE and got even better sound but i dont know if a got 4x the price better sound.

I believe that phono board is made in Holland with very high quality parts. The one in my Dialogue Two performs incredibly well and is extremely musical/detailed/dynamic, etc. I know Kevin Deal offers it as a "convenience," and says he loses money on the deal.

I highly doubt that the Ear 834 sounds much better if better at all (save for some weird system synergy thing with a particular turntable/cartridge system, or perhaps, a different amplifier). When I say this I'm speaking about a fair contest... both phono's feeding the PrimaLuna with the same turntable and cartridge as the source -- and the cartridge has to work well from and electrical standpoint with either phono stage. And of course, volume levels matched.

Honestly, the first time I heard the PrimaLuna phono set up with a very modest turntable and MM cartridge, I was floored.