Audio Research PH6 Phono Stage - How is it?
My current system is Primaluna Dialogue HP Integrated Amp, VPI Prime turntable, Ortofon Quintet Black MC cartridge, Sonus Faber Olympica III speakers. Much appreciation!
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I spoke with Kevin Deal about my phono stage in the PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium and he told me the Manley Chinook at under $5K is by far the best phono preamp available. I know Kevin sells them but he has always been a straight shooter so I do trust his opinion. For what your willing to pay, a Chinook could save you $1500. |
djfst I think you should listen to a few phono stages before you buy. That what I did. And I ended up with an Allnic H3000 and a Modwright PH150. I must say there is a big price difference. But the Modwright stand up against anything at these prices. You should take a listen to both if you have the chance. I did listen to the Audio Research and the BAT, they are good performers but I think the PH150 is more to my taste. I have the allnic as a backup. Enter your text ... |
Listening to a lot of phono stages was not an option - no audio stores near me unfortunately. Decided to try the Zesto Andros 1.2 as I got an open box unit at a great price. The dealer also gave me the option of returning it if it wasn't to my liking. Needless to say, it is super quiet and has excellent musicality. The gain was substantially for my low output MC cartridge and has a very organic natural warm sound. Overall a great buy and has a lot of flexibility with loading settings and tube rolling. I don't know how others would sound but can't complain with the Zesto. |
djfst Congrats on the purchase, sounds like you made a good choice. As expected I see a lot of good useful feedback here but also highlighting how much system synergy and personal taste comes into play. I recently purchased a PH6 to pair with my LS-17SE preamp so thought I'd stick in a quick comment and question. I'm currently running a VPI scout that originally had an Ortofon 2M Blue mounted but when I upgraded to the PH6 the overall combo of 5.5mV gain from MM cart, ARC gear and the diamond tweeter in my Usher's was a bit too forward even for me. I talked to some people at ARC and they suggested the first place to go was higher-quality but lower output cart. I wanted to stay with Ortofon but was also concerned about the 0.5mV the Quintet's put out so just bought the Blue model again for comparison. The change was night and day, best sound I've had to date. No issues with too little gain or having to crank the preamp volume way up so I wouldn't let that prevent anyone from at least taking the time to audition a PH6 with lower output MC. Note that I am running a set of balanced ICs terminated with RCA on phono stage end then XLR on the preamp end to take partial advantage of the LS-17SE's balanced inputs (+6db gain). Long story short I'm considering stepping up from the Quintet Blue and wondering if you could comment on the Black versus other carts you've owned. Also for the group if anyone has other recommendations in the sub $1000 range I'd appreciate the input. I'd like to hang on to as much detail as possible while balancing the tendency of my system to get too bright/forward if I let it. Thanks. |
jadegrenade410, I wish I could comment on the Ortofon Quintet Black MC cartridge compared to others, but this is actually the only cartridge I've owned thus far. I've only had my vinyl playback system about a year (actually playing less than that), so haven't switched out cartridges. The Quintet is a very balanced and musical cartridge. There are others that are more resolving, detailed, etc, but the Quintet seems to everything well (compared to other cartridges around $1000). If you're looking to staying under $1000, the only other one I was thinking about at the time was the Dynavector. Not to say there aren't more options that are probably very good, but not too familiar with other brands. Now if you expand the budget a little, there are some good options out there that I may consider - if I sell my Quintet Black (which I may). The Zephyr Soundsmith, Lyra Delos, and higher priced Dynavector, and Ortofon Cadenza all present great options. You should look on the VPI forum. I know they have a cartridge thread for turntables that probably will be able to answer your question better than I can. |
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