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Bryston BP1.5 Best Phono Stage Under 2000?

After a long hiatus from vinyl I'm getting the bug to start spinning some of those 33.3's again. I'd like to spend about $2000 on a good used table but the phono stage is equally important. I know Bryston makes a new phono stage they deem to be broadcast quality according to their website and the dealer feedback seems to be quite good. What other phono stage would give great bang for the buck? I believe Audio Research and Vendetta Research make top shelf phono gear also. Any experiences you could share would be greatly appreciated.
moutainking
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
BAT VKp5 and VKp10 are great choices as well...
rbeich
17 posts
 
should be considered on any short list: the Sonic Frontiers Phono 1. This is a tubed unit using (4) 6922's, typical SF build quality, with variable input impedance, with equalized gain of 62dB.

i believe SF makes a Phono 1 SE (Special Edition) version currently as well. additional premium dollars, probably tougher to find used.

as an added bonus, Phono 1 has been (and is currently Stereophile Recommended "A".

racerx90
26 posts
 
I would also recommend the Sonic Froniters Phono 1. I ended up buying one over the Audio Research PH3. Not that the Audio Research isn't a great unit (it is and should also be a consideration), but I personally liked the Sonic Frontiers unit better.

In addition to what was posted above, I'd like to add that the gain can be changed with a bit of soldering and a few resistors. You can have either 44dB, 54dB, or 62dB of gain.
However, the loading is adjustable via dip switches.

They can be had for as low as $800-900 if you shop around. It's well worth it. Plus if you want you can add 3 year warranty even if you by it used by sending your unit back to Sonic Frontiers which will inspect and check it to make sure it meets current production standards for around $120 (that does not include parts & labour just the warranty.)

They also have an excellent technical support staff who go way overboard to help you out. (They sent me a resistor set to change my gain on my unit for free when I changed my cartridge.) I can't say enough about customer support like that - truly top notch.
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