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Looking for phono stage recommendations

I have recently ordered a Sota Cosmos, with a Tri-Planar VII arm and a ZYX Airy 3 cartridge. A friend of mine is interested in my Pass Labs Aleph Ono phono, so that leaves me with nothing (thanks a lot Paul)to use for my new frontend.

Several friends have made recommendations. The Pass Labs X-ono, the Manley Steelhead, ZYX phonostage, and a Supratek(?) have been recommended. The Zanden and Boulder are out of my price range, so don't bother...

Are there any other phonostages that I should consider. I don't have a preference of Solid State vs Tube.

I have used and/or heard the Krell KPA and KPE already and they're not really in the running. Not that there's anything wrong with them, they are very good, I'm just looking for something better.

I want something quiet that will work for low output cartidges.

HEEEEELP!
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dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Second on the Rhea. Very flexible. I really don't hear much tube noise from mine at all and I tend to listen at around 90 dB most of the time. Another I would throw out for consideration is the BAT VK-P10, great sound and lots of options for tube rolling and about the same price as the Rhea. I had an 834P and it really is a great performer for the money, especially after having it fully modified, but I'm not sure how good the internal step-ups are for handling low output MCs. You could always run it in MM with a quality step-up externally.
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uru975
684 posts
 
A vote for the Thor TA-3000. I can say I tried a number of different ones in my system before hearing the Thor and saying YES. It is my ears so take it with a grain of salt or two. I listened to the Rogue, Herron, Pass, and Conrad-Johnson. The later surprised me becuase my amp and preamp are C-J, but for a MC cartridge they just did not do the job, for me. I have a Zoethecus stand so the Aesthetix would not fit and was not listened to. Perhaps I should have listened to both the EAR and Manley which are highly regarded but I was tired of not really enjoying what I heard and less than five minutes was enough to convince me. Hope this helps.
william7
53 posts
 
Have you seen this written about the Eastern Electric MiniMax phono preamp.
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=17930
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=17811
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/vinyl/messages/430272.html
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=18046
http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewtopic.php?t=19844

Good luck in your searh.
readster
241 posts
 
The Burmester 808, is a awesome little unit. doesn't get much better, imo.
ca2284
43 posts
 
Check out the Klyne Audio Arts 7PX5. It's a solid state unit with a wide range of gain and load settings. Here's a link to their website but it hasn't been updated in a while. I'm using this with my Airy 3x SB with good results (although I only have about 20 hours on the cart). Mehran used to own a 7PX3 which is the previous model. List is about $5k but it's hardly seen in the used market.

http://www.klyne.com/
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