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Next Phonostage

I'm contemplating a new Phonostage to replace my Rowland Cadence. One of the driving factors is wanting multiple inputs for multiple tonearms.

My system is currently: TW-Acustic Raven AC-1/TW10.5 tonearm/Dynavector XV-1s cart with Rowland Synergy IIi preamp, Rowland 302 power amp and Avalon Acoustics Eidolon Diamond loudspeakers.

My listening tastes are everything except rap/hip-hop. Probably 50% rock/pop, 40% Jazz and 10% Classical.

My audio characteristics preferences I value include really black backgrounds, air around images, extension and musicality. Dynamics are also a plus.

My contenders are currently:

Audio Research Ref 2 SE Phono - rave reviews, most say this gives you best attributes of solid state and tube sound combined, might be a natural transition into tubes for me

Thoress Phono Enhancer - also known as TW Acustic Phonostage; might mate well with my analog front end, flexibility in dialing in bass, mids, highs, customizable sound

Manley Steelhead - heard this in a friend's system, very nice sound, very flexible, did hear a it of tube noise

Can anyone who owns one of these phonostages or has listening experience with them give me some input and advice on what would work best with my system?

Thanks in advance for any recommendations from the audiogon community.
philb7777
lotus340r
32 posts
 
Phil, I have just seen your system and that you use Avalaon (same as me). The Allnic with the avalon is mindboggling, it's like a double dose of holography. My suggestion is for you to demo as many stages as you can but make sure you include the 3000 as it will sing massively in your system.
whart's avatar
whart
3,019 posts
 
Wmr57- I always enjoy your posts here.
Lotus- i think we have corresponded here or elsewhere on other gear.
To the OP- good hunting, there are lot's of good phono stages at the higher
end of the scale, but I agree that you should try to audition some of these in
your system- dealers may allow a home loaner if you cover the shipping-
Audio Federation in Denver sells Lamm- also a good phono stage but may
be limited in number of inputs- there
are different gain versions so make sure you try the one best suited to your
system; Albert Porter here, in Tx, is an Allnic dealer, so he's not on the
other side of the world, isn't Oklahoma sorta 'north Tx', etc. You just have to
work with the dealers but the added expense and time of home trial is
worth the trouble- the sound you get is system dependent (and in the case
of tubes, tube dependent for most of them as well).
Note also, one poster mentioned the H3000v, that is the unit with variable
eq curves. It is my impression-and I'm not sure where i got this info- that
the standard H3000 sounds better, but I
can't be sure. Unless you listen to a lot of records that don't follow the RIAA
curve, I wouldn't make the trade-off and would stick with the 'standard'
H3000.
philb7777 OP
401 posts
 
Thanks guys, you are reading my mind. Not sure how I can audition an ARC Ref 2 Phono SE, but I have access to a friends Steelhead. And you are correct, DFW TX is not far from Tulsa for the Allnic.
whart's avatar
whart
3,019 posts
 
PHil i think there are a few ARC dealers in Houston-Dallas as well....
Ag insider logo xs@2x
tdaudio
201 posts
 
Philb7777, a few years ago I started looking into upgrading my phono stage, at that time an Ayre P5x. I wanted a tube unit and I also wanted true balanced circutry. I had a short list with the Doshi and Atmosphere at the top.

Then ARC released the Ref 2 phono. I ended up getting that and the Ref 5 linestage. Naturally all the ARC stuff plays well together and it mates very well with Vandersteens.

The Ref 2 phono replaced a balanced Einstein TT Choice phono. The differences were not huge but the Ref 2 was better across the board so it added up. I was a bit surprised that the Ref 2 seemed to have a bit more resolution than the solid state Einstein.

I plan to upgrade linestage and phono to the SE next spring.

I don't know if that helps you much since I don't know how the ARC would fit with the rest of your stuff or if you plan on more changes down the road.

There seems to be even more options than a few years ago. Good luck.

TD
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