Lol. Interesting. Yeah I have not read a bad word about it. Definitely has my interest peaked. We will see. Keith told me that if I Am not impressed that he would refund my money. I’m definitely considering giving it an audition.
phono pre-amp being replaced
Hi guys long time no talk to.
So I'm reaching out to the community to get some feedback. I recently purchased a Lyra Kleos phono cartridge. Love the cartridge by the way. One of the best sounding carts in its price range and more that I have heard. With that said I currently have an ARC PH-7 phono stage. Love that piece also. Its very natural sounding and just produces a lovely sound. However in regards to cartridge loading its just not the best match for the Kleos. I understood that when I bought the cartridge, but I really wanted the Kleos so I pulled the trigger. Don't get me wrong the sound is amazing with the two however the PH-7 has a fixed gain of 57.5 DB. with the Kleos being a .5mv output I have lost about 8-10 DB of gain in reference to my medium output Dynavector that the Kleos replaced. I think the optimal gain for .5mv is somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-61DB. So that is a little background. Here is my question. I'm looking for recommendations for a phono stage to replace the PH-7. I don't want to shell out the money for the ARC Reference which is around $10k plus. I think I can get just as good a sound for somewhat less. So as much as I LOVE my PH-7 I am ready to part with it at this point to better match the Kleos. So I thought I would ask. So any suggestions would be helpful. I'm looking for something maybe with variable gain or at least maybe a high and a low setting for future cartridge upgrades. I would like it to be vacuum tube, and of course have a very natural sound. So that should narrow the field. I have been so happy with what I have that I have not even entertained auditioning anything else until now so Im a little behind the 8 ball on the available models out there other than ARC of course. May have a little brand loyalty there, but I'm willing to give another brand a try to keep things in my price range of 3-$6k.
Thanks in advance
-Keith
- ...
- 44 posts total
Post removed |
@bpoletti "Now that you've actually spoken with Keith Herron, you might consider his support as an additional reason to get a VTPH-2A. You get Keith Herron along with it." Very true. I enjoyed the conversation I had with him. Very smart, seems to be very easy to deal with, and very personable. Anytime you can deal with the owner/designer of a product (Im just assuming he is the owner) you can forgo a lot of BS. It really makes a difference. One of the reasons I have stuck with Mcintosh is Chuck. While he is not the owner I know I can call him anytime and ask a question and usually get a correct answer. Im sure that there are other companies out there that provide that level of customer service as well. |
Interesting position in regards to the system sounding better with the volume level higher on lower output devices: https://youtu.be/k1JkU5tUOLo The comments are basically a combination of you guys comments, but I thought it was interesting. |
- 44 posts total