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Schiit Mani or Cambridge duo or Mofi ultraphono for a phono stage.

I would like to hear from members who actually own either one or more of these, regarding their sound quality.  I mostly listen to uptempo smooth jazz and like very fast and very tight bass (not boomy though).

I also cannot decide between a Goldring 2500 and a Nagaoka MP500 I am about to buy for a Linn Sondek with Audiomods V arm.  At this stage, I am NOT considering MC cartridges due to the inconvenience of  their styli not being replaceable (altho my choice of phono preamps all have the MC option in case I change my mind in the future).

Which of the above two cartridges and of the 3 preamps are preferable ?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

128x128cakyol
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
As for cartridges, I favor HO MM with the Mani, but HOMC sounds and works well, if your line stage has enough gain for your taste.

I'm a pretty big fan of AudioTechnica MM carts. They are linear and musical, and they have a new line, the AT95-VM series, which has a wide array of state-of-the art snap-in replacement stylii: bonded conical, bonded elliptical, nude elliptical, nude MicroLinear, and nude Shibata. 
mjcmt's avatar
mjcmt
710 posts
 
The only item I have and use regularly is the Mani.
Very very good, better than cds playing thru the Schiit Modi3 Dac. I'm a big jazz fan and this preamp (with Thorens TD203 and Ortofon 2m Blue cart) is simply amazing for me. Great PRaT, bold and tight bass, detail and air. I see no reason to change my analog set up playing thru an el34 tube integrated amp.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,922 posts
 
The Nagaoka MP500 and Mani combo.
bstatmeister
537 posts
 
Honestly, if I had to choose one right now I would probably go with the Cambridge Solo since (it's exactly like the Duo, just no MC - and I only have MM, so I can save a few bucks here). Right now the Cambridge is the measurement king for budget Phono preamps and that is worth a lot of points in my book.
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