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Solid State Phono Stages

I used to be an all-tube guy, but I’ve now ventured into the realm of high-end solid state with T+A and no longer have any itch to go back heavily into tubes. Now, the only tubes I have left in my system are in my Modwright PH9.0X phono, and from what I’ve demoed against it, it seems to be a giant killer. I do love it, but I’m curious to try a higher end solid state phono stage to see what more noise and more music might sound like. Unfortunately T+A does not have a standalone phono stage, so I’m looking at other manufacturers and open to other opinions.

I currently have a Clearaudio Innovation Wood table and Air Tight PC-1s cartridge. i listen to a wide range of music, from Zeppelin to Vivaldi to Beck to Coltrane to Yello. The stage would ideally have between 65-74db of gain, maybe adjustable to 60db at minimum, and have variable impedance values. A balanced output stage would be ideal. I don’t ever really plan to have a second arm, but most stages that retail over $7K tend to have multiple inputs anyways.

My budget would be at tops ~$8K for a used unit. The unit that is sticking out to me from what I’m reading about is the Simaudio Moon 810LP. Another high on the list is the Esoteric E-02. I’ve also come across the Pass XP-27, the Gold Note PH-1000.

I’m looking for a stage with some personality in its character, not one that is overly refined. I’d love for it to be dynamic and bold when it should be, and also gentle and refined when it should be.

The only solid state stages I’ve ever owned and tried were the Pass Labs Xono, which was clean sounding but a little noisy and brittle sounding compared to a PS Audio Stellar Phono. I’ve liked all my tube phono stages better than both of those units.

I’ve also considered going further up the tube stage route, looking at Doshi 3.0, Aesthetix IO Eclipse, but I’m hesitant unless I can hear those in place. 

What solid stage phono stages have you loved, and what have you compared them to?

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rauliruegas
13,093 posts
 

Dear @mijostyn : It’s true that the SETA L20 MK2 is an excellent phono stage but as nothing in audio is not perfect.

 

The unit I have in my system outperform it in some specs as the RIAA eq. measurements and the noise level of my unit is almost " there " as its frequency range and several other specs.

You can go to the Channel D site and its RIAA is not so accurated as should be for a unit of that caliber. Look there its " critical " performance from 50hz and down and compare against what I own:

 

https://get.google.com/albumarchive/104284617601331669309/album/AF1QipMFuJ0YVzL64lrK46jDWyUx7h0SGhNyKWFEifag/AF1QipOKpGytlEsRi_miCPtIm-J7b45dCmz3bGV_Yb2f?authKey=CKaK_bnM-of_9AE

 

Of course that specs tell you many things but can’t explain perfectly what you are listening. I can tell you that my unit performs at very high quality levels. In the other side I never had the opportunity to listen the L20 MK2 that I’m sure is ( again ) excellent but overall the phonolinepreamp I own could compete with.

R.

herman
2,259 posts
 

As with any audio item almost always exist a " but " and in your unit is that’s weird that the RIAA deviation ( that’s the main critical characteristic along gain for a phono stage. ) has a swing of 0.4db !

 

rather silly to get excited about that small of a deviation. No , it is really, really silly. All else equal, flatter is of course better, but chasing ideal measurements is a fools game. You are lucky if you don’t have 10dB swings in response at the listening position due to speaker-room interactions. I couldn’t care less about 0.4 dB. It is certainly NOT the "main critical characteristic.. "

 

How does it sound? That is all that matters

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rauliruegas
13,093 posts
 

Dear @herman : Rather silly? is a fools game ? could be for you that have different MUSIC/audio targets than me.

 

" It is certainly NOT the "main critical characteristic.. "

Statement totally false for say the least. Look, the phono stage exist because the cartridge signal NEEDS the INVERSE RIAA EQ.

If the cartridge signal did not needs it then the phono stage was not not a necessity because with a line stage preamp is more than enough. A linepreamp with a selector for: CD,MM,MC and the like. No inverse RIAA eq. heavy signal degradation ! ! !

 

Can you imagine the huge improvement in what all of us should listen it with out?

 

R.

 

 

 

herman
2,259 posts
 

The RIAA standard boost/cut is a range of 40 dB from 20-20KHz. Therefore, 0.4dB deviation is not critical.  That does not mean I am saying that RIAA correction is not NEEDED.

Raul, you have taken what I said and totally twisted it out of context. You have taken my statement that 0.4 dB is not critical and taken it the extreme to state I am saying that RIAA correction is not NEEDED  I did not even hint that RIAA correction is not NEEDED. Why would you state that I did?

 

 

 

good day

 

 

 

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blisshifi OP
1,192 posts
 

@herman ​​​​and @rauliruegas Let’s not let this escalate any further. To be fair, the term “critical” is subjective to each listener, and we do know Raul has very high standards. :)

@herman I do empathize on how your words were misconstrued. I agree with your perspective, and you shouldn’t have been rejected for sharing it. 

I’ve always taken inverse RIAA with a grain of salt. Everything we do shifts the equalization of music, down to tube rolling and power cable selection (but let’s not make this a point of debate please). The room affects the sound most of all.

i appreciate measurements, but 100% agree that at the end of the day it’s how it sounds to me, and in my room, and that matters the most. 

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