WhestTHREE signature phono pre vs. ModWright PH 9.0X

@mmcgill829 I upgraded from the SL to the Unami Blue and quite enjoy that combo.

In the last few months, I’ve gone big on my vinyl in both systems. The Blue was a big step up from the SL when using the MW’s MC stage.

In the main system, I added a Kuzma Stabi R and 4PT11 arm with the Blue. I moved my VPI with the SL to the second system (Leben) and added the Leben RS30EQ stage with a Cinemag 1254 SUT. I compared that phono setup with the ModWright using the Hana SL.

The MW won out via its MC stage, but the Leben effectively tied with the MW when using the MM stage combined with the SUT on both. I have not done a comparison in my main system of the MW vs Leben/SUT using the Unami.

In my comparison, the MW was quieter than the Leben/SUT combo. And the Unami Blue was quieter than the SL. Lastly, the Kuzma was immensely quieter than the VPI.

I’m thrilled with the MW as it has kept up with my upgrades of cartridge and table.

Lastly, my interconnects are all Acoustic Zen: Absolute Copper in my main setup and Silver Reference in my Leben setup.

@davehg Thanks for the update and great info!

I still havent decided on whether to go for an umami red or etsuro cobalt. My hesitancy around it is mostly because I have trouble justifying paying big bucks on a cartridge that will just have to get replaced in a year or two of use. The 4-6k price tags on these is a bit hard to swallow with this in mind. We'll see!

I've been a bit distracted lately with getting my digital front end set up - and since October of last year I've replaced my speakers, amplification, added an entire digital set (streamer + dac), and am working on replacing cables. yeesh!

@mmcgill829 

what phono did you land on? Hopefully not the Konus...I've had the Vinyle and the Digitale. The Vinyle threw a major unsolvable buzz into my system and the Digitale was harsh sounding. I'd pass on those and focus on the Modwright. 

@jc51373 Hi there. I posted back in sept 2023 that I had landed on the Modwright. I still have it and have since upgraded the power supply to bring the whole unit to the 9.0XT. I also picked up the upgraded umbilical cable from them and replaced the tubes. (specifics are in my virtual system notes).

It really is an astoundingly good phono pre-amp. I have zero desire to upgrade any further at this time. It's especially nice that one could just buy the base model if they can't quite swing the fully upgraded one price-wise, and then can send it back to Modwright for the upgrades down the line, if they'd like. Turn around is quite fast (it was just a couple weeks from when it left my home to when it returned).

@mmcgill829 

nice congrats, I hear that is a great phono stage!