2. analog
  3. 135720-14156

Allnic, Herron or Tavish choice?

I have a dilemma on which would suit me best. All of them are not cheap dates :O, but all are about the same ballpark pricewise -/+. I run 2 tables, Technics SP-15's side-by-side. The rest of my system is a Krell PAM3 preamp, Krell KSA 10 and Acoustat model 3 electrostats. One table has a .3mv AT33PTGII (MC) and the other, I use a bunch of different MM coils in the 3.5-5 mv range. I want to be able to simply switch between tables without changing things.I prefer via the front of the preamp. What do you think is the best choice of those 3 in the title? Oh, other phono preamps are welcome to throw into the mix as well.
musky1963
almarg's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Your PAM-3 preamp has a line-level input impedance specified as "10K minimum." 10K is much too low to be a suitable load for the Herron phono stage (Keith Herron recommends 50K or more, although 30K seems to work ok for some users). I have my doubts about whether such a low impedance would be optimal with the Allnic or the Tavish, either. Or with many other tube-based phono stages.

Lew’s suggestion of the Manley Steelhead would be ok with respect to impedance compatibility, though.

Regards,
-- Al
 
musky1963 OP
28 posts
 
A steelhead is way more than I can spend :(. I wonder why Krell would make such a good preamp that falls short?
lewm
13,261 posts
 
Al, Very good point about the input impedance of one of those older Krell preamplifiers.  Something was bugging me about matching the Krell with a tube phono stage, but I didn't put my finger on it.  Yes, the Steelhead has a very low output impedance that could drive 10K ohms.

Musky, The PAM is an old design and was meant to be used with other solid state gear, most of which have very low output impedance.  But so too does the Steelhead and probably the Chinook, which is more in the Herron price range, if you insist on buying new only.  Check whether the Chinook affords two phono inputs.
lewm
13,261 posts
 
The Chinook qualifies based on an output impedance of "91 ohms", per the factory.  However, it only affords one pair of phono inputs.  You probably need to think about a solid state phono stage to work well with the Krell.
lewm
13,261 posts
 
Or tube phono stages with output impedance <1000 ohms. The lower, the better.

More to discover