What phono pre am I looking for?
If you want a fabulous phono amp try a Herron VTPH-2A. I have one in a very high level system. Nothing that has been suggest here even comes close to the sound it produces. This is a very silent amp that is slightly warm but with very precise sound reproduction. And the support after the sale is excellent from Keith Herron. |
@jmolsberg, a friend has the JC3 phono stage and we compared that to Don’s one weekend. They are different but I think comparable in quality. The JC3 clearly sounds SS where Don’s does sound like tubes in comparison. The Sachs phono stage is really clean, not lush sounding. You said you were worried about too many tubes. I mentioned I have the LTA MZ2 that you have, and you know how clean, not tubey that is. I also have the LTA ZOTL40 amp, so I’m tubes all the way. If I had a bunch of iron core transformers and/or coupling capacitors mucking things up, I might have too many tubes, but the LTA gear avoids that thankfully. I have upgraded all the tubes with NOS that I think brings out the best. I used to have a Cary SLP 98L, with the included phono stage. That was tubey sounding, which I liked but I didn’t realize how much was being muffled by that unit. Don’s phono stage took me two or more levels higher in quality from the built in phono section of the Cary, and you know how good the MZ2 is. |
Herron VTPH-2A is about $3700 and full of tubes. He has explained why loading plugs instead of dip switches here. But even in this design at this price over $3k it’s impossible to change loading of MM cartridges (only 47k Ohm by default)! As i said many times, every respected manufacturer of the nice Moving Magnet cartridges clearly stated the loading range from 30k Ohm to 100k Ohm (not just 47k Ohm). @browndt Nothing that has been suggest here even comes close to the sound it produces. I believe you have tried every phono stage mentioned here before making such conclusion? |
I do use a couple of MM carts that I like with the Sachs phono stage. I simply bypass the SUT and Don's unit allows full tailoring of the MM loading. Don has been really helpful with recommendations for the loading settings for the specific carts I've asked him about. I even don't use the 47k Ohm default when using the SUT. Again, Don helped me with fine tuning the MC carts when coming from the SUT. |
@invictus005 Parasound JR is definitely on the shortlist. I suspect, reading between the lines, they may be a little thin sounding? In its defense, every discrete phono pre amp I've listened to, sounds a little thin to these ears. Quite possibly the only way to accurately produce real tones? That little MyGroov, crazy. @browndt Everybody loves the Herron 2A but unfortunately I am too poor ): want to sell me your at half price (: I am still very intrigued with the CIAUDIO PEQ-1, I wish we someone on the forum had some experiences. I took a gamble in 2012 with their VDA-2 DAC and still happily using it today, although ones and zeros is not my preferred listening method. My front end: $1500 Traveler and $995 cart, not exactly top tier. |
