On the fence about Vinyl need a good phono stage for A/B testing

Geek101:

Not silly at all, it is in the top three or four that I’ve ever heard, and I have listened to more than I can count with some of them costing FAR FAR more than the Luxman. It is quiet, flowing and has excellent timing which is important, a good number of stages completely foul up the timing. The stage is highly transparent with just a hint of lushness/beauty making itself known (you can control this with the rectifier choice as well as the signal tubes). It is not 300B lush by any stretch but it is the polar opposite of the Pass XP25, in a good way (IMHO).

I don’t want to get into the fuse thing but if one thinks about it, all the power coming into the unit is rectified and stored in caps and then released and modulated to the musical/electrical signal generated by the stylus, this is what you are listening to, the power supply. If the first choke point is a chintzy three cent fuse with a crap metal filament (slow blow, Tin, zinc or some alloy) passing the current, a signature is established. Garbage in garbage out. I can honestly tell you that changing the fuses brought about a HUGE increase in the units sonic capabilities.

Nearly all of my components have an AMR MK2 Gold or a Bees Wax Ultimate fuse installed.

amg56:

That sounds awesome! I use an ART 1000, London Ref and Ana Mighty Sound 103.3 with the Luxman although the London belongs to the SPL Phonos :)

The ART 1000 and 103.3 sound absolutely stunning with the EQ500.

Audiofun: Love your system. Agree with you 100%

The DSP will suck some life out of your vinyl; I would try it with and without.  For me, I am willing to put up with some less than perfect resonances for the sparkling purity of a well reproduced analog signal.  There is a certain emotional thrill and sense of involvement that I get listening to records that just doesn't happen with digital sources (despite the fact that they almost assuredly measure better)).

That said, I have ploughed through a number of phono preamps over the years.  Some of the best were built in to the 60's and 70's era electronics.  If the piece of equipment has a pre-out, they are fun to audition.

Almost any modern phono-pre is going to sound pretty good.  You will get a lot more variety and "bang-for-your-buck" entertainment value messing around with different cartridges.  Before I would haul off and invest a ton of money on a phono pre, I would at least try out some different MM cartridges (Grado, AT, Rega - the Exact would be a good fit).

Moving into MC territory, it is more important to match the phono pre to the cartridge.  Your selection of a phono-pre will be more critical, especially if you are moving up the price chain.

For under $1000 MM cartridges, I would recommend the Schiit Mani, although just about any would do.  At this price point, the subtle refinements of an expensive phono pre will be barely discernible.