Thiel Owners

Hello Fellow Thiel Owners!

I was hoping you guys could help me out with some recommendations for a phono stage. My current system is a PS Audio BHK signature preamp, BHK 250 Amp, PS Audio DSD Jr DAC, MoFi Ultradeck Turntable with a MoFi master tracker cartridge, Thiel 3.7 speakers, PS Audio power cables and a mix of used interconnects from Ron_Kent.

I was hoping to be in the $500-$1500 price range(I don’t mind going a little over or under I really just don’t want to spend more than I spent on the turntable). I asked my local dealer, who sold me my turntable, about the MoFi Phono and he said it was several levels beneath my PS Audio gear(I didn’t ask him what that meant for my turntable but I wondered). He suggested I go with the PS Audio preamp called the Sprout($500) as it has a phono stage in it but he also admitted he knew nothing about it. The new PS Audio Phono is around $2500 MSRP, which is more than I want to spend.

Lastly, I thought it might be fun to get a phono with some tubes in it but it is not a must. Do you vinyl guys out there have any recommendations for a phono stage that might pair well with my system?

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

Hello all!

I just wanted to chime in on the cable discussion as I am a bit of an outlier as well.  Like several of you, I am using Audioquest RCA interconnects (Golden Gate) on my front-end sources (ARC PH-3 tube phono preamp, Bluesound Vault 2 networked streamer, Denon 2900 SACD player and Denon VL-12 turntable) to my ARC LS-7 tube line-stage.  However, from the LS-7, I swapped out the Golden Gates and am now using MIT Terminator RCA interconnects to my ARC D240 MKII solid-state amp. 

I had been using a custom speaker cable set composed of Gotham SPK-8 cable, but replaced those with MIT AVT-3 speaker cables.  I was looking to diminish some harshness I perceived in my system and MIT was suggested to me by several other enthusiasts.  I do know that with the MIT in my system, the harshness I used to have has been pretty much eliminated and I do get a sense of a more cohesive sound...not a loss of resolution mind you, but less analytical than before if that makes sense.

While I cannot prove that their "poles of articulation" tech works, I will simply say that I do find the switch to MIT to be a noticeable and favorable change in that I get a better sense of musicality than I did before. 

Hope you are all enjoying the summer!

Arvin

@ bighempin

From my personal experience of hearing my friend's all Vincent system, I can say that their tubed & hybrid phono preamp models sound great...way better than their reasonable prices would suggest.  They're built extremely well & look good to boot.  He has their PHO 701 which is tubed-based, has an external power supply & can be switched for MM/MC.  Costs about half of what you'd think it should, especially after you hear it.  They will easily fit in your budget range...worth a try.

Another contender I could recommend is the Lehmannaudio Black Cube.  Had one in my system for a little while and can say that it very transparent and extremely quiet, but may sound a bit lean depending on the system it's put in.

Good luck!

Arvin