2. analog
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phono pre-amp being replaced

Hi guys long time no talk to.

So I'm reaching out to the community to get some feedback. I recently purchased a Lyra Kleos phono cartridge. Love the cartridge by the way. One of the best sounding carts in its price range and more that I have heard. With that said I currently have an ARC PH-7 phono stage. Love that piece also. Its very natural sounding and just produces a lovely sound. However in regards to cartridge loading its just not the best match for the Kleos. I understood that when I bought the cartridge, but I really wanted the Kleos so I pulled the trigger. Don't get me wrong the sound is amazing with the two however the PH-7 has a fixed gain of 57.5 DB. with the Kleos being a .5mv output I have lost about 8-10 DB of gain in reference to my medium output Dynavector that the Kleos replaced. I think the optimal gain for .5mv is somewhere in the neighborhood of 60-61DB. So that is a little background. Here is my question. I'm looking for recommendations for a phono stage to replace the PH-7. I don't want to shell out the money for the ARC Reference which is around $10k plus. I think I can get just as good a sound for somewhat less. So as much as I LOVE my PH-7 I am ready to part with it at this point to better match the Kleos.  So I thought I would ask. So any suggestions would be helpful. I'm looking for something maybe with variable gain or at least maybe a high and a low setting for future cartridge upgrades. I would like it to be vacuum tube, and of course have a very natural sound. So that should narrow the field. I have  been so happy with what I have that I have not even entertained auditioning anything else until now so Im a little behind the 8 ball on the available models out there other than ARC of course. May have a little brand loyalty there, but I'm willing to give another brand a try to keep things in my price range of 3-$6k.


Thanks in advance


-Keith

barnettk
Post removed 
barnettk OP
410 posts
 
@bpoletti 

"Now that you've actually spoken with Keith Herron, you might consider his support as an additional reason to get a VTPH-2A. You get Keith Herron along with it."

Very true. I enjoyed the conversation I had with him. Very smart, seems to be very easy to deal with, and very personable. Anytime you can deal with the owner/designer of a product (Im just assuming he is the owner) you can forgo a lot of BS. It really makes a difference. One of the reasons I have stuck with Mcintosh is Chuck. While he is not the owner I know I can call him anytime and ask a question and usually get a correct answer. Im sure that there are other companies out there that provide that level of customer service as well. 
barnettk OP
410 posts
 
Interesting position in regards to the system sounding better with the volume level higher on lower output devices:

https://youtu.be/k1JkU5tUOLo

The comments are basically a combination of you guys comments, but I thought it was interesting. 
trknomo
80 posts
 
Have you compared to the MC input on your C2600? You have 60db there. I used the C2600 MC/MM inputs and found no fault as they were very quite. I recently upgraded to the MP1100 which has 64db gain. 
barnettk OP
410 posts
 
@trknomo 

yes and while the phono stage in the C2600 is indeed EXCELLENT  it’s just not as good as the ARC IMO. However to be fair I typically will evaluate a change over at least two weeks and the comparison I did was only about a day. I felt sonically the ARC had more clarity and a bit deeper sound stage. Granted the C2600 phono stage had never been used and maybe if I played it over a longer period of time I’m sure it would have gotten better. I think I am going to keep things separate. 
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