Phono Preamp


Hi!
I upgraded my equipment recently with a Triode Lab 2a3 integrated and a pair of Klipsch Forte III. My turntable is still a Project Carbon 2Xperience Classic, and the phono preamp it's a Pro-ject Phono Box S.

I am thinking about to change the phono preamp and wait a bit for the turntable upgrade. Is very difficult to get a demo for home test, so, according with your experience, witch pre-amp do you recommend with this equipment?

Or is better to go to the full pack and change both, turntable and amp?

ramon74
The interesting thing about the Whest line up is that the units James built 10 years ago are far different than the latest designs.  If you look up threads on them, a guy named DCarol had several versions and kept moving up the line.  He got to the Whest PS.30 RDT SE and was floored at how good it was and in fact he did an evening with two other friends who brought over very expensive units from Boulder and if I recall, Avid?  The two friends sold their preamps and bought PS.30 RDT SE's.   DCarol ordered the Mark V Reference dual independent chassis mono phono stages from Whest (like around $18K) and later posted that those units took things up to some unheard of new level.  He would not sell his PS.30 RDT SE, he held on to it.   
That was a few years ago.  James told me that the 2019 build of the PS.30 RDT SE is multiple steps up from the earlier one DCarol is using.  This latest version uses the fully discreet front end of the PS.40 RDT, the same dual toroid transformers of the 40 with an elevated voltage rail, a full suspension chassis for the main boards as used in the 40 and Titan, the Titan wire harness and zero floating voltage boards (if I got that part right).
All of the capacitors are Clarity Caps, which are very high end hand made (Bryston uses the Clarity Caps in their amps too).
If you want to see beautifully laid out circuit boards, the best I have seen anyway, do some Google images on Whest phono stages....  gorgeous stuff.
Thank you very much, guys.

It will be very difficult to decide, I think it will be impossible to find in Spain the most of your suggestions, but I will try. But, in my next travel to UK, I will test anything I could find.

Anyway, I learned a lot.

thanks, community!!!
If you are going to the UK, check out Croft Acoustics.  I run two 25R phono preamps with custom tubes. He has various RIAA only models. Glorious with non-MC cartridges.
I’m running a Fosgate Signature phono pre with a Grado Statement Master1 cart on an SME 3009 typeIII arm. The sound is glorious. EAR Yoshino V20 in front of Spatial M3 speakers. Love the synergy. 
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