Phono Preamp

2channel8"Can't make a statement about a phono-pre without knowing the cartridge your using"

That is a silly response the best preamps for Music Reproduction Systems are versatile enough to successfully and faithfully accommodate a variety of phono cartridges after all if you thoroughly consider the matter most listenwrs will own they're phono preamp for many years as they're phono cartridges wear out and are replaced with new cartridges yes a phono preamp and cartridge do need to be matched but I would always suggest and recommend that the preamp be purchased first.

For $500, I bought a used EAR 834P a few years ago from someone who didn’t realize that its sub par performance was do to internal problems,which made him sell it. It had been modified by using a separate power supply, which is a good thing but what really made it great was to send the unit to Walt D’Ascenzo, a brilliant audio modifier in Baltimore.
His audio philosophy, of which everyone should remind themselves, is that the holy grail of audio is the "absolute sound", which is live music. That must be the audiophile’s standard, and that requires going out to live musical concerts, whether it’s classical, jazz, rock, Tibetan, or whatever, this attunes your ear to what’s real. It’ll make the search for the perfect system much easier, but ironically harder to achieve.

mijostyn posted:
"If you like leaning more towards SS sound but want just a little of that tube glow a used ARC PH-3 or PH-3 SE would be the way to go. Funny thing is that both phono amps use the same three 6922 tubes."

The PH-3SE had the next generation of resistors, so it was an upgrade from the PH-3.  I have the SE and have replaced the 3 Sovtek 6922s with 3 Philips 7308 SQs the improvement in sound is amazing! 

My thoughts are that I still cannot ’warm up’ to tubes any longer..... lived with them for so many years in radio gear and I just don’t want to deal with the changes due to aging and going out of spec, losing vacuum, getting ’gassy’, trying to match them, etc..... Very old technology, to me anyway. I only use tubes now in  high power linear amplifier transmitters as they are able to make a lot of output power.

I really don’t know what the fascination is with tubes otherwise.

Comparing transmitter tubes to small signal tubes in consumer gear. Literally shook my head.