luisma, True balanced phono stages, other than the MP1, are not that uncommon these days. Oddly and sadly, more so among solid state devices than among tube types. I guess I wrote up the balanced idea mostly because some dealers propagate the notion that you need some major rebuild to "convert" from single-ended to balanced operation of a phono cartridge. This is not true; the standard DIN connection can be done either way, depending upon the topology of the cable between the tonearm and the phono stage.