Well you could look for a pair of Krell KPA s you want two of them so you can run them true dual mono. You want a pair of them if you want exceptional.
Regards
Solid State Phono Stages
I used to be an all-tube guy, but I’ve now ventured into the realm of high-end solid state with T+A and no longer have any itch to go back heavily into tubes. Now, the only tubes I have left in my system are in my Modwright PH9.0X phono, and from what I’ve demoed against it, it seems to be a giant killer. I do love it, but I’m curious to try a higher end solid state phono stage to see what more noise and more music might sound like. Unfortunately T+A does not have a standalone phono stage, so I’m looking at other manufacturers and open to other opinions.
I currently have a Clearaudio Innovation Wood table and Air Tight PC-1s cartridge. i listen to a wide range of music, from Zeppelin to Vivaldi to Beck to Coltrane to Yello. The stage would ideally have between 65-74db of gain, maybe adjustable to 60db at minimum, and have variable impedance values. A balanced output stage would be ideal. I don’t ever really plan to have a second arm, but most stages that retail over $7K tend to have multiple inputs anyways.
My budget would be at tops ~$8K for a used unit. The unit that is sticking out to me from what I’m reading about is the Simaudio Moon 810LP. Another high on the list is the Esoteric E-02. I’ve also come across the Pass XP-27, the Gold Note PH-1000.
I’m looking for a stage with some personality in its character, not one that is overly refined. I’d love for it to be dynamic and bold when it should be, and also gentle and refined when it should be.
The only solid state stages I’ve ever owned and tried were the Pass Labs Xono, which was clean sounding but a little noisy and brittle sounding compared to a PS Audio Stellar Phono. I’ve liked all my tube phono stages better than both of those units.
I’ve also considered going further up the tube stage route, looking at Doshi 3.0, Aesthetix IO Eclipse, but I’m hesitant unless I can hear those in place.
What solid stage phono stages have you loved, and what have you compared them to?
@thiefoflight , all that is old tech. The PC-1 is a very low impedance cartridge. If you want to get the most out of it you want a Transimpedance or current mode phono stage. Examples are the Sutherland Loco and little Loco, the BMC MCCI and the Channel D Seta L or Lino C. I just ordered a Seta L Plus to use with a Lyra Atlas Lambda SL. |
@pindac - 100% agree that real world experience is invaluable. I will be attending AXPONA, but it will likely not be a great place to get the most out of phono stages. When I went in 2019, there surely some rooms, but most focused on the proliferation of digital. Also, the rooms and system chains are always different, so chances are it won’t sound anything like it would in my room. I would have to draw conclusions and hope for the best. I have also reached out to my personal network, who has allowed me to try a number of SS stages. But it never hurts to gain perspective from forums as well. What’s happening on this thread may influence me, but won’t solely convince me of any decision. Likely what will is if I can get to a dealer that has one of the top units of consideration and they allow me to demo at home, or if one of those units comes on the market considerably marked down so that I can resell at minimal loss. The latter makes up for most of my audio journey, and it’s been fun to have all the experiences I’ve had as a result, and at times it has even been profitable. @kerrybh Thanks for advocating again for Simaudio. Absolutely love the suggestion for Sutherland and Channel D. I mentioned prior that they are high on the consideration list. |
Graham slee Era Gold V. Moving magnet only, but you can step up a moving coil with an appropriate SUT. Michael Fremer seems to like it a lot. I bought one a few years ago, I opted for the stereo/mono switch option. It is very nice. I use both a Jensen and Rothwell SUT with mine, depending on which MC cartridge I have installed at the time. Pair the Era Gold V with the Graham slee PSU1 power supply for even better performance. Michael Fremer in Stereophile calls it a "miraculous phono preamp" for its ability to change and dramatically lift an entire system’s sound quality and make music sound more realistic and life-like! |