Recommendations for MM Phono ~ Tube or Solid State

What Raul says is correct to the best of my knowledge. The first Levinson product was a pre-preamplifier, a small active gain box to boost the output of any newly arrived LOMC cartridge in order to drive a phono stage, at a time when all phono stages were designed for MM or high output MI cartridges, and there may have been a SUT on the market, probably in Japan, but they were rare in the US. I think JC designed that unit, and Mark Levinson marketed it. This was around 1975. The advent of the ML JC1 (I think that was the designation) was timed to coincide with the introduction of Supex cartridges in the US, an early LOMC.

John Curl is highly regarded because of the Vendetta phono stage and for a part in developing the CTC Blowtorch phono stage, neither of which I have ever heard. Both of them are rare and very costly if you can find one. I have heard some of his other stuff. The amplifiers are great. The small signal stuff is meh, in my opinion.

@honeyooi 

Thank you for your recommendation. 

I just came across Mola Mola Lupe that seems to check all the boxes for me. From technical standpoint, discrete Class A gain stages designed exclusively for MC and MM peaked my interest. And there is IOS app that allows easy controls individual channel phase, mono or stereo output, and the subsonic filter. Not to mention, 4 fully programmable inputs. I am leaning towards Lupe until someone throws a curveball..LOL

Going to get one for audition before Christmas.

I cannot think of any phono stage that does not operate in Class A. It should not be a bragging point, but manufacturers do it anyway.

@lewm

There is more to Lupe design than just Class A gain stages. There may be other phonos taking the similar approach as Lupe but most phono preamplifiers designed both for moving magnet and moving coil operation use one gain stage to amplify MM cartridge output, with a second gain stage daisy-chained to the first in order to provide the additional amplification required by low-output MC cartridges.

The Mola Mola Lupe differs by having two entirely separate Class A gain stages, one designed exclusively for MM cartridges, the second just for MC. Both are fully discrete designs and are followed by an active analogue filter. The filter uses relays to switch capacitance and resistance in and out to achieve the different time constant values and, thereby, EQ curves.

Can you tell me another phono that takes same design approach as Lupe?