Phono stages: Hagerman and Sun Valley 1616 possible giant killers

OP, Others,

Sorry I confused these two brands, I was trying to share my enthusiasm, and still do, for both

Kara deHavilland talked for a long time with my friend, he agreed to wait until she could get the specific transformer she wanted to use, she agreed and built the tube preamp for my friend in 2023.

http://www.dehavillandhifi.com/UltraVerve-Preamplifier.htm

and I confused his vintage Hagerman Cornet2

(no 2nd ’O’, a tube phono kit built by former owner) as a deHavilland, somehow I thought he got both pieces from Kara.

factory assembled Hagerman Cornet Tube Phono, MM

Both tube, both sound wonderful in my and his system. He has Hagerman Tube Phono to deHavilland Tube Preamp to big McIntosh SS amp with monster meters to JSE Infinite Slope Model II’s that he restored. Here we listened via my Tube Cayin amp, comparing favorably to my McIntosh MX110z Tube Tuner Preamp’s MM Phono, using my Fidelity Research FRT-4 SUT to hear my MC

OP is mentioning Hagerman's TRUMPET Tube MM/MC Phono, the Trumpet adds MC capability, otherwise the innards/RIAA is identical to the Cornet MM Phono.

Hagerman Trumpet Tube Phono MM and MC

so sorry to derail this to confusion

No worries.  Thanks for the clarification!

Do you think the Hagerman competes with phono stages in the 3-5 K price range?

I hate the "giant killers" trope because they almost never are. But I love & recommend Hagerman’s phono gear at every price point. His curent line is built to a (very low) price point, with the requisite sacrifices made (like SMPS). BUT they are still superb, and highly musical. There’s nothing else like the Trumpet MC at its price, and the Trumpet MM should be killer too if you wish to use an external SUT or headamp (including his own excellent Piccolos).

I’m also quite fond of his older models with more upscale build & parts (and linear PSUs), if you can find them - particularly the Trumpets.

The Trumpet was originally designed with fully balanced, all tube circuitry, as evidenced by its 8 tubes (4x 12ax7, 4x 12au7). It’s not SS with a (useless) tube buffer tacked on like most others at this price point. He’s simplified the output stage to lower price in the current MC version (2x 12au7 instead of 4x in the old Trumpets), but I believe its core circuitry (before the output stage) is still balanced, including the Piccolo-derived front-end for MC gain. The Cornet is a simplified version / circuit without any balanced circuitry.

The Trumpets are warm, open sounding phono stages with extremely satisfying bass response. You get a good dose of "classic" tube sound, and they respond very well to tube rolling. If you’re looking for maximum detail, lowest noise floor, and razer-sharp edge definition, these are not for you. However, those looking for satisfaction primarily via natural musicality should give them a try, and I think it can beat many in the $3 - 5K range on that front. It is definitely more "classic tube" souding than Rogue Ares Magnum and Herron VTPH-2A (or ARC Reference 3SE for that matter, though that has a GREAT tube stage). Also, the Trumpet MC will pair beautifully to almost any cartridge.

Her name is Kara Chaffee, DeHavilland is the brand, and yes she is happily retired.

+1 for Hagerman, his service is peerless which may swing the purchase in his direction.

Of course, if you play 78s, as I do, the Hagerman Archiver would be the natural competition to the 1616.

No longer posting here but @bkeske was impressed with the 6 tube MC version of the Trumpet—especially after rolling in Telefunkens etc. Note that as it’s a tube MC section, likely a little noisier than FET or SUT.