Best phono pre amp for Lyra Helikon


I am at the stage where TT/tonearm/cartridge have been decided and almost procured and am ready to select Phono preamp. What is the best match for this cartridge? My main premap and Amps are Classe. Will the tubed phono would be desirable?

Few that I myself considering is Art Audio, EAR, Manley Steelhead or Tom evans Groove (These are also the ones that gets sold quickly here at Agon. May be that is one indication ;-)) But any advice would be welcome.

The TT/Tone Arm is La Luce by SPJ.

Thx in advance.
nilthepill
Raul,
The Classe pre-amp I have is CP-45 that works great for my CD source. It has phono board, but I have found a not a great one. The Phono I have for upstairs small system is Jadis DPMC and it is dream in that system (Jadis Orchestra Ref,Dunlavy IV, JD3 cd player). I should pobably try out the DPMC in my main system when I get the La Luce to check How tubed phono inteacts with solid state. I am so happy with DPMC that that is wants me think tubed phono for downstairs system.

I don't quite get what you are trying say in the last 4 paras. Are you saying that I should be getting solid state phono and that budget may not be enough?? Thanks.
Dear Nilthepill: +++++ " Are you saying that I should be getting solid state phono and that budget may not be enough?? " +++++

Yes, at least for do justice to your analog rig.

Regards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
Thomasheisig,
A previous thread in the analog list discussed the correct loading for a Helikon and the general consensus was a rule of thumb loading of 25 times the output impedance of the cartridge. In the case of the Helikon that would be 137.5 ohms ballpark.

I am also loading my Helikon at 47K. I think I must have gotten this value from the literature that came with the cartridge. Looking on the Lyra website, the Helikon is spec'd to a range of 100 ohms to 47K ohms. I haven't tried any other loadings with my Helikon and am anxious to get home and experiment a little.

How did you arrive at 47K?
I too was at 47K, in conjunction with a BAT P10. But when I upgraded to more resolving speakers I found 47K too tizzy. 100R has a smoother, more delicate treble. It was easier for me to evaluate differences in loading as the overall quality of my system improved.

Dave
I went home to experiment with the loading on my Helikon which I had been using at 47K. My phono is currently set up for 100, 200, 1K, and 47K.

The 25 x output impedance suggests 137.5 ohms.

I tried 200 and there was a little more bass but the sound was uninvolving, no punch or energy. I tried 1K and that brought back the energy quite a bit. However, at that setting, it seemed that some records sounded great and others didn't. The ones that didn't had an almost "out of phase" kind of sound. The music didn't project out into the listening room the way I thought it should.