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What phono stage candidates should I consider?

I will be taking delivery of a new linestage, the Emotive Audio Epifania (tube-based), which will be replacing a Mark Levinson Ref. No. 32 that has a built-in phono stage. I am therefore in the market for a new phono stage. My cartridge is a Lyra Titan, which is mounted on a Basis Vector arm/Basis Debut (vacuum) table combination.

I can, realistically, only review a small number of candidate linestages in my own system, so I need to determine which stages to consider. If I find one that I like, I will go with it and I do not plan on driving myself crazy chasing after the "best."

Some of the relevant details about the Titan are as follows: It is rated at .5mV output and has an internal impedance of 5.5 ohms. Lyra specifies loading of 10 ohms to 47k ohm (they recommend the higher end of the range, i.e, unloaded). If mated to a step up transformer, they recommend 4-6 ohms, not exceeding 10 ohms.

One of the candidates I am looking at is the Artemis PL-1 phono stage. It is a tube-base unit that utilizes a transformer to step up the voltage. I don't know which model of transformer they use, but the brand is a Sowter (my guess is the 1:20 model specified for cartridges with a 3-15 internal impedance).

I can also get in for audition a Ray Samuels Emmeline. I will also be borrowing a friend's phono stage that is made locally, in the Washington D.C. area, by Deja Vu Audio (tube based/Jensen transformer or a more expensive model with Audionote trannies).

I am looking for any comments as to which candidates to consider and any helpful detail of experience mating the Titan with a good phono stage. I do hope to keep cost under $8,000 or so, if that is possible.

Thanks.
larryi
rjwood
14 posts
 
Hi Larryi,
For the record (sorry), I use a MusicMaker moving-iron cartridge.
The dealer to whom I returned the Tron preamp suggested that some sort of system incompatibility was to blame for my dislike of the Seven. To me, that's just hogwash - the degree to which a component gets out of the way of the music is my only measure of its worth and this nebulous quality ultimately relies on its being competently 'voiced'. Test bench results only give you half the story and, unfortunately, I suspect that most audio engineers are engineers first, music lovers second (or seventh).
adog
7 posts
 
RJWood, where did you audition a Tron Seven, which version and what cartridge?
adog
7 posts
 
RJ, The Tron Seven is Moving Coil only phono stage. It comes either high output (70 dbs for cartridges from 0.05-0.3) or medium output (55dbs 0.3-0.8). There is no way it would work with your Music Maker moving magnet cartridge which has an output of 4mv.
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Adog is right. A Music Maker would overload nearly any MC phono stage. I'd expect distorted dynamic peaks, cloudiness from the high noise floor and frequency imbalances from a probable impedance mismatch.

Proper component matching isn't "hogwash". Your dealer was right, though a bit lazy. He could have saved you both some time by asking what cartridge you planned to use with the Tron.
rjwood
14 posts
 
Adog,
Here in the UK (where Tron is based), a moving magnet version is available.
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