And, I'm surprised to hear that the phono stage has relatively small impact on sound. I'm glad I asked.Says who? Ask people who know, or find out for yourself!
Dejan Veselinovic, an European audio journalist/circuit designer will bluntly tell you that the phono stage is the most important. Why? Give it some thought...he's not denying anywhere that 50% of the info is on the time domain component provided by the turntable's motion. It's because the phono stage is amplifying/equalizing extremely delicate signals which are highly succeptible to noise pollution and phase smear (good to read Magnan's website for more info). Circuit topology has a lot to do with this. I chose the Monolithic PS-1 because its circuit topology is essentially that of a Klyne, with the exception that it uses op-amps in the output stage. It pays to do good research...
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