Fcrowder made the very good point that only a very few of us are qualified to say that this or that phono stage is "best", because most of us have a very limited listening experience with a wide variety of the "best" phono stages. This hasn't prevented subsequent posters from making absolutist claims. That's OK by me; it shows real enthusiasm and delight. And some guys have owned an impressive number of different top notch phono stages, so their opinion carries some weight, As for me, I would need to hear more different phono stages in a controlled environment before making such a claim, though I remain a devotee of the Atma-sphere MP1.
One issue for me is the question of the fundamental difference in sound (if there is such) between solid state and tube phono stages. I have yet to be blown away by a solid state phono, but I certainly have an open mind on the subject. I should, because I have not heard Connoisseur, Boulder, MBL, ASR, Pass, Essential Audio, Klyne, etc. I own a solid state Ayre P5Xe, which is very nice but a bit lacking in the ability to convey the excitement of music, as compared to the MP1. I have heard that tweaking the Ayre can boost its performance considerably. One guy I met at RMAF built an external PS for his. On the subject of Klyne, there has not been much mention of it in this thread. Is this because it seems to have been discontinued? Is Klyne still making new units or just repairing and occasionally upgrading their old ones? My new found interest in vintage phono cartridges makes me yearn for a unit with externally adjustable loading both for capacitance and resistance. I have a lot of early to mid-50s jazz LPs (including the sublime Ella and Louis recordings) that are not cut to RIAA specs, so adjustable compensation is very appealing as well. Has anyone heard the Krell (please forgive me) KPA? It sports variable bass and treble roll-off. Was also looking at Yamaha C2A and Accuphase C200X, very vintage pieces that have these features too.
One issue for me is the question of the fundamental difference in sound (if there is such) between solid state and tube phono stages. I have yet to be blown away by a solid state phono, but I certainly have an open mind on the subject. I should, because I have not heard Connoisseur, Boulder, MBL, ASR, Pass, Essential Audio, Klyne, etc. I own a solid state Ayre P5Xe, which is very nice but a bit lacking in the ability to convey the excitement of music, as compared to the MP1. I have heard that tweaking the Ayre can boost its performance considerably. One guy I met at RMAF built an external PS for his. On the subject of Klyne, there has not been much mention of it in this thread. Is this because it seems to have been discontinued? Is Klyne still making new units or just repairing and occasionally upgrading their old ones? My new found interest in vintage phono cartridges makes me yearn for a unit with externally adjustable loading both for capacitance and resistance. I have a lot of early to mid-50s jazz LPs (including the sublime Ella and Louis recordings) that are not cut to RIAA specs, so adjustable compensation is very appealing as well. Has anyone heard the Krell (please forgive me) KPA? It sports variable bass and treble roll-off. Was also looking at Yamaha C2A and Accuphase C200X, very vintage pieces that have these features too.