K&K Phono

I, too, built the K&K phono kit. I found it to be challenging but achievable. Kevin gave good support. The Lundahl step up transformers take a couple of hundred hours to break in fully, so be patient. Ultimately, the Lundahl sounds very good.

Strenghts IMHO: prat, transparency, timbre, quiet, instrument harmonics, detail and recording room ambience. I feel it is neutral to my ears and setup. I agree with other posters who say if you want something warm, like conrad johnson, you probably want to look elsewhere.

In my version, it requires more work to change the gain (not impedance). I've thought about upgrading mine to the current version to have that flexibility, which I think is a nice improvement to the layout of the current version (not a sonic change). Jeff

Nothing much to add, I agree it is quiet, transparent, excellent dynamics, good stage depth. In a word it sounds like music, in comparison with similarly priced SS units I have heard against it, such as the Whest P20, Clearaudio reference. An unequivical recommendation, you will need to spend a lot more to better it. My only confession is Kevin built mine for me, I chickened out of a self build. Under the hood it is neat and well laid out, with quality components.I have the SE version too by the way

Id like to hear a comparison of the new K&K with the Bottle Head Seduction with the c4s upgrade. I am considering the K&K also but built a Seduction as a temporary fix, however it sounds so good I wonder if the K&K will be much of an upgrade. Im using a peerless 4722 step up which I would also use with the K&K. I replaced an 834p with the seduction which sounds much better in my system.

I had a C4s upgraded Seduction. It is good, with fabulous price/performance. However, it isn't in the same league as the K&K.