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phono pre amp giant killer?

I'm in the market for a used phono pre amp. I'm considering the pro-ject tube box II and the clear audio nano (because of some positive reviews and the fact that I use a Clear audio Vertuoso Wood Cartridge). My question is how much do you need to spend on a used phono pre amp in order to get to the level of truly top flight performance? My budget was going to be 350 but that may change with this thread.

thanks
andy
andyth
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Truly top flight? Closer to 10 times your budget will get you very good phono stage performance. But it will probably take closer to 20 times to get "truly top flight".

Are your heels back on the ground? ;-)

Let us know what kind of music you prefer and what the rest of your system is. Based on that I'm sure someone can offer you good options within your budget.
nrenter's avatar
nrenter
766 posts
 
Sorry, Andy. You're going to have to spend more than $350 for "truly top flight performance".

Currently, there is a Musical Fidelity X-LP + X-PSUv3 on the 'gon for $450 and a Musical Fidelity X-LPS v8 for $325. Both would be good placed to start within your budget. I've owned an XLPs before and thought it was very nice for the money. Good resolution. Low noise. etc.

However, I have to say that, IMHO, your budgeting priorites are a bis askew (re: budget for cartridge vs. budget for phono stage). However, perhaps it's me who is off-base - I run a Denon 103R through my Ayre P-5xe phono stage.
larryi
4,020 posts
 
The cheap Project solid state phono stage is MUCH better than their cheap tube phon stage. I got to hear them both in the same system.
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