Which phonostage is a heavenly match for a XV-1S

Don't discount Dynavector's own stage. I've become less a fan of mixing and matching "best" components assembled from high-end magazine lists, and more a fan of common-sense "synergistic" or at least engineered and tested combinations.

So, consider using the Dynavector stage, and the no-load setting, which is optimized for use with Dynavector cartridges (obviously). I have a 20XL, Dynavector stage, VPI Aries, and JMW 10 arm. I'm told Harry at VPI uses this exact setup for demos, and yet you won't assemble this from "Best of" lists from the magazines. Why is this so? Food for thought.

>THE BEST PHONO-STAGE (never mind heavenly :-) is one that >is **INSIDE** a good line-stage. No extra cables, >connector plugs, different power supplies, doubled up gain->stages, etc.

This is a good point, as well.

NO! That is not true. There is nothing intrinsically better about a phonostage inside the pre-amp. In fact, there are many reasons to not put the phonostage in the same box with the same power supply.

It is ALWAYS about implementation.

>>> It is ALWAYS about implementation <<<

very true, but top **inside** implementation aught to outperform top **outside** implementation.

The problem with a lot of good circuits is actually IMPLEMENTATION.
Any really good discrete component will cost often > 10x the price of one that ~ also can do...

I learned that lesson big time during x-over upgrading. No reason at all to think this be ANY different at all with other components.
A.

Dan_ed, It is hard to argue with your proposition, but in the case of inside vs outside, I personally far prefer built-in, for two reasons: (1) In-built phono stages, if properly designed, will usually not require a buffer stage (cathode-follower or emitter-follower) at the output to lower output Z, because the output leads need only be an inch or two long, whereas outboard phono stages usually do, because they have to drive the capacitance of the IC. The buffer invariable adds a coloration that I do not find pleasant, and (2) Built-in phono stages eliminate the need for an interconnect, which is yet another source of coloration (and cost), for good or evil. It is usually possible to design the power supply of a phonolinepreamp so as to ameliorate any problems related to having both units in the same box. In fact, it is entirely conceivable to have two discrete supplies in an all-in-one design (need two chassis, at least).