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Vintage Phono Stage? pros and cons

With so many different phono stages out there, why buy new? There has to be some fantastic deals out there on vintage phono stages if you know your history of the giants going back in time. Do the new phono stages offer anything new? has the technology gotten better or is ease of flexibility the only thing that has improved? does the sound degrade over time?
128x128musichead
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macdadtexas
1,794 posts
 
Elizabeth has hit it on the head. I think if you like warm for the slant of your system, then vintage can/is better in general.

In fact, I love most of the vintage phono/preamps/recievers I have heard.
t_bone
1,182 posts
 
Musichead,
You are right. If you know your history, you can get a killer phono stage for not huge money. I find the best ones are embedded in top-notch preamps from the late 1970s. I have one I will be hooking up again tonight. It is a joy.
Vintage pres (with decent phono stages) I currently own:
Jadis JP-80 (euphonic)
Pioneer C-Z1 (ridiculously transparent, not "solid state-y")
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
A Phono Stage is the most critical unit in the whole chain. With no other unit you can win or loose so much. When it is done right, it is not a question of age.
Working on top level 1990 is still top level today (Science is knowledge ---> RIAA, precision, temperature, parts... ).
We have now a lot more units available, but only very, very few are outstanding. Nothing changed. Like a famous European Designer (Mies van der Rohe) once said: "God is in the Detail"
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