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Need recommendations on phono amp upgrade

I am looking to upgrade my phono amp, spending around $3k-6k. I currently have a Jolida Envoy preamp (JD9 type phono section), with Underwood full mods. It matched/bettered my Whest PS.30RDT Special Edition and a regular PS.30RDT. Interesting there are not reviews of JD9 fully mod compared to more expensive phono's (probably people with different funding capabilities (JD9 $1-2k vs $4-6k)).

My current thoughts:
Canary CA-430 ~$2500 (hard to find reviews of)
Aesthetix IO Signature Dual PSU ~$5-6k (lots of tubes)
Coincident Statement new $6k
Viva Fono ~$6k from Europe (60 dB gain may not be enough in my system)

My current system is:
Quintessence Summit speakers
SR Apex speaker cables (double run - made huge difference)
Canary M500 amps w/ Sophia 300B tubes
SR Apex interconnects
Laufer Teknik Memory Player
Jolida Envoy w/ Underwood mods
SR Tricon phono cable
Nakamichi Dragon CT turntable
ZYX UNIverse II

Thanks for your thoughts.
vernonwtx
icorem
149 posts
 
I've recently went from BMC MCCI which is a great phono by itself to a NVO SPA 2 SE and it is one hell of a phono stage.
Generates quiet a bit of heat but just out of the box it's a world class unit and it keeps getting better by the day.
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
Another to add to the list is the Nagra VPS - I've loved mine for years now...
lewm
13,773 posts
 
Unfortunately, these threads (asking for phono stage recommendations from a list posted by the OP) generally lead off into nowhere, as responders tend to suggest some other phono stage not on the original list, which only complicates matters. My only thought is that your own list is very eclectic. Can you say more about what you are looking for, how you arrived at your list of choices, etc? For example, it would seem you need a hi-gain phono to accommodate the ZYX Uni. Thus some choices are disqualified for lack of gain, unless you want also to use a SUT. There's not going to be a lot of people who have experienced more than one or two on your list.
lewm
13,773 posts
 
I just remembered that I may have one useful bit of info to contribute. I have heard the Coincident Statement and then the EMIA (mentioned by Mosin above) consecutively in the same system, at my neighbor's house. I am quite familiar with his system. Both he and I think the EMIA outperformed the Coincident, in that system (Coincident Pure Reference speakers driven by Atma-sphere amplifiers, Slagle passive linestage). But the Coincident phono is very good, too. Both the EMIA and the Coincident Statement would require a SUT in order to increase overall gain for your ZYZ. In the case of the EMIA, which is a Dave Slagle product, you would get a Dave Slagle SUT as well.
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
I second the Herron VTPH-2.
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