Rhea vs Pass XP-15


With a .3mv cartridge, What you pick, assume a relatively neutral rest of the system.

Thanks in advance.
royaloak
Yes, thank you. I'm more interested in learning how Mechans would describe their different sound. Sorry for being less than clear.
I have a Rhea and love it. With a 0.3mv cartridge you are getting to the point where some Rhea's can become noisy, depending on tube selection and maybe age/version. Perhaps the newer ones are quieter, but my 5 year-old Rhea exhibits a bit of tube rush with very LOMC cartridges. I'm quite happy with it, but if you want absolute black backgrounds, you might prefer the Pass, which is definitely quieter.

With a Shelter 501 @ 0.5mv mine is very quiet, but with my low output Dynavector 20xl, I can definitely hear the preamp on very quiet passages or between tracks.

That said, I think the Rhea provides a richer harmonic structure, and it is certainly my preference. Depends on what you value most.

Hope this helps!
Just my 2 cents....I have an original Rhea and I have had no noise problem .....ever. I vote Rhea...!
Rhea too. Not close in my listening experience because I want to feel the instruments being played, not just hear the sound of the music coming out of them.... if that's clear?