Pre Amp with top class phono stage?

McIntosh C2300 has a very nice sounding MM and MC phono stage.Very flexible on-the-fly set-up and adjustability for different cartridges all by remote.

Get the newer Atma-Sphere MKIII.1 pre, run your phono balanced and never ever, ever care about upgrading your phono again. Mind blowingly good pre-amp with the recent upgrades. This will be the one to beat. Good luck.

I have been contemplating the same question; I've been steered toward the EAR 868P. Worth a look?

Shindo - Monbrison and all models above.

I agree with the two Atma-Sphere recommendations. Ralph told me a while back his preamps were originally designed specifically for phono playback. He later added line inputs because of customer demand.

I've had an MP-1 Mk3 for a couple years now and as much as I enjoyed my previous CAT w/phono(all 5 of them), the MP-1 blew it's/their doors off; that's no exaggeration.

I hear good things about Doshi and a friend owns VAC so I might consider either of them if I weren't so happy with my MP-1.

One other thing worth considering, if it breaks, will the mfr. still be around to fix it? Atma-Sphere's been around for quite a while and has a great reputation for reliability.