How are you using JUST the phono section of the PSE preamp ? Are you feeding the pre out of the PSE into into one of the Rotel's aux inputs or simply running the PSE directly to the amps when "phono-ing" ? Given your current system, you would need to be relatively careful as to the tonality of any phono preamp. In my experience, Rotel gear is slightly brighter and etched sounding while the older PSE amps had a soft high end to them. This should tend to level things out slightly. While the Focus' tend to be VERY picky about electronics, you might want to look at the cartridge that your using and come to some conclusions about it's tonality. Then you can see where that leaves you at in terms of what to look for in terms of a phono pre. Gain characteristics of the phono section along with loading versatility would be things to keep in mind also, as you might change cartridges somewhere down the road. Sean >
Moderately priced phono preamps
I have 500+ records and probably spend on about 5% of my listening time playing records. I have a Rega 3 turntable. I have Legacy Focus speakers ($5400), Rotel pre/processor ($2K), and 3 PSE amps ($1K each). I recently bought a Sony S9000ES CD/DVD/SACD player that I love. I'm still using my 22 year old PSE preamp ($1K in 1978) for my phono stage. I do not expect many to be familiar with the PSE, but would like to buy a phono preamp and compare it with the PSE and return it if it doesn't sound better than the PSE. Right now I'm thinking about the $200 Rotel preamp. Does anyone have comments about the Rotel or any other similarly priced phono preamps?