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Phono Preamp Recommendation

I recently sold my ARC SP-16 and went to an LS-26 linestage. One goal of the upgrade was to improve my vinyl playback which was then suffering in comparison to my Esoteric X-03SE. Now it's time to add a phonostage and I could use some suggestions. Parameters: $2-3K, leaning toward solid state (lower noise, no tubes to swap), low profile (3" high or less). I doubt I'll need gain enough for really low output moving coils nor do I need tons of loading and capacitance adjustments, though some ability to adapt to different cartridges would be nice. Right now I'm running a Dynavector 20XM (medium output coil with 1mv output) in a VPI Scout. I don't see this as my last phonostage but rather one to take me a few years down the road until I can upgrade my table/arm/cartridge in a big way. Basically, I'd like to end up with vinyl playback as good (or better) than what I'm getting on the digital side right now. If I can do this for less than $2K great but I'll go to $3K if the jump in performance is appreciable. Bottom line: performance and reliability are key, features less so. Anything you might suggest should be as good or better than my fallback which is an ARC PH-5 (I know, tubes and taller than 3"!).

Thanks for your assistance.
dodgealum

Showing 2 responses by dodgealum

dodgealum OP
1,398 posts
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions so far. While the Heed Audio unit looks interesting, in this economy I am going to lean toward established manufacturers who will (hopefully) still be around five years from now. I probably should have included this preference in my original post. With this in mind the new Pass Labs unit looks interesting--anyone know what the retail will be on XP15?

What are some key design elements common to all really good phonostages that I should look out for? It is interesting that some models look like toys (Dynavector, JLTI) compared to others which are more substantially built (Pass, ARC). The idea of using a Wallwort seems rather bush league on a fairly pricy piece of high end audio gear. Am I off base here?

Again, thanks for the advice.
dodgealum OP
1,398 posts
 
Anyone have experience with the AcousTech PH-1P? Seems to meet all my criteria and has gotten some favorable reviews. Also, I'd be interested in hearing more about the Dynavector XX-2MkII. How much gain do you need since the output is fairly low (.28mv)? Is this cartridge "overkill" for my Scout? In other words will the Scout be able to extract whatever benefits are derived from changing from the 20XM to the XX2MkII?
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