Phono Stage Pre Amp

the general rule of thumb for phono pre-s:

the more you spend on the phono-preamp/cartridge the less expencive will be upgrades and time spent for it.
black cube, monolithic, phonomena, dino, plinius-jarrah are approximately in the same level of performance and are pretty descent phonostages but nothing realy serious. if you skip this level you can enter serious level of performance and dig from the grooves so deep that no CD-player for zillion bucks can.

the next level is the following: ARC PH3/PH3SE, BAT VKP5, Pass Aleph Ono, Pass X Ono, AudioSynthesis...

...and the next one is >$5k reference level.

the middle i believe has the best value per performance factor and very difficult to upgrade.
vpi scout even among vpi line is not an entry level table imo. in the same price route you can also try out Michell gyro SE or nottinham spacedeck

I have to also specifially point out that just by looking under the tube cover of both PH3 and EAR834P phono preamps you can see a huge difference in built quality between these two components (DIY members will understand me) certainly in the favor of ARC PH3.
ARC PH3 is simply built to be perfect and nearly for life.

Nameci,

Can you e-mail me the information about DIY upgrade path to SE?