It's a good phono preamp for the money and is fairly versatile. I ran a 2.5mV HOMC cartridge through one and it sounded pretty good. I wish Jolida provided a better range of loading options for low output MC cartridges though.
I'm not familiar with the sound of the A5's phono stage (I'm running an A3.5 by the way) but you might consider a headamp. The Hagerman Piccolo provides additional gain settings of 12, 20, and 26 db plus a range of loading options. You can even get custom loading settings installed when you order it. It turns nearly any phono preamp into a very versatile phono stage for most any cartridge.
My only caution with the Piccolo (and it may be true of other headamps) is that it can be a bit noisy in some systems/surroundings and takes some effort to find the cure.
Tom
I'm not familiar with the sound of the A5's phono stage (I'm running an A3.5 by the way) but you might consider a headamp. The Hagerman Piccolo provides additional gain settings of 12, 20, and 26 db plus a range of loading options. You can even get custom loading settings installed when you order it. It turns nearly any phono preamp into a very versatile phono stage for most any cartridge.
My only caution with the Piccolo (and it may be true of other headamps) is that it can be a bit noisy in some systems/surroundings and takes some effort to find the cure.
Tom