Upgrading phono stage


Hello all,

I have a modest system that I have been adding and changing in small increments. I am using a Rogue Audio Sphinx V2. I love the sound of this integrated especially for the money. I am wondering how much I have to spend on a seperate phono stage to get a marked improvement from the built in. I have read that many think the built in phono stage for the Sphinx is quite good. I have zero experience with outboard phono stages. The prices are all over the place and I would like to spend under a $1000 but if that is not enough to make a big change then I will wait and go bigger in the future. I am using a Ortofon 2M Blue at the moment.

Thank you
cpdkee

Showing 1 response by kamainacraig

I recently was wondering the same thing about the phono stage in my Rogue Pharaoh. I hadn't spun any vinyl for a while when a close friends' stories about his new turntable got me interested again to find out how much sonic benefit there was to be had in going with an external phono stage and at what cost. 4 years ago when I got my used Rega RP6 I had a dealer upgrade the stock cartridge to a Hana EL and asked about a future upgrade of phono stages and they recommended the Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ at $750. Fast forward 4 years and another dealer has popped up even closer to where I live and has a unit that I can take home to demo. I instantly heard more detail and nuances - an overall greater sense of "musicality", if you will, coming from the record grooves , than I had before. I should mention that the optional linear power supply ($600) is a big factor here - the phono stage alone gives you sonic benefits , but these are greatly enhanced with a LPS vs the supplied SMPS walwart. I would highly recommend a sBooster LPS  power supply at $400 over the MS unit though - the MS unit has a thin supply power cord to the phono stage that I discovered had an intermittent short in it, whereas the sBooster has a very thick supply cord . Overall the sBooster is bigger, heavier and just feels more robust. I have previous experience with sBooster as I added one to my DAC and it made a huge difference in sound quality over the stock walwart. As with all things audio, whenever possible try before you buy-  if that is not possible read as many reviews as you can and remember that YMMV. Good luck and good travels on your audio journey.