Want new phono amp, what should I buy?


I have a Sota Star Nova turntable with an SME V tonearm and will soon have a Sota Cosmos 4 turntable. I curently have a very low hour Zyx 4D cartridge with the Gold Coils, Purist Audio Designs 1.2m Venustas Rev C tonearm and a Zyx Artisan Phono amp. The rest of my system is Pass Labs XP 10 Pre-amp and a X350.5 power amp with a set of built to the max True Soundworks (Rich Murry) Apogee Duetta Ultimate Signatures speakers. I think the weak link in my phono rig is my phono amp. I would like some recommendations for my audition list?
thesoundhouse

Showing 1 response by kurt_tank

My recommendation would be the ASR Basis Exclusive phono stage. It is a battery powered unit, that will accept up two cartridges, (with separate gain and loading for each), and will allow for balanced inputs as well.
It is extremely quiet, (with virtually no noise floor), with even very low output MC cartridges, and it is also very musical, IMHO.
I have two friends who currently use it.
(And if I could afford it, .....)

FYI, there are two versions, one is the standard "blue" board version that came out several years ago, and there is the newer "gold" board version that is slightly better, (and of course more expensive). The older version typically runs around $3-4K used, and the newer version around $5-6K.