Do they make a quiet great sounding phono pre amp??


Hi, I have purchased and listened to 3 phono preamps which are: A musical surroundings phonomena, musical surroundings Nova II, and a Manley labs Chinook. The Manely labs Chinook is by far bettter sounding then the first two (double the cost too). But, All three have given me nothing but trouble (noise,noise,noise even terrible clipped signals!), and 2 of them basically failed on me. So before I go DIGITAL, can someone please tell me who makes a phono preamp in the $2,000-$3,000 range (tube or solid state) that I can rely on, and sounds as good or better than the Chinook?? Thanks.


Matt M                                             
128x128mattmiller
lewm


.... even simpler, you might find that re-arranging the plugs so that they all come off the same AC receptacle would permit you to go back to using 3 prongs.
This is the closest to the best solution to this common problem, imo. The hum/noise is caused by a differing voltage potential in the grounds. Relying on grounds of equal voltage potential will eliminate the noise. That's a benefit of using properly installed dedicated lines.
I have owned an original Musical Surroundings Nova Phenomena for a year and a half and it has performed flawlessly and is dead quiet.

Good luck sorting this out. Please be careful with your choice of resolution so as to not put you or your gear in jeopardy.

Tom
I can only really recommend ones that I have used, but will suggest one that I haven't too.  At present I am using a Zesto Andros and it is really quiet. Really nice sound and I love that the settings can all be controlled without having to open up the box. The Zesto is more than what you want to spend though, otherwise it would be a great option.  Before the Zesto I was using a Sutherland Insight (solid state).  It was also very quiet. Not as musical as the Zesto, but really good and it's priced at around $1500.  The next step up would be a Sutherland 20/20. I think those are around $2300.  I have not listened to one, but that is probably the sweet spot in the Sutherland line. I would try one of them from a reputable dealer that has a generous return policy.

Jason