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Phono Preamps with "balls" ?

taking the cue from another thread about speakers with "balls" - what are some phono preamps that you have found to be the most powerful, dynamic and yet still sound clean.  
i turn on my digital sources and they are often much more robust sounding and would like to know if there are phono preamps that can deliver.  thanks in advance  
avanti1960
czarivey
5,658 posts
 
One that can accommodate all kinds of cartridges on the market without external step up device 
Violectric pp1 comes in mind with Number of setup switches 

invictus005
597 posts
 
Let me just start by saying that most phono preamplifiers out there are just simply terrible. It's the hardest component to get right. What I found to sound good:

Parasound JC3
Micromega MyGroov
Goldmund PH7
jbny
38 posts
 
Graham Slee Accession
Parasound JC3+
Whest PS.40RDT
Pass Labs XP-17

What I have found is that many people tend to under gain their cartridges, this leads to a lack of dynamics. Not always the case but many times I have been at friends house and after listening to their setups if it sounded a bit lackluster, I asked if they could raise the gain. Many times, not always, the difference was pretty striking on how much the phono stage came alive.
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