I had a Gold Note PH10 for a few months; it was okay, nothing to get excited over at least with my system. I found it was noise prone which required a lot of adjusting to get right and even then it was still noisy.
It was very good in the mid range, so so on the low end and not well detailed on the upper range.
Honestly for under $1000, you should find a Clear Audio Smart V2, it’s quite a nice preamp for the money. I recently sold one in mint condition for $350 and it’s as good as the Gold Note or better when you consider it’s quieter and has as good a sound stage/imaging performance; just not the impressive mid range.
When you are ready to go to MC, plan to spend a lot more money for the cart and a good phono preamp which can take advantage of the more detail you’ll extract from the records. I am on my second Whest phono stage after having just moved up the ladder in their line up. And I picked up an Ortofon A90 MC which is spectacular.
It was very good in the mid range, so so on the low end and not well detailed on the upper range.
Honestly for under $1000, you should find a Clear Audio Smart V2, it’s quite a nice preamp for the money. I recently sold one in mint condition for $350 and it’s as good as the Gold Note or better when you consider it’s quieter and has as good a sound stage/imaging performance; just not the impressive mid range.
When you are ready to go to MC, plan to spend a lot more money for the cart and a good phono preamp which can take advantage of the more detail you’ll extract from the records. I am on my second Whest phono stage after having just moved up the ladder in their line up. And I picked up an Ortofon A90 MC which is spectacular.