Looking for phono preamp suggestions

@newtoncr ,
both Boulder 1008/1108 vs Van den Hul the Grail SB seem to be excellent choices, but they're using different technologies.

Generally speaking, in a cartridge the more coiled wire turnings, the greater both the voltage output and internal impedance.  Likewise, the less coiled wire turnings, the lower both the voltage output and the lower internal impedance.

Like the Boulder, most mainstream phono stages amplify the "voltage".  So generally speaking, the lower the output cartridge voltage, the more the phono stage has to increase/multiply which in turn often lead to more distortion.  

The VDH Grail uses a much rarer form of amplification - "current".  The lower the internal impedance, the greater the current (Ohms Law).

So in a nutshell, the lower the cartridge's output voltage (associated with lower internal impedance), the greater the VDH current (a good thing) or the greater the voltage must be magnified by the Boulder (a potential bad thing - multiplying any distortion).  This doesn't necessarily mean that one is better than another, rather, your cartridge output may be an influencing purchasing factor.

FWIW, I recently purchased the VDH Grail SB because of the "black" backgrounds and favor low output/low impedance cartridges: less coils > less magnetic resistance > faster cantilever > cleaner music. 




 

prob not the answer you want hear, but if you want the improvements you say you want. i would suggest moving to a better dynavector cart - like an xx2 or tkr, or a lyra or AT art9

your ayre px5e is not an artifically sweet sounding unit but it very clean very smooth, no harshness at all, you could go zesto or chinook or another tube pre but it may well introduce noise - your noise floor is VERY low right now, don’t screw that up

instead, get a sweeter cartridge that resolves detail and images better and has more subtly

I’ve owned too many p-stages to count, and I think my Audio Research REF 3 blows away anything else I’ve heard.  Tubey in a good way: involving, high def, dimensional, but surprisingly authoritative.  Injects life into the sound.  Like a Chinook tonally, but with bass and jump factor.  I paid $10k for a demo model.  No affiliation.  

I second the recommendation for a BAT phono stage.   An all balanced design, from input through to the output.  There are several models to choose from ranging from $3K to $12,500.  I own BAT electronics and they are fabulous.  Read up on their website at balanced.com to become more acquainted with their design philosophy.  The sound quality is exquisite and they are built exceptionally well.  I have gone through several great systems in my time and my current BAT products are certainly about the best I have ever owned.
Good luck, and do enjoy the music.

Check out Sutherland. That’s all he makes. I recently got a modest model and had some questions/needed an upgrade and Ron Sutherland himself helped me. Doesn’t care where his box has been purchased -he will support it. I think his models go from $900-$16,500. I think his and Van den Hul are top options.