Phonostage for Rega P10

The Luxman EQ-500 is an intriguing option. If I found one 50% off I would buy it too!

I bought a new phono stage myself about a year and half ago and ended up with the H-1202. I’ve heard a lot of great phono stages through the years and auditioned several more in the process of making a choice, but for me the Allnic was the one which stood out. It wasn’t the best, but for me the EQ-500 (which did take the top slot) didn’t offer nearly sufficient improvement to defend the huge difference in price.

I also listened to the Herron and while it’s an outstanding piece for the price, I simply preferred the Allnic. The Herron was exceedingly clean and neutral, more like a really excellent solid state stage, while I found the H-1202 to be equally competent, but with just the right amount of tube DNA to hit my personal sweet spot. A little extra sweetness, a little more body, a little more magic and no discernible downsides.

For this you give up the infinite adjustment which the Herron offers by way of it’s loading plugs, but that was a non-issue for me. The lack of tube "magic" could no doubt be ameliorated through tube rolling, but I have no interest in spending months, years and thousands upon thousands of ...(insert currency)... on re-discovering what the Allnic already provided out of the box.

My personal opinion is that if you want a tube phono stage, these two offer the best performance/price ratio - by a country mile. You give up very little sound quality compared to the very best, for a price that could almost be called moderate.

If you want one that is exceedingly neutral and infinitely flexible, the Herron is a no-brainer. If you want to hear that tubes are involved right out of the box and have no need for infinite fine-tuning, the same is true of the Allnic.

Better phono stages are certainly available, but unequivocal improvement will cost you big-time.

@smatsui 
I'm interested in reading what your sonic experience is with the Luxman when its signal is passing through your new tube configuration.  I've read elsewhere that a Luxman owner switched in a Siemens tube array. Could I also ask what you're using as your phono stage => preamp interconnect. Thank you!

@jimkiely,
I'm completely satisfied with my Luxman EQ-500 and (2) NOS Brimar CV4003 and (4) ECC83 Gold Lion tubes.  I left the EZ81 stock tube in place.  I use Nordost Heimdall interconnects from my EQ-500 to my Van Alstine Audio FET Valve all vacuum tube preamp with NOS Mullard tubes.  I get pinpoint imaging, and deep layered and wide soundstage.  The mids are as good as I've ever heard.  The bass is deep and articulated, and the highs are extended but not fatiguing.  It's a fantastic phono preamp and I have no urge to upgrade after owning it for about 2 years.

You had a good idea already with the Allnic H1202. By coming here you were sure to get some confusing and contrary advice. Because the NVO costs more is not necessarily an indication it will outperform the H1202 although it’s a worthy alternative. So is the Herron. I like any of these three ahead of any of the solid-state devices that have already been mentioned. But this is not to say that there are not some good solid state alternative choices. I just can’t think of any right now that are in the same price range. As Chakster tried to say, with a cartridge that puts out 0.35 mV, you need to consider the gain of the phono stage. Can the H 1202 handle that relatively low output? I don’t recall whether it has sufficient gain for an MC cartridge without also adding a SUT. But I think it has a SUT built in. You want about 60db over all phono gain.