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Phonostage recommendations under $3K

Folks,

I am looking to step up from my current Parasound ZPhono XRM (still under 60 days audition trial). To be honest, I am quite pleased with its performance, feature set and flexibility. I mean what else you can expect from a $600 phono. While I enjoyed listening to vinyl through XRM, I feel there is room for improvement and XRM may be the weakest link in my vinyl setup. And since XRM is the only phono I’ve experienced in my setup, I don’t have quite have a reference point. So what else should I be considering under $3K?

I prefer a relaxed and slightly warm sound since I mostly listen to jazz genre.

I started to put together a list list based on sound quality and flexibility with gain and impedance settings.

Parasound JC 3+ Phono Pre
Allnic H-1202
Leben RS30 EQ (requires a SUT for MC Cart)

I hear high praises on Herron VTPH-2A but it’s bit more than I would like to spend at this time.

My current vinyl setup, Thorens TD1601, ZPhono XRM, Hana ML (low output - 0.4mv), Accuphase E-650 and Tannoy Canterbury’s.

I would really appreciate some recommendations based on your personal experiences. Thank you!
128x128lalitk
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
sumadoggie-
I took delivery of a VTPH-2A about a month ago (running a Rega P10 through it). It is lovely and lives up to all of the praise heaped upon it in this forum. Keith also deserves all the kind words mentioned about him. It’s worthwhile to contact Keith and get a conversation going even if you don’t decide to buy from him. I’ve put about 30 hours on it. It’s wonderful out of the box and continues to open up. I haven’t even started to play with the capacitance plugs yet.
Resistance. But yeah, its an impressive phono stage. Michael Fremer reviewed it as being comparable to anything in Class A- and that was the previous version! I actually think one of the bigger obstacles to wider acceptance is its low price. Nobody wants to believe you can get a $10k phono stage for $3500! Have you looked inside? If you do then its even harder to believe. How he sells it so cheap I don’t know.

At 30 hours the bulk of the big improvements are done. But don’t be surprised if you notice a hundred hours from now it sounds even better. The improvements sneak up on you. For a real treat leave it on all day and listen late at night. You’re right about dynamics but probably the biggest surprise to me was how utterly "right" it gets the timbre and tone of every instrument. Keith tells me this is timing. Not something I ever thought of as timing before but when he started explaining and got into the Fourier Transform he lost me. Suffice to say the guy is absolutely obsessed with this stuff, and it shows in his work.
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,774 posts
 
Here’s where the hype gets out of hand. You can’t get a $10K phono stage for $3600. At least, not a "good" $10K stage’s worth of sound quality. I’ll take the $10K VAC Renaissance phono all day over a Herron. Music simply flows better from the VAC. To be fair the VAC’s built-in Lundahl LL1931 SUT is not the best choice for all MC cartridges (I bypass it and use a different outboard SUT). To its credit the Herron will work well with almost any cartridge. The Herron is extremely strong at its price point. But the cliché "performs at 2x/3x/4x its price" is well -- a bad audiophile cliché. 
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
First, that's not what I said. What I said was, " Nobody wants to believe you can get a $10k phono stage for $3500! " Which you just proved. It was in the context of saying the Herron offers such high value its hard to believe. Which again you confirm. (You sure don't believe it!) So its all true, and beyond criticism. You just need to learn to read. And comprehend. 

Case in point, the previous sentence was,  " Michael Fremer reviewed it as being comparable to anything in Class A- and that was the previous version!" So, two things: One, you have just picked a fight with Michael Fremer. Good luck! And two: Learn to read. And comprehend.
tomic601's avatar
tomic601
12,734 posts
 
Keith is a super guy and certainly provides high value. I enjoy my 2A with Lyra feeding it. I didn’t run a super wide range of NOS thru it but generally it does not reward NOS. It does reward isolation and damping, power cord investment, IC’s and a separate power conditioner , but most tube stuff does. They do come up used.

i do have the ML you run but with a Croft RIAA-RS phono preamp, which is an insane value also. I use the genius Roger Modjeski RM-4 in front of it ( RIP RM )

somebody mentioned Jim White and Aesthetix, his gear is hyper well designed and upgrades available for a long life cycle.

have fun, enjoy the music and the journey!!!
tuzarupa's avatar
tuzarupa
65 posts
 
I would add Hagerman Audio Labs.
https://www.haglabs.com/
https://www.haglabs.com/collections/phono-preamps
10 year warranty, 30-day trial. Small US company (Hawaii).
You may be pleasantly surprised. I was.
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