Can Static Destroy Electronics?

Should I contact Dynavector? What did I do wrong?

No, static won't do that until you get to the level of a lightening bolt. The pop was whatever blew in your phono amp.

It seems very unlikely that the exact same incident would happen to two different phono preamps, completely randomly. 
Is there anything downstream/upstream that could cause this? Could I have a grounding issue in my house wiring?

Your phono pre-amp is solid state correct? If it has a FET or JFET input (discrete or op-amp) it is possible, though unlikely that static blew out the input of the phone-pre (it would not blow out the output, but the input). It will depend on what circuitry is right at the input (capacitance, etc.) to soften the ESD. Usually on analog circuits there is enough RC to soften spikes and/or ESD protection. You are not going to know unless you send it back and even then only if they do part level analysis of the failure.


It’s sort of weird the dip switch failure. Did you verify it was shorted after removal? I would have been more inclined to think it was a short on the PCB, and yes they can grow after manufacturing. Other issue with dip switches is if the wrong type are used for the manufacturing process and/or PCB cleaning process. That can result in internal corrosion which again may not reveal till much later.

Downstream/upstream issues? ... only thing that comes to mind would be possibly a large DC offset on a coupling capacitor discharging through sensitive equipment, but that is purely speculation of course.

The dip switches on the Trichord Dino are for gain and loading. I took a multimeter to see if there were any shorts, and the R output showed that both its signal path and ground path we’re going to ground. Different gain settings at the dip switch would make it so that ground short was no longer there, so it seemed like that has to be it for that device. 
For the Dynavector P-75, I have no idea.