Herron VTPH-2A vs ModWright PH 9.0

@thiefoflight 

That PH9.0X does sound interesting and in the $4K range seems priced well against its features and design.  The more phono's I gain experience with the more I realize that the Herron is perhaps the most over-hyped phono of all time - developing nearly cult-like status thanks in part to a contributor on this board.  I owned the Herron and it was fine - priced about right.  It's sound is not refined at all, it's a bit noisy, the FET-based MC stage leaves quite a bit to be desired, and overall it sounds SS, not tube.  The lack of controls on the front made it a bear to dial in and I was only happy with it while using the MM tethered to a nice SUT.

My current Luxman EQ-500 is everything the Herron wasn't and simply a joy to use in every respect with a wonderfully refined, quiet, tube sound.  It's packed with features, a 7-tube compliment including tube rectification and all front panel controls, balanced options, multiple inputs etc.

In a second system I picked up a used Tavish Classic tube phono for $500 and paired it with a used $275 Rothwell MCX SUT.  Together they outperform the Herron!  Love that little combo. 

Enjoy your 9.0X!  Would like to hear one someday.

@three_easy_payments Thanks for your thoughts on the Herron and the Luxman. I’ve always itched to try the Luxman myself and likely will one day. Have you rolled tubes in it? If so what are your preferences?

I may have misspoke with the Herron. What I meant by refined is polite… restrained. I agree it was noisier than any Modwright unit I owned, which resulted in a lack of resolution. And it was just more… boring. Sometimes a component can be very high quality and refined and land in the same boring territory, even if it performs at a higher fidelity. The Herron was for sure noisier and further obscuring the music. 

@thiefoflight  Yes, I've tried rolling tubes in the Luxman after reading several pro reviewers report great results.  I started with the rectifier and am using a 1960 Mullard with nice improvement, particularly to bottom end grip and bass heft.  I then tried a quad of used Tele ECC83's and they completely degraded the sound so I went back to the stock JJ's which actually sound excellent.  I'm wondering if I just got a bad batch of ECC83's.  I rolled the two ECC82's with a pair of mid-50s Tele's for a slight improvement over the stock JJ's so they currently remain in place.

It's interesting with the noise issue on the Herron.  I know that Keith was very meticulous selecting the best EH tubes for the unit and I'm now realizing he probably had to because only the quietest tubes would yield an acceptable sound with his circuit design. I don't know why he didn't use the 6922/6DJ8 in his phonostage which is what he uses in his linestage. All this talk of noise wouldn't be an issue because the EH 6922 is one of the quietest tubes there is for this purpose with ample gain.  

I just posted in the Analog section wondering about Modwright, Luxman and Allnic phono pre’s for use with an AT Art9XI. Anyone have any experience with Allnic’s newish H-5500? Or care to project based on experience with a 1202? Thanks. 

@three_easy_payments Thanks for your thoughts on the Luxman. You might have gotten bad or fake Tele’s, but I’ve heard them sound hot rides to the point that they almost distort. In full transparency, I love the Psvane 12AX7-s above any other 12AX7 tube I’ve ever heard (and I’ve heard a lot of them), and I would probably try those if I ever got the Luxman. I wouldn’t expect anyone to agree with me as audio is personal and we all have different ears. 
 

@coys21 I’ve never heard the H-5500 but I did have a shootout with an older Modwright phono and a few other stages (mentioned this above), and the H-1201 was one of them (I didn’t mention that previously). I also owned an L-3000 Mk II preamp for a short while. I would say that Allnic overall is very colored and bloomy, and with both units the top end was recessed regardless of tube rolling and recapping. They were very pleasing to listen to but cut into the amount of air and space that should have been projected by the music. I bet they would work more for higher efficiency speaker systems, which I have also played much with, but I would never consider them for anything else