Phono Stage upgrade to complement Dohmann Helix One Mk 2

@drbond 

Here is a great comparison of state of the art phono's FM Acoustics, Goldmund  etc - an excellent read - you can use google translate. It is well worth it.

Part 1 :

6台顶级唱放对比测试，超跑级黑胶系统为参考（1）

唱放之间的差异，远远超出我们的脑放，尤其在参考级唱盘上。

 mp.weixin.qq.com

Part 2 :

11台顶级唱放对比测试，超跑级黑胶系统为参考（2）

德国Trinity黄金参考前级的加入，把本次测试推向了高潮。

 mp.weixin.qq.com

Part 3 :

12台顶级唱放对比测试，黑胶元年真的来了（3）

顶级玩家那里黑胶一直没有衰落，软硬件革命性突破更是火上加油。

 mp.weixin.qq.com

Part 4 :

唱放中的"金陵十二钗": 唱放测试终结篇（4）

哪个是黛玉？哪个是宝钗？大家最关心的可能是哪个是秦可卿。。。

 mp.weixin.qq.com

 

Personally I find current mode input mc phono  stages such as the van den hul grail to be the most transparent and musical - step up transformers have phase shifts and cartridge matching issues, fet's are grainy, and tubes whilst very musical can be too noisy for some.

I have settled on a bespoke current mode mc input combined with tube preamp - ultra low noise, high resolution and musical. The current mode mc input I use can amplify from cartridges with output down to 0.1mv with ease.

Please let us know which one you got and how it sounds because whilst I can’t afford your kinda high end I guess as the saying goes ‘a cat 🐈 can look at a king 🤴!’ 😆 

Pani, if you mate the FM122 with a linestage having 12-18db of gain, you’d be in a good place to drive most amplifiers with most LOMC cartridges. (At the far end of that range, you’re adding 18db of gain which would be very capable.) Or did you mean to say that the FM Acoustics linestages have about that much gain? If so, many other linestages also have gain in that range.  But a passive linestage or an active one with zero added gain need not apply.

If shopping for a current mode phono stage, my advice is to try to find out exactly what is the input impedance. You want it to be as close to zero as possible, but of course it cannot be zero, because that would represent a short circuit, like a mute switch, for the cartridge. I would look for 10 ohms or less, to take the most advantage of the current output of a LOMC. Likewise, you can estimate the current output of the cartridge by dividing its voltage output by its internal resistance. Right away this tells you that LOMCs with high-ish internal resistance, say greater than 10 ohms, are not going to work so efficiently with a current mode design. So, for one of the lowest voltage output cartridges ever made, the Ortofon MC2000, at .05mV, it has an internal resistance of 2 ohms. Thus it makes ~25 micro-amps of current. Do the calculation for other LOMCs and you will see that the MC2000 actually makes a credible amount of current. Because most have an internal resistance much higher than 2 ohms.

@clearthinker 
you are spot on of why I purchased a VDH Grail SB- excellent sonics, very low noise floor, long track record, bargain priced in used market.  I’m hoping for additional brand synergy with my VDH Colibri Grand Cru.

@drbond , you just bought one of the very best if not the best turntable on the market. There are many turntables that are much more expensive that you could have gone for so, you were also interested in value. I also assume that the Dohmann's design and the reputation of it's designer led you to the purchase. 

I look at things the same way. Here is how it goes with phono stages. All my favorite cartridges are low impedance moving coil cartridges. I am not sure why that is but, so be it. These cartridges are low output and require a very quiet phono stage with a lot of gain unless you run the cartridges in current mode then the lower the impedance the higher the gain resulting in a better signal to noise ratio. The magnetic braking on the cantilever is far less resulting in better tracking than you would get with a voltage mode phono stage. All the current mode phono stages I know of are solid state. This limits my search to solid state current mode stages. I think Rob Robinson of Channel D is a brilliant designer as I think of Mark Dohmann. If you want to spend $60,000 than the Seta L20 is IMHO the way to go. It is a great example of American ingenuity. I will not spend that much on a phono stage. I went for the Seta L Plus wired for current mode. If I wind up with a second tonearm I'll get a second one.