Another here for Parasound JC-3 Jr. I used it until I decided to upgrade my cartridge and went full blown JC3 +. It’s like spending money on something that’s not even there it’s so transparent. Hard to beat at the price, IMHO.
Suggestions for Phono Preamp
I'm interested in a decent phono preamp in the $1,000 area code (plus or minus a few hundred) for my Rega Planar 3 and I have a dynavector 20x2l mc cartridge to work with a tube amp which has both rca and xlr inputs.
Here's the thing. I really don't like those tiny switches, especially when you have to open the preamp to get to them. Also, I hear that it is best to play around with the gain but how do you do that if changing the settings is a pain in the rear?
There are some preamps with the knobs for settings but they almost always are in the back and, again, that drives me crazy. Why can't the settings be in the front so you can easily access them and make changes/adjustments so you can actually hear differences?
Anyhow, if anyone has suggestions, I'd much appreciate it.
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The more research I do on this, the more I'm confused because everyone has a different idea of what sounds best. It is also a little annoying that you have to buy a preamp for your TT that may be more expensive than your TT and cartridge combined just to amplify the sound. I may have found something though. I don't think it has been mentioned but does anyone have experience with the PS Audio Stellar Phono Preamp? |
@dz13 I don't know why you would want spend more than half of what your TT cost. It's just not going to make a difference above that price point. I have the same TT as you do, and I am super happy with my $600 preamp. When you have a 10K turntable, you might want to have a higher quality preamp, otherwise it's putting formula 1 pirelli tires on a Golf. |
@grislybutter Yes, it is a conundrum but I'm also trying to head off upgrade-itis by getting a decent phono preamp. I've had cheap ones, Schiit Mani and the Vista Audio Phono 2. Now I am using a pretty durn good one built into my LTA Z40+ with a SUT which sounds nice. It is just an unfortunate/fortunate turn of events that I found "another" endgame amp with the Sachs Valhalla which needs a phono preamp if it is going to have the TT down the road. I've been very tempted by a Sachs' phonostage which has a SUT. I may go that direction as well even though it has switches in back but not that hard to reach/adjust. |
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