I would stay away from current driven phono stages if only because it limits the choice of cartridge to very low internal resistance LOMCs. There are a lot of good ones in that group, it is true, but if you are gonna have only one phono stage and eventually perhaps several cartridges, I would recommend something more flexible. And if you want tubes, then that alone eliminates current drive, so far as I know. I personally think you would be making a good choice to go with tubes, given your downstream equipment.
Phono Stage with XLR outs
Taking another stab at vinyl after about a year break. Not going too fancy but would like a phono stage with both RCA and XLR outputs. My amp, Boulder 866, only accepts XLR. I do have a set of Cardas adapters but thinking to do it right.
Budget - under $1500 used or new.
Table - Clearaudio Concept with Hana ML moving coil cartridge.
Not trying to compete with my Meitner MA3i digital front end. Just looking for good natural presentation.
Contenders - Pro-Ject DS3 B, Black Ice Audio Fusion, McIntosh MP100
Any other candidates that I should consider?
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- 128 posts total
@audphile1 what didn't you like about the KC Vibe MII? |
I liked it. But when I upgraded from Hana EL to ML I upgraded to 20/20 Mk2 LPS. It provides more flexibility in load settings. The gain with the Vibe was slightly low - believe it or not I heard the difference between 0.5 on EL and 0.4 on ML. 20/20 resolved it. It was also much quieter and sounded better than the vibe. But…the Vibe is a solid phono. |
@lewm I think so too. I also see if this time around I’ll hang on to the analog front end. I recently acquired a nice Teac A-3340S reel deck. The recording section of it needs a hopefully minimal overhaul, but I want to play around a bit with vinyl to tape recording. The tapes I have sound really nice. It’s kind of a fun part of the hobby to play with different toys and see how good I can get it to sound. I love my streaming front end. This is just to keep me less bored and more satisfied. :) |
- 128 posts total