Previously suggested, I believe: Musical Fidelity. The M6x Vinyl has balanced in and out. Used or demo/open box should be right in your budget range.
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
In the event you remain open to try solid state, the Austin Audioworks “The Black Swan” is extraordinary, and then at its price new it is a stone cold bargain. I owned one as, like you, I decided to dip my toes back in to analog. As is usually the case, the next upgrade calls. I had to spend over $10k to better The Black Swan. I sold mine for near new price and the buyer was thrilled. |
@mitterboeck yes I am quiet familiar with the MP100. My friend owns it and I tried it in my system. It was excellent. Probably my favorite McIntosh component. @ghasley I’ll read up on it thanks! |
Although it’s slightly above your budget, I urge you to consider the Hegal V10. The chassis is divided into two compartments, physically separating the power supplies from the sensitive amplification circuitry and avoiding interference.Hegel fitted the V10 with gold-plated terminals, balanced XLR outputs, and a solid custom grounding screw. On the all-important input stage, they used ultra-low-noise discrete JFET transistors for both the Moving Magnet (MM) and Moving Coil (MC) input.
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- 128 posts total