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?

audphile1

@audphile1 What a great thread an discussion.

As luck would have it my Lukaschek PP1 started giving problems with the sound on the left channel, noticably dropping in volume comapared to right channel. This happned on Wednesday last week. This was only noticable on vinyl playback. 

So having followed this thread and you mentioning the WhestTWO.2, I started investgating. A couple seconhand units via HiFiShark available in the UK. Spoke to both sellers and got good offers, but they are around 5 years old.

After a lengthy chat thread with James Henriot, I got a great deal on a new TWO.2 Discrete - and even better that I don't have to pay the 20% VAT (only 5% when it arrives in UAE). He is also setting it up for my Sumiko cartridge.

Many thanks to you and all the others sharing input / experienceyes laugh

@johannm awesome! Make sure to allow for some break in.
Whest is super quiet, extremely transparent and clear. That’s good news. Bad news it will let you know what’s going on upstream including turntable setup, how good your cartridge is and how pristine your record is.

I keep my two.2 on 24/7 ready to go. This also benefits the break in.
One other suggestion - use a high quality power cord. Doesn’t need to be ridiculously expensive. I am running Kimber PK14 on it and it made a very nice improvement - better bass, deeper soundstage. 
 

Good luck and let us know how you like it. 

@audphile1 thanks for the advice. I'm not afraid of bad news - rather know than not! Only then can you do something about it wink

Will have to import a power cord then - only expensive ones available in this crazy UAE market!

Will let you know how it goes - delivery time is around 2 weeks. So latish birthday present and early Christmas gift. 

Enjoy the music!