It depends on the particular unit, but my most recent build is a tube Hagerman Cornet 3, and I prefer it to my modified Hagerman Bugle 3 SS phono stage, which I thought was excellent. The sound stage is deeper. Voice inflections are more detailed. Strings in general have more texture in the overtones, and it’s more vivid and realistic. It has an open effortless feel to it. Pretty much the same characteristics I enjoy from my other tube gear, but there are several variables involved.
There’s typically less cost and downside with a tube phono stage or preamp than a tube amplifier, but there are pros and cons with both formats, It’s always a personal choice...I got hooked on tubes in the early 90s (at least for the critical music range), and have never looked back.
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My two preferred phono stages are MM Tubes, and I use a SUT for LOMC so I can keep using the MM Tube Phono. Listening with my friend yesterday, he has a Project Tube Box S2, it can do either MM or MC, but the damn thing has dip switches for capacitance and impedance on the bottom of it, and no PASS for MM. We were comparing Grace F9 MM to Goldring Eroica LX LOMC, total PITA. https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/tube-box-s2/
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Highly dependent upon the cartridge and on whether or not you use a SUT with low output cartridges. One can’t answer those questions for you. For high output cartridges I would use tubes, and I’m on record to say that paying big bucks for NOS tubes is overrated although you do want to select tubes that are operating within spec as described in the RCA tube manual. As to matching sections of dual triodes, that too is pointless if the circuit is single ended where typically only one of the two sections is in use. But can be important for balanced operation. |
My 3rd favorite Phono stage is also tubes, my friend’s Hagerman Tube Cornet 2, he brought it here, it sounded great, and I’ve heard it many times at his home thru my old JSE Infinite Slope Model 2 speakers that my son gave him and he restored. He runs it into a deHavilland Tube Preamp, to a SS McIntosh beast. .......................... Project Tube Box 2. I hate to admit it, because I hate it’s bottom jumpers, but it sounded darn good, and I studied the settings, so he could use the same jumper 1 on for capacitance, and only turn jumper 8 ON for his LOMC, jumper 8 OFF for MM. It is a lot of flexibility for not a lot of money, why not trust us and put them right on the front or top, and add a real ON/OFF switch rather than need to unplug it’s power supply. |
over time i moved away from high gain tube phono amps... too finicky and troublesome over the long term there are truly excellent ss phono stages that i use -- lehmann decade and ayre are two that are my go-to’s (sutherlands are very fine too, though lower in gain) if i want tubey goodness in the chain i use my c-j or arc linestage |
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