Above, and this one:
Always look a bit over your max, just in case a bit more $ might get you a lot more -----
Phono Stage
I am getting near the end of my current system journey. I have my digital (streaming) side set (for now). It sounds glorious to my old hearing aid assisted ears. And streaming is where I spend the vast majority of my listening.
Regardless, I am now focusing on vinyl, with the recent addition of a P8.
My analog side: Rega P8 w/ Hana ML > Rega Aria > Kimber KS1018 > BHK pre > Zavfino Fusion mk2 > Moon 330A > Transparent + > KEF Ref 3’s. If do a weak link analysis both chatGPT & Gemini say it my phono stage.
So looking for potential replacements. As always I am very space constrained, (half wides are perfect) no tubes and looking to stay under $3,000 used. I like accuracy, clarity & cleanliness.
My current candidates:
Rega AOS
Gold Note PH10
Sutherland 20/20 w/LPS
Sutherland Little Loco
The Sutherland’s work because they are thin and con fit under my raised center channel speaker. The duo stack is too high
Please let me know your thoughts and/or recommendations. Thanks!
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- 96 posts total
As mdalton stated, "you want to get the gain right". Critical to achieve that. If the cartridge manufacturer specifications state 60db, that may vary slightly one way or another and if your phono preamp does not allow a little leeway one way or another, you are limited with your settings. To give you an idea, the Rega Ania setting recommended is 69.5db. That is a setting that few phono preamps can offer. I think maybe the actual 69.5 setting is one that only a Rega preamp can achieve. But Rega does things in a proprietary manner. Most LOMC cartridges will be in the low to mid-60's. Kind of shocked that the McIntosh only goes up to 60db. Maybe someone can explain that? The Blue Unami would require around a 65db setting, so you would be better suited to figure out (for sure) what cartridge you will be using before buying a preamp. |
@jallan +1 I am very pleased with my Hegel V10. It is half-size, so would meet that desire of the OP. It also has gain up to 64 dB, so would work in that respect. It is able to keep up with my $10,000 digital front end. |
I ran my Hana ML with Sutherland 20/20 set at 58db and 200ohm load. With Whest phono stage I liked 60db for the ML and had it loaded at 1000ohms. I’m still far from reaching the optimal performance with the Blue at about 10hrs and it’s been interesting this break in process… |
- 96 posts total