Phono Stage

@signaforce 

I ran my Hana ML with Sutherland 20/20 set at 58db and 200ohm load.
It was fine. I tried a higher gain setting but came back to 58.

With Whest phono stage I liked 60db for the ML and had it loaded at 1000ohms.
A gain of 65db on Whest was not the best setting as it pushed everything forward and added artificial dynamics with the ML.
With Umami Blue I find both 60 and 65db to work just fine. Both the Blue and the ML have 0.4mv output. I dialed the loading back to 100ohm for the Umami at least until I get 50 or so hours on it to play with loading. Sounds excellent at 100 as well. 
 

I’m still far from reaching the optimal performance with the Blue at about 10hrs and it’s been interesting this break in process…
 

@goodlistening64 I had the McIntosh in my system and used XLRs. It was completely fine with 60db gain. 
Its specs state 16/8 volt (balanced/unbalanced). I can only use XLRs in my system - my integrated amp doesn’t offer single ended inputs. 
My buddy, who lent me the MP100 runs it both balanced and single ended and there’s no issue with it in his system either. For the 0.4mv output cartridge 60db is fine unless you have a super low gain preamp section. 

I’ve been reading mixed bag of thoughts on Rhea phono stage. Some say it’s noisy. 

+1 @audphile1  heard one maybe 6 months back and it had tube rush that was obvious to us.

Yeah and the Rhea also has 10 tubes. Re-tubing it will put you out of $700-$1000 easily. It may be worth it if you’re looking for tube sound that solid state gear just can’t give you. But on a flip side after some time with tubes you might say to yourself man I should have gone with a solid state unit. Grass is always greener on the other side until it isn’t. 

I’d love to have a tube phono but my Whest is so quiet, so precise and accurate that I know I will miss it. Itching to try tubes though…