Phono preamp for Dynavector XX2mkII

Sutherland PH-1 (Battery), Heed, Lehmann Black cube, Aqvox

I use the Ayre P-5xe with this cartridge balanced-in-and-out, and the combo outperforms my Berkeley Alpha DAC with the same recordings, in an otherwise all-Spectral system. So far, this phono stage holds very well its own within the much more expensive electronics. Although the manual says that for this cartridge's output voltage I should use the high gain, I opted for medium gain which sounds much more linear and quieter, plus the balanced operation helps to reduce noise a little further.

The only other phono preamps I tried were the Simaudio and Narga BPS.

How did the Sim and Nagra compare to the Ayre? Have been considering all three of those units.

I didn't like the BPS - warm balance, not adequate macro dynamics due to inadequate power supply, soft micro dynamics, rendering choruses too far into the hall so as to not to be challenged - overall, tube simulation using solid state. I suspect if I were to measure its frequency response I would see wild variations.

The Simaudio was dynamic, but I just didn't find it very musical and wasn't tapping my foot.

The Ayre is very neutral, dynamic, with an incredibly palpable presentation - live, with great rhythm, which makes you want to tap your feet; just a tad noisier than the BPS, but nothing I worry about; full of premium parts. A bit congested with choruses, but this could partly be the cartridge (did not put the other phono stages through these tests).

In the end, I picked the one that outperformed the Alpha with the same recordings (of which I have at least 10 or 12). But the Alpha kills my analog with HDCD Reference Recordings CDs, because of the superior technology and recordings.

Make sure you listen for yourself.

In my system I had a little different results with the Ayre and Sim phonos. Using the Ayre K-1xe preamp and Ayre amp with Thiel speakers. I found the Ayre to be on the dry side and a little thin compared to the Sim. It also was not as quiet.