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Natural, musical, dynamic phono preamp 700 used

Hello fellow analog enthusiasts. In my quest for a better phono preamp I must ask everyone this question -

If given $500-$700 to spend on a phono preamp which can run moving magnet and moving coil (or just moving coil) which would you choose?

Must be:

Tonally accurate
Musical
Dynamic

Not Dark or clinical/cold sounding

Replacing a Grado phono preamp which is ok, but I think I can do better and it can't do mc anyway.

Possible Contenders -

-Modded PS Audio GCPH (stock form was awful sounding imo, so the modded unit would be a leap of faith but heard they were good)

-Dynavector P75 MK2

-Sim Audio Moon 110LP (amps are too cool for me but heard their phono stage was decent)

-Used EAR 834P (getting on in age so not sure about this one)

Probably more I am not aware of, hence the reason for the thread.

Thanks and Peace
jeremy72
sebrof's avatar
sebrof
834 posts
 
Another one that may be worthy of consideration is the Musical Surroundings Phonomena Nova. Runs on batteries, charges with AC. New @ $1K, would be right in your sweet spot used. I have one and like it, but don't have much experience with other phono stages so can't comment too much on how it rates against the others suggested.
I use it with a Denon DL-103r, and it has DIP switches for Cap, Resistance, and Gain which made a huge difference with the LOMC Denon.

Made in the USA (California) which may or may not matter to you, it does matter to me.
jedinite24's avatar
jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
How about the Bottlehead Seduction Phono preamp?

You can either build it yourself and tweak away or have Bottlehead build it for you.

http://www.diyaudioblog.com/2011/02/bottlehead-seduction-phono-pre-amp.html

http://www.bottlehead.com/et/adobespc/Seduction/seduction.htm
4musica44107
520 posts
 
The Jolida JD9 is a very good sounding and good quality phono stage. I use it together with a Shindo Aurieges-L linestage and the musical result is outstanding. It also paired very nicely with the Shindo's predecessor - a Quicksilver linestage.
bajaed
264 posts
 
Stupid question, do the Jolida, GCPH, Shindo and others require a linestage or can they be run directly into an integrated amp?
jeremy72 OP
97 posts
 
Bajaed, wanted to give you a heads up on the GCPH in stock form, I would say it is not the most musical or tonally accurate phono stage. Heard it with a Thorens TD124 and Jelco setup with Benz Glider and compared to the EAR (in a friends system not in my own.) and when switching back and forth between the two, the clear winner was the 834p. The Stock GCPH sounded cold sterile and bright.
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