Budget phono stage- advice appreciated

Hey Mjm, It's a fine thing to find someone who agrees with me on this problem of the Black Cube squashing the dynamics of different recordings. It says somewhere in the Lehmann Audio promotional literature that Lehmann designed phono preamps for recording studios before he turned his attention to the home market and the design of the Black Cube. Studio engineers regularly use limiters and compressors during mastering for certain tracks (usually the vocal track and the drum tracks in a rock or pop recording) to smooth them out in the mix. I have a feeling that there is some of this philosophy in the Black Cube. Also, there are points in playback when the Black Cube suddenly seems to change the balance of the instruments all at once. Usually this is exciting, like hearing a new recording all at once in the middle of a piece. It is usually well-placed, musically speaking, on the very first beat of the first bar of a new section in the piece. But it also sounds like a recording studio console that has its different EQ and volume settings for the different tracks stored on computer--an auto-pilot mixer. As far as frequency linearity, it is incredibly difficult for me to EQ bad vinyl recordings through the Black Cube. (I sometimes use a Z-systems rdq-1 digital equalizer to correct imperfections on vinyl recordings that I want to archive on CD.) Yes, the Black Cube sometimes makes a grand appearance on particular occasions (with MFSL and high-quality vinyl); but it can also crush and squash and bend recordings, and then it sounds like the cheap stuff. In general, it sounds better late-night--like all analog.

I own the Black Cube and have been VERY pleased with it. I bought mine used for $450 and think it's a superb buy at that price. I find the comments about "compression" of the audio signal by the Cube interesting, since I have NOT experienced such a phenomenon. To the contrary, I think the dynamics of this preamp are excellent. I am using a Shure V15VxMR cartridge, which has sufficient voltage output that I use the lower gain setting on the Cube. Are the people who think the Cube compresses the signal using low-output MC cartridges?

A second thought I should have included in my previous post. The Black Cube is now being sold in an upgraded version, which I am told has an improved op-amp stage. The Cube I currently own is this later version. Are the other writers on this thread using the older version of the Cube?

Compression is very apparent on dynamic recordings: try percussion ensembles (E. Varese, Xenakis), some Decca reissues (Bartok, Resphigi), some Harmonia Mundi France ("Atrium Musicae de Madrid" recordings) if you want to experience it. Even ride cymbals are compressed on most jazz remasters. My Black Cube--the one with the compression problems--is old. It still has the old company name on it: Entec. What is the name of your upgraded version? I heard from a friend of Lehmann that he has been trying to develop a more expensive top-of-the-line phono preamp for years. But all of them sound like the Black Cube. Despite my criticisms, the Black Cube is probably the "best bang for the buck" (the type of product that Lehmann Audio explicitly wants to produce anyway): I prefer it to the Creek, and the Musical Fidelity.