Phono Stage Pre Amp

I used to have EAR834P and now own ARC PH3 with DIY modification to SE using infinicap and caddock resistors.

EAR 834P has more gain but less flexible than ARC PH3 due to no good way to load the cartridge. But if your preamp does not have much gain, I wouldn't recommend ARC PH3 with low output(<0.6mV) cartridges, EAR 834P has little more gain. There are component modifications information available to improve EAR 834P sound but still not comparable to stock ARC PH3 sound.

ARC PH3 stock version sounded much better than EAR834P(EAR 834P is not a bad sounding preamp either). I now upgraded some of the components(using Infini caps and Caddock resistors) of my PH3 using SE schematics. Simple as changing a few stock resistors with Caddock or Vishay resistors gave a new life to ARC PH3 and Infini cap upgrade brought the ARC PH3 to another level. NOS tubes always make difference as well.

You might want to consider the Art Audio Vinyl One as well. You get plenty of gain (~65dB as I recall), tube regulated power supply, output volume control, and an all-tube circuit design. On the used market it is an especially good buy. It's just a thought. Good luck.

If you just want to "try it out", then the $25 "Little Rat" that runs on a 9 volt battery. Or get two and run them as dual-mono. Ask Dekay about it.

Nameci,

Can you e-mail me the information about DIY upgrade path to SE?

Though I've never heard it myself, I have read and heard great things about George Wright's tube phono stage. I believe it is the WPP100C. I am intending to get back into vinyl again this year and that will be one of the options I'll be considering at that time. No one has mentioned it yet, so I thought I'd add it to your suggestions.

http://www.wright-sound.com

What amp are you feeding this into? This may have some bearing on the best phono pre. There are many good suggestions here already. My inclinations would point me towards the ARC and the Pass Labs as well as the Wright Sound I mentioned. The Wright Sound is $825, while the other two are quite a bit more. I think it has been implied already that you may not get a sense of just how great vinyl can sound if you don't push the envelope a bit, and go for the mid-range phone stages. I tried a rather inexpensive, but well-reviewed Creek OBH-8SE, a short while back, and was not really impressed at all. I sold it and went back to listening only to CD's. I'm sure I'm missing something by not giving vinyl the chance it deserves, and now wish I'd sprung for a better pre. The Creek is certainly an entry-level solution. Hope that helps. Good luck!