klaabu Posted October 2, 2023 Posted October 2, 2023 Hey again. Last time i wrote here, when i was on my path to my first turntable, i got a lot of help and good information: My last post As weather is getting colder here will spend more time indoors so time to revive my LP listening hobby again. My system: - buchardt speakers - kinki studio pre and power amp - sl1200g with nagaoka mp500 So nothing great but not a budget system also. The problem, at-least in my head , is the phono stage (preamp) I currently use. Which is ifi zen phono. I would like to replace it with better one but at what price point i really would hear improvements? Improvements i'm hoping to find are holographic and bigger soundstage, bunchier bass, more details. Currently i have around 2k euros to use for this. So here are some questions: 1) Can tube phono preamps work with my full solid state system? 2) Can you recommend some tube phonostages around my price point? Currently in my list are Icon Audio PS1 MkII and Black Ice F159 3) If tubes are not compliant then can you recommend some SS phonos? Currently in my list are Lehmann Black Cube SE II and graham slee accession Anyways thank you again
Warren Jones Posted October 2, 2023 Posted October 2, 2023 Sota have an excellent phono stage called the Pyxi which was born from a DIY design by Wyn Palmer over on Audiokama. I have the original DIY version and it's an excellent phono stage. The Pyxi is a bargain at $300US https://sotaturntables.com/product-category/phonostages/
aussievintage Posted October 2, 2023 Posted October 2, 2023 8 hours ago, klaabu said: 1) Can tube phono preamps work with my full solid state system? For sure. Some people, myself included, think they work really well improving the SS system. To go further, some people use a valve/tube line preamp as well. 8 hours ago, klaabu said: 2) Can you recommend some tube phonostages around my price point? Currently in my list are Icon Audio PS1 MkII and Black Ice F159 One of my favourites - it uses passive RIAA filters between stages, the same as the phono preamps I build for myself. https://hagerman-audio-labs.myshopify.com/collections/phono-preamps/products/cornet-mm-vacuum-tube-phono-preamp
FR DRew Posted October 2, 2023 Posted October 2, 2023 Another very highly regraded valve phono pre is the Bottlehead Eros, however if you aren't handy with a soldering iron, you may need to arrange for someone to do the build for you. From everything that I've read it appears to tick all the boxes you want to have ticked.
klaabu Posted October 3, 2023 Author Posted October 3, 2023 Yeh not handy with soldering iron and also somewhat afraid of tubes as never used them. As I understand they will break at some point and i need to have backup ones.
aussievintage Posted October 3, 2023 Posted October 3, 2023 1 minute ago, klaabu said: Yeh not handy with soldering iron and also somewhat afraid of tubes as never used them. As I understand they will break at some point and i need to have backup ones. Small signal tubes, as used in phono preamps and line preamps will likely outlive you. They last for a long long time and are physically harder to break than you might think.
klaabu Posted October 4, 2023 Author Posted October 4, 2023 Hey again, have been busy reading different reviews and forum posts and have settled on these 3. If I go SS - Graham Slee accession If I go with tubes either EAR Phono Classic or Icon Audio PS1 MkII Still not 100% sure about tubes as they have worse signal to noise ratio etc. At some point I need to throw dice as there is no way to audition any of them where I live.
aussievintage Posted October 4, 2023 Posted October 4, 2023 11 hours ago, klaabu said: Still not 100% sure about tubes as they have worse signal to noise ratio etc. You are playing a vinyl record through them with it's associated signal to noise ratio. A good tube preamp will exceed that buy a huge margin.
PKay Posted October 11, 2023 Posted October 11, 2023 On 4/10/2023 at 10:45 PM, klaabu said: Hey again, have been busy reading different reviews and forum posts and have settled on these 3. If I go SS - Graham Slee accession If I go with tubes either EAR Phono Classic or Icon Audio PS1 MkII Still not 100% sure about tubes as they have worse signal to noise ratio etc. At some point I need to throw dice as there is no way to audition any of them where I live. I have the EAR phonobox with solid state amp. It is a fabulous phono.
PKay Posted October 11, 2023 Posted October 11, 2023 On 4/10/2023 at 10:45 PM, klaabu said: Hey again, have been busy reading different reviews and forum posts and have settled on these 3. If I go SS - Graham Slee accession If I go with tubes either EAR Phono Classic or Icon Audio PS1 MkII Still not 100% sure about tubes as they have worse signal to noise ratio etc. At some point I need to throw dice as there is no way to audition any of them where I live. I have the EAR phonobox with solid state amp. It is a fabulous phono.
Tone Malone Posted October 14, 2023 Posted October 14, 2023 I tried out a friend's Graham Slee Era Gold V phono stage and then picked up a Lehmann Black Cube SE II, figuring I wouldn't hear a difference anyway. Was using a Nagaoka mp300 cartridge. While I didn't hear the two phono stages side by side, I have a niggling feeling the Graham Slee was fractionally better for my setup. Both are really good though. Good luck with your decision.
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