Best $1000 Phono Preamp?

prime minister · Sep 30, 2015

From what I have been hearing from people that know, this seems to be the best phono pre-amp you can get for $1000:

Pro-Ject Phono Box RS

Any other recommendations?

prime minister · Sep 30, 2015

Before I heard of the Pro-Ject, I would have gone for this:

JohnVF · Sep 30, 2015

I know that I liked my DB-systems DB-8 more than a Musical Surroundings Nova Phenomena and a big two box Blue Circle. But...I've not heard either of the above options. My $600 (used) Juicy Music Tercel II, originally I think $1200 or so, is my favorite phono stage regardless of price. I preferred it to a $25,000 Burmester...but, I prefer most things to Burmester anything.

billfort · Sep 30, 2015

You've heard one of these more than a few times; Sonic Frontiers SFP-1. Not made any more but Canadian made and well supported locally by Chris at Parts ConneXion. Mine has been modded a bit but nothing too earth shattering mostly caps and PS mods.

I Love the sound of this; lots of detail, air, a big soundstage and a good dose of tube sweetness and midrange presence without the murk and bloat on the bottom. Dead quiet and a very good MC section if so inclined works beautifully with the low output Zyx carts I've used through it. They seem to go for about $700 up to $1k these days and turn up pretty regularly on Canuck AudioMart.

(not mine but...)

prime minister · Sep 30, 2015

When I started this thread, I was thinking (but obviously not saying), new gear. But you gents have made this thread much more interesting.

Yes, I've heard the Sonic Frontiers many times, and it's sensational. Good thought!

TubeHiFiNut · Sep 30, 2015

My phono stage is custom built so I'm not much help there.

I've had the ARC PH-3 and found it to be very nice.

Everything else I have is phono/line combined.

pvillemasher · Sep 30, 2015

The usual suspects I've seen recommended are the Jasmine something or other and the Musical Surroundings offerings, Jolida JD9 (I think). Oh yeah, and Nighthawk .

But I have also seen quite a bit of buzz about the Lounge LCR stage in the Tone Audio link below.

I used to own a Musical Surroundings Nova (battery jobbie) and thought it was pretty good. I now have a Klyne which when new is more expensive and to me sounds quite a bit better.

http://www.tonepublications.com/revi...io-phonostage/

marantzfan · Sep 30, 2015

I'll throw this out there as well, the Bottlehead Eros. Of the phono stages that I have owned, this one is the best by a good margin. It's MM only though, so if you want to play with LOMC you'd need to add a SUT (which honestly is the way I prefer to do it anyway).

Priced at $750 its a bit under your budget, so you can stock up on more vinyl.

http://bottlehead.com/?product=eros-phono-preamplifier-kit

This is a kit though, so some assembly is required.

prime minister · Sep 30, 2015

I still have nightmares about my Bottlehead experience, although when it was working, it did sound nice. i just can't imagine going down that road again. All that being said, I'd sure like to hear that.

Grainger49 · Sep 30, 2015

I have tweaked my Eros. V-Cap Teflon output caps, choke in the power supply, $17 Nude Vishay load resistors, $85 worth of hand matched, exact value RIAA caps.... Still I'm under $1k.

What was your problem with Bottlehead?

David · Sep 30, 2015

My Jasmine LP 2.0 with upgrade caps shamed other phonos costing a few grands. I wish that wasn't the case since I wanted to upgrade to some fancy tube phono. But that was the case. It's important that it wasn't my sole impression.

Catcher10 · Sep 30, 2015

I really enjoy my Phonomena II, and have heard a few that run dbl and was not happy with the sound. At some point in time I might consider a new phono amp in the $1k-$1.2k range.
The loading options the PII has though is insane, can handle anything.....Have not seen anything "new" that interests me right now.

pvillemasher · Oct 1, 2015

Here's another I just stumbled upon, $749

http://www.stereophile.com/content/leema-acoustics-essentials-phono-preamplifier#2AUMIr5imBOEbQ1S.97

prime minister · Oct 1, 2015

Grainger49;n12414 said:
I have tweaked my Eros. V-Cap Teflon output caps, choke in the power supply, $17 Nude Vishay load resistors, $85 worth of hand matched, exact value RIAA caps.... Still I'm under $1k.

What was your problem with Bottlehead?

My trouble with Bottlehead was a combination of bad luck, and some overly cheap parts selection on their part. Just made for a huge amount of grief for relatively small issues. I had the Foreplay III and the Seduction with C4S.

David · Oct 1, 2015

I'm

Prime Minister;n12460 said:
My trouble with Bottlehead was a combination of bad luck, and some overly cheap parts selection on their part. Just made for a huge amount of grief for relatively small issues. I had the Foreplay III and the Seduction with C4S.

That's news to me. They use cheap parts?

TJLitt · Oct 1, 2015

I am fond of an older variation of the Phonomena. It has held up in side by sides with some decent stuff. The current lot seems to get spoken of well.

inthewoodsnolonger · Oct 1, 2015

We like ours

prime minister · Oct 1, 2015

inthewoods;n12525 said:
We like ours

Looks great. What is it?

JohnVF · Oct 1, 2015

Looks like a Musical Surroundings Nova Phenomena. Now I want a cookie.

pvillemasher · Oct 2, 2015

JohnVF;n12533 said:
Looks like a Musical Surroundings Nova Phenomena. Now I want a cookie.

I'm thinking not the Phonomena Nova, because my Nova had different feet. So maybe the MS Phonomena?? Or maybe the new Nova.
Now I won't be able to sleep tonight.

Best $1000 Phono Preamp?

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