Phono stage advice please

Ian

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Ian
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Ok, been into. HI Fi for years but have no phono stage knowledge or experience.

I now have a Leben CS300xs, a wonderful thing that doesn't, however, play records.

Nagraboy is bringing round the Leben phono stage to try which is a logical move and beautiful though spendy.

Any suggestions on lower cost alternatives ? As I say, I'm really not savvy on these boxes in any way.

One obvious contender is the Croft RIAA R. I say this as a Croft fan and it's a brand I'm very comfortable with.

Thank you.
 

DomT

Food and coffee and rock n roll
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Jul 23, 2019
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Dom
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Ok, been into. HI Fi for years but have no phono stage knowledge or experience.

I now have a Leben CS300xs, a wonderful thing that doesn't, however, play records.

Nagraboy is bringing round the Leben phono stage to try which is a logical move and beautiful though spendy.

Any suggestions on lower cost alternatives ? As I say, I'm really not savvy on these boxes in any way.

One obvious contender is the Croft RIAA R. I say this as a Croft fan and it's a brand I'm very comfortable with.

Thank you.
Ian the slippery slope of phonostages! Having heard your system it does a lot well at very sensible prices. And so am going to recommend a few things that I think would fit what you have.

The Leben phonostage is rather overkill for your turntable and cartridge.

I have heard the Croft phono in a demo setting and it was excellent but went for the Audion Premier as it had more boogie but I think that the Croft be more your flavour. The Audion also doesn’t easily fit into your rack. On the same demo day I also listened to the Puresound and it was sleeeepy sounding and too boring; ok it was dead sounding.

Other than the Croft I really like the Trilogy stuff and have had the 903 and 907 on demo and bought the 907. The 903 is also overkill unless you are going to upgrade your front end but is great value for money compared to the 907.

Oh and I did heard a Lehman once at a dealer but didn’t compare it to anything but in isolation it sounded good. And I have a Dynavector P75 that a lot of people rate but it’s a more spirited flavour than the Croft but is also tiny which is a bonus.
 
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nak

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Chris
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Ok, been into. HI Fi for years but have no phono stage knowledge or experience.

I now have a Leben CS300xs, a wonderful thing that doesn't, however, play records.

Nagraboy is bringing round the Leben phono stage to try which is a logical move and beautiful though spendy.

Any suggestions on lower cost alternatives ? As I say, I'm really not savvy on these boxes in any way.

One obvious contender is the Croft RIAA R. I say this as a Croft fan and it's a brand I'm very comfortable with.

Thank you.
Your kit list says you have a Goldring 1042.
Am I right in saying you're in Notts? I have a Puresound P10 I could bring round if you like.
 

Jazid

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James
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I used an Icon PS1 with a 1042, I liked the sound very much, not so much the style of casing. They're available for not a lot of money (for a valve stage).
 
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Non-Smoking Man

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Jack lambert
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Short list:
(Assuming Goldring mm cart)

The Leema in the classifieds;
Appropriate Graham Slee;
Alpha2Delta PS2;
Bigbottle.

Of course there are others but a short list has to be short!

Jack
 
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Ian

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Ian
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Thanks so much all but sorted with what I had all along ! Croft pre phono into Leben integrated.
 
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