phono stages, which one?

[PAG]

Been trying to decide on phono stages, but finding it difficult.

I`ve whitled it down to a few.

EAR 834P, Trichord Dino, Dynavector or a heed quasar.

Out of these, the only one i`ve hear is the EAR, and liked it a lot

However, is there any others i should be looking at??

Thx peeps

 

[Papa Lazarou]

The Heed is very good, as is the EAR too. Not heard the others tbh.

A secondhand Trichord Diablo could be worth a look (great upgrade path too).

There was one on hififorsale.com the other day.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Hi,

What is your budget ?

A tough call as Phono stages can make or break a great Vinyl set up IMNSHO.

Vic

 

[PAG]

Vic Mackey wrote:

Hi,What is your budget ?

A tough call as Phono stages can make or break a great Vinyl set up IMNSHO.

Vic

about £450-500. prefer second hand, someone else takes the hit.

 

[Vic Mackey]

Are you looking for MM or MC or both? Valve or SS?

I have been through a lot of Phono amps in my time until I found the one that does it in my set up. Hope I can help.

Vic

 

[PAG]

prefer one that does both Vic, i`m using a high output mc which goes into the mm stage on the unisis, but when i change the cart, a mc section will be needed.

Prefer valves tbh (i`ve heard the 834p and liked it) but any other recommendations are welcome matey .

 

[Vic Mackey]

Hi,

I think withinyour budget the EAR would be the only Tube Phono amp I would look at.

If you handy with a soldering iron Bottlehead does a superb Tube Phonoamp also.

Some SS phono stages I would also look into are...

Acoustic Signature Tango

Lehmann Black Cube

and sometimes a Conrad Johnson Phono stage comes up on the second hand market. A very nice unit.

Hope this helps and good luck

Vic

Edit: Almost forgot a real sleeper. The Trigon Vanguard ll.A great phono amp that can be enhanced by adding a battery power supply.

 

[Hawk]

If you liked the EAR then it would be well worth trying the Icon Audio PS1. It worked better in my system than the EAR. Very good value for money at around £500 new. I use the MC version which has a switchable step up transformer.

http://www.noteworthyaudio.co.uk/PhonoStages.html

 

[Vic Mackey]

Hawk wrote:

If you liked the EAR then it would be well worth trying the Icon Audio PS1. It worked better in my system than the EAR. Very good value for money at around £500 new. I use the MC version which has a switchable step up transformer.http://www.noteworthyaudio.co.uk/PhonoStages.html

Always liked the look of the Icon Audio PS1. Never heard one though. You sound happy with yours.

Vic

 

[Hawk]

Vic Mackey wrote:

Hawk wrote:

If you liked the EAR then it would be well worth trying the Icon Audio PS1. It worked better in my system than the EAR. Very good value for money at around £500 new. I use the MC version which has a switchable step up transformer.http://www.noteworthyaudio.co.uk/PhonoStages.html

Always liked the look of the Icon Audio PS1. Never heard one though. You sound happy with yours.

Vic

Very pleased with it, for the money... Ironically im not as convinced by its looks though!but it does seem pretty well made. The valves have been upgraded but other than that its straight out of the box.

Cheers

Hawk

 

[jonjin]

Had a Lehmann Black Cube SE. Swapped it for a EAR 834. Opposite ends of the spectrum really. Lehman was clean but sterile. EAR had amazing bloom and soundstaging... very much a valve sound which matched the rest of my system.

JJ

 

[Vic Mackey]

jonjin wrote:

Had a Lehmann Black Cube SE. Swapped it for a EAR 834. Opposite ends of the spectrum really. Lehman was clean but sterile. EAR had amazing bloom and soundstaging... very much a valve sound which matched the rest of my system.JJ

Yep. Very system dependant -phono stages.

Vic

 

[moggy]

dont buy the ear, trust me, its crap. the eq, riaa is not terribly accurate, tim gave it a big bass bloom, as he only uses tiny speakers.

of any you have listed, the dynavector is far better, a bit clinical, very clean and detailed.

do yourself a favour and go for a slee gram 2 SE, slees are the best for most purposes, the 2se is very close to the era V, for half the cash.

the era V makes others look stupid and totally overpriced.

I have tried most, and wouldn't buy anything other than slee, he's a genius with opamps. he doen't just take a chip makers notes and reproduce it.

he worries and worries until its right. he does it properly

 

[PAG]

moggy wrote:

dont buy the ear, trust me, its crap. the eq, riaa is not terribly accurate, tim gave it a big bass bloom, as he only uses tiny speakers.of any you have listed, the dynavector is far better, a bit clinical, very clean and detailed.

do yourself a favour and go for a slee gram 2 SE, slees are the best for most purposes, the 2se is very close to the era V, for half the cash.

the era V makes others look stupid and totally overpriced.

I have tried most, and wouldn't buy anything other than slee, he's a genius with opamps. he doen't just take a chip makers notes and reproduce it.

he worries and worries until its right. he does it properly

:Not Sure: Muust have been a different EAR i was listening to then. The one i heard sounded fab.

As for trusting you, thanks, but no thanks.

 

[griffo104]

Well I quite enjoyed listening to Kenny's WAD valve phono at the bake off yesterday. Amazed at the detail coming from the cart with it. Lean and not bloated like I always thought valve amps would be.

I heard the Icon Audio at the show but they weren't really playing music I was familiar with, look forward to getting a listen to Hawk's at Duvet's bake-off.

With you liking valves I'd head in that direction and may be think of the EAR as well.

 

[moggy]

ah well, I was trying to help you avoid something poor. I have tried most side by side.

then at least get the ear and the slee side by side in your room and listen.

 

[Ant]

moggy wrote:

the 2se is very close to the era V, for half the cash.

I'd have to disagree, I think the Era gold is more than twice as good as the 2se. One of the best value for money upgrades IMHO

 

[enjoy_the_music]

I have a 47 Labs 4718 phono stage arriving on wednesday.

Interested?

http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Magazine/equipment/0904/47labs4718.htm

Only thing is it's 100V but i can provide a converter.

 

[Leonard Smalls]

I've got an EAR 834P deluxe, which I tested against a number of options, such as the Graham Slee Era Gold, Lehmann black cube, Brinkmann Fein and and the Tom Evans Whatever...

In my system the 834P was joint best, with the Brinkmann. There was no bass bloom (and believe me, I'd spot it!), just a very clean and realistic sound with a Clearaudio TT. So I bought it, it was also more handsome than any of the others with it's chrome front panel, so I was happy, and so was the Mrs! Itbeats the crap out of the phono stage in my Bow Warlock SE pre too, which is a pretty good recommendation.

I thought the Tom Evans was the worst - far too hifi. Perhaps if you like acoustic jazz-lite it's perfect but in my set up it was terrible..