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Are there any really good Phono Stages that don't cost thousands?

Lowered noise floor, and improved detail resolution.

As ever, Robert, espousing the cheap hi-fi philosophy means you end up with a cheap hi-fi. Yes, it can be done, but it won't be any good.
 
Blzebub said:
Lowered noise floor, and improved detail resolution.

As ever, Robert, espousing the cheap hi-fi philosophy means you end up with a cheap hi-fi. Yes, it can be done, but it won't be any good.
Click to expand...

Noise floor needs to low enough to be inaudible, obviously.
Going lower offers no benefit, James.
'improved detail resolution' is a meaningless phrase - you get that from low noise and low distortion, not magic beans or throwing cash at a tiny circuit board.

You don't appear to understand how a phono stage works or what it's meant to do.
 
Robert said:
Noise floor needs to low enough to be inaudible, obviously.
Going lower offers no benefit, James.
'improved detail resolution' is a meaningless phrase - you get that from low noise and low distortion, not magic beans or throwing cash at a tiny circuit board.

You don't appear to understand how a phono stage works or what it's meant to do.
Click to expand...

Robert, as ever, you are the acknowledged expert with phono stages, as with everything else!
 
Heck, Rob, The Cambridge Audio isn't so bad, but I thought the MM card in an Onix 21 was better when I compared them.

Perhaps start a thread entitled 'The Cambridge phono stage can't be bettered' and everyone can have a nice argument, then we can leave this thread for discussion of other issues like;

Why is there a hole in the market between £1K and £3K for phono stages?

The Whest P30R is one of the few in the middle of that range.

Looks like there are some interesting developments though, with GT's new affordable model on the horizon.
 
Robert said:
'improved detail resolution' is a meaningless phrase - you get that from low noise and low distortion, not magic beans or throwing cash at a tiny circuit board.
Click to expand...
You get "more detail" by boosting the level above the 318uS pole by a dB or so (a common trick) or by adding deliberate distortion

Both are euphonic and not accurate
 
I remember a test of the Whest 30 some years ago which showed a fair bit of lift in the treble when measured.
 
Robert said:
Noise floor needs to low enough to be inaudible, obviously.
Going lower offers no benefit, James.
'improved detail resolution' is a meaningless phrase - you get that from low noise and low distortion, not magic beans or throwing cash at a tiny circuit board.

You don't appear to understand how a phono stage works or what it's meant to do.
Click to expand...

No absolutes Robert. Going lower may not offer any benefit, but in some cases it might dependant on other component choices and even the noise on the original recording. With analogue, noise is summed through the various components/stages so it is good practice to get noise as low as possible in each stage.
 
Just starting a list of some notable phono stages in the £1-2K bracket.

I'd start with the Croft RIAA R at £1K, for MM only, but then the rest of this list is for MC

Puresound P10/T10 £1000
Nagra BPS £1500
Diablo/NCPSU/Cable £1560
Trilogy 907 £1700
Whest P30SR £1900
Icon Audio PS3 MM/MC £1900
TE The Groove £2100

Now the Diablo, the Groove, and to a lesser extent the Whest, are not hard to find second hand if you are patient. The Icon Audio requires extra patience, and I don't know about the Trilogy. I expect that's harder to find. I'd very much like to hear one, but for me I'd be looking at ex-demo.

I think the question for me at the moment is this. I suspect that either the Croft or the Puresound with something like a Grado Reference Master or Reference/Referencewould be a pretty excellent pairing, with a good bit of change from £2K. Now how much do you have to spend on a good MC cart and an MC stage to beat that?

Perhaps we can do a £2-£3k shortlist also, with the Vida and Tron and others.
 
Brinkmann Fein approx £1900 new (circa £800 s/h) but comparable with £4K+ phono stages. Plus no preamp required as it has its own volume control.

Cheers,

DV
 
I think compensating for the 3K to 10k region droop of a dB or so that MMs are prone to. I just measured my G1022 and see this with a strong 6dB pesk at 16kHz
 
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