Free standing phono stage or older preamp with phono stage- best value proposition.

[TheDecameron]

There are a lot of mediocre phono stages around -many of them not cheap. What do people think of going for an older hi end preamp with phono stage as an alternative to a new phono stage? I think you can get good value from this approach.
I mainly use a very good free standing mc phono stage but in a second system I bought an older Krell (ksp-7b) preamp purely for its mc phono section. It has a phono stage of better SQ than anything Ive yet heard in the sub £1200 phono stage market.

 

[Rodrat]

I was listening to an AVi pre (not the lab series) with a phono stage a couple of weeks back, i was very impressed with the clarity.

 

[alanbeeb]

Totally agree... the phono stage on my 20yr-old Krell KSL is superb, much better than anything I've heard from a standalone stage apart from an Audionote setup where the SUT alone cost thousands.

 

[Dowser]

Croft Micro also has a very good phono stage.

Richard

 

[uncl_nigel]

The only decent inboard (haha) phono section I ever owned comprised two S boards (in my 72) but that was some time ago.

 

[TheDecameron]

Now that would make an interesting shoot out- current phono stages vs inbuilt stages from quality preamps of say the 80's

 

[Brian]

old pre with phono

 

[ziggy72]

tom evans ec audio finestra from the late 80's early 90's is excellent. better than the trichord diablo with never connected power supply i replaced it with at the time. i bought the trichord used without hearing it after reading the glowing reviews. it was also very good but i preferred the finestra. they can be picked up for around £300 or less.

 

[TheDecameron]

thats exactly the type of thing Im talking about! Preamps would sink or swim on the reputation of their phono stage back in the ol days. Non remote control preamps are rock bottom in price and some of them are hiding killer phono stages. My krell preamp sits burning about 200w just to supply the phono input for my tt

 

[RHCD]

old pre with phono

But in that case not one with a great reputation, unlike the Krells.

 

[ff1d1l]

The phono amps - 2 of them - in my Tandberg 2075 reciever are really extremely good. I say that having owned for many years a KSL with phono stage, also having currently an Audio Innovations P2 with border patrol mods for comparison.
(the rest of the Tandberg isn't too bad either! They do come up on ebay from time to time)

 

[MVV]

There was a SH (not mine) Tom Evans Microgroove + in the classifieds for £300. That is cheap and having compared it with K cards a complete bargain.