Best phono stage in C-xx series?

stoutblock

"If it sounds good, it is good." Duke Ellington
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A local AK'er and friend is exploring an economic solution for getting a phono stage for his system. He needs it to have LOMC capability so some gain is required. He has looked some of the new options out there. He owns the cheaper Cambridge unit but feels it is lacking. I talked him into trying out just the phono section of my rebuilt and upgraded C-2. Using a Benz ACE L into the 100 ohm MC input on the C-2 and the tape out into his existing system, damn it sounded good! Certainly better than anything he had to compare it to.

This got me to thinking. Of the C-2, C-2a, C-2x, C-4, C-80, C-85 etc, which one actually has the best phono stage? Please disregard the line stage performance as that is not relevant. I have owned all of these except the C-2a but have not compared just the phono stage directly with each other. My guess is the C-2x is probably the best if not for the simple fact the phono stage has it's own power supply? Those of you that have torn into these, are the phono circuits similar in design, different in component quality etc? Has anyone compared the sound quality of just the phono stage in these Yamahas?

I have always been impressed with all of these preamplifiers, but with the price of a phono stage of any quality, I'm curious if these Yamaha phono stages are a superior option at this price range even if you aren't using the linestage?
 
A local AK'er and friend is exploring an economic solution for getting a phono stage for his system. He needs it to have LOMC capability so some gain is required. He has looked some of the new options out there. He owns the cheaper Cambridge unit but feels it is lacking. I talked him into trying out just the phono section of my rebuilt and upgraded C-2. Using a Benz ACE L into the 100 ohm MC input on the C-2 and the tape out into his existing system, damn it sounded good! Certainly better than anything he had to compare it to.

This got me to thinking. Of the C-2, C-2a, C-2x, C-4, C-80, C-85 etc, which one actually has the best phono stage? Please disregard the line stage performance as that is not relevant. I have owned all of these except the C-2a but have not compared just the phono stage directly with each other. My guess is the C-2x is probably the best if not for the simple fact the phono stage has it's own power supply? Those of you that have torn into these, are the phono circuits similar in design, different in component quality etc? Has anyone compared the sound quality of just the phono stage in these Yamahas?

I have always been impressed with all of these preamplifiers, but with the price of a phono stage of any quality, I'm curious if these Yamaha phono stages are a superior option at this price range even if you aren't using the linestage?

For the money, a C-70 or C-4 are probably the best bang for the buck for vinyl playback. Assuming your friend can find a unit he likes, he could spend some money getting them freshened up and still have money leftover when compared to the cost of a good C-2x. C-2x's take time to pop up and when they do they don't go for cheap. I guess it comes down to what your friend considers to be "economical".

The guy who works on my stuff has a design mod that allows you to adjust the lomc load on a C-2 with a switch but I haven't heard it yet. I have an HA-1 head amp/step up and I'm wondering if he could do the same with that as it sounds better for lomc than the C-4's mc input (more open sound) but currently gives me some ground hum. If I could tweak the load and have quiet playback with it, the HA-1 would be pretty killer. I recently purchased a CX-1 but haven't listened to it yet (still sitting in Japan). I would like a C-85 as well but the ones that come up for sale seem to have all been abused and are hardly worth the asking price.
 
C-1 hands down..

I wonder if the C-1/B-1/B-2/B-3 guys ever considered crowd funding someone to make them a pile of V-FET's? It would probably require sending a Japanese guy (with his private stash) to China to oversee their cloning and manufacture but would make for quite a story.
 
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The C-1 is probably a bit of an overkill just for a phono stage?

So the C-70 is better than the C-80?
 
The C-1 is probably a bit of an overkill just for a phono stage?

So the C-70 is better than the C-80?
No. Not really. Basically the same design Just less circuit interference from phono in to pre-amp out. My Denon DL160 likes it..---> (C-70)
 
The C-1 is probably a bit of an overkill just for a phono stage?

So the C-70 is better than the C-80?
Its not uncommon to have damaged fets in the phono amp of the C-1 And scare supply of replacements.
 
So you would pick the C-70? Why is it's phono better?
For my app the C-70 works for me. I'm also using a C-80 to drive my B-6's and using a MM Shure V15 type V for phono.That sounds excellent as well.
 
I sold my C-2a a while back. I have a C-2/M-2 combo that works very well with the Shure and the Denon.
 
I can't really say of the non-vfet pre-amps which is better sound wise or not. Other than the C-80/85 MC phono pre-amp circuit can be finicky and misbehaves ( Hi DC offset and over heated finals)
 
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how do you think the C-2 phono stage compares with the C-4 phono stage. Both in design and sound?
 
I can't really say of the non-vfet pre-amps which is better sound wise or not. Other than the C-80/85 MC phono pre-amp circuit can be finicky and misbehaves ( Hi DC offset and over heated finals)

So of these older preamps, which ones have vfets?
 
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