It's the Budgie, I've only had it for about a week now but am really liking it. First experience with a tube pre too.
I'm a newbie (6 months or so really learning), but have a very important question that I can't get answered. The phono stage is the missing link to my system. I was thinking of spending $1,000...but I'm about to pull the trigger on the budgie and do something a little more modest for now. The budgie has adjustable impedance which is something I want. It has 15 settings between 6.4kohm and 81.2kohm. All cartridge manufacturers post a preferred capacitance. Some may be 100pf, while others may be 400pf (like my Shure V15 typeIII). I read that the capacitance of the budgie is 50pf...which is relatively low. My phono cables capacitance might be another 50-150pf (is this measured from the cartridge through to the connection point with the preamp?). I ask this question, as I want to see if I can measure with multimeter or find the cf/ft in the literature. So this is the downside I see in the budgie...at least for me. But then I found the following on the Budgies website (see bold text). Can someone clarify this?
"This resistance loading method is far superior to traditional capacitive loading methods: 1) it can adjust resonances up or down, 2) it extends bandwidth while adjusting the resonance
(more pF just lowers bandwidth), and 3) there are fifteen options - not just one or two."
Obviously, at the end of the day, I will set my values based on listening...not necessarily the manufacturers recommended settings. I do want the ability to play with different settings to both Learn and Optimize. Many phono preamps don't have adjustable capacitance, which to me doesn't make a lot of sense...especially since the recommended values vary considerably between carts.
Any response is appreciated. I want to buy the Budgie but it's the inability to vary the capacitance which is holding me back. Preamps such as the Musical Phonomena II+ has this ability (though it's a SS preamp). I want to try tubes. The Rogue Audio Triton has variable cap (0, 47, 150, 470, and 1,000pf) but the impedance loading is not as flexible. Err! Am I overthinking too much? I want to spend money wisely on my first preamp.
Sorry I know this is a headphone thread