Recommended Phono Preamps

[bobins08]

Sounds like your Mani may have been damaged by my old pal ESD. Mine was dead quiet until I zapped it with static from my body a couple of months ago. Then it started hissing.

I have 5 products from Schiit--Mani, 2 DACs, Valhalla 2, and Modi. When my Valhalla started shorting out, I found a cold soldering joint. Looked like a tiny volcano with a hole in the middle. I touched all of them up with solder and it has worked fine.

I tried to repair my Mani and noticed how sloppy the work was on the PCB. Schiit oversells its Made in America marketing hype. Perhaps if they outsourced their PCB construction to Indonesia or Mexico, they would have better quality control. I used to live in Ventura County. People there don't know how to use a soldering iron

There was a time, like the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s when Southern California was loaded with aerospace and defense companies, electronics companies, etc.

Douglas, Hughes, Lockheed, Northrop, TRW, General Dynamics, Ford, Loral, ... they knew how to solder.

 

[Mellotronix]

There was a time, like the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s when Southern California was loaded with aerospace and defense companies, electronics companies, etc.

Douglas, Hughes, Lockheed, Northrop, TRW, General Dynamics, Ford, Loral, ... they knew how to solder.

Yes, there are still many aerospace folks in SOCAL. I've seen those gorgeous handwired Vox amps made in Vietnam. They are immaculate.

 

[Redd House]

Here's my blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb that I gutted and rebuilt with turret boards, Merc Mags trannies and a brownface Vibroverb tube vibrato circuit.

 

[Mellotronix]

Here's my blackface Fender Deluxe Reverb that I gutted and rebuilt with turret boards, Merc Mags trannies and a brownface Vibroverb tube vibrato circuit.

Nice!

So--are there any handwired phono preamps that don't cost a fortune? Sure would make it easier to replace a blown part. I'm thinking of the OP here, so it's probably not appropriate to point out the fact that you could build a preamp with a soldering iron, some schematics and a few dozen parts.

 

[Mister Pig]

I got 2.

Esoteric Audio E-03
Graham Slee Accession

Can also recommend Liberty Audio B2B-1

Ray Sammuels Nighthawk is also nice.

Cheers
Mister Pig

 

[T68]

Hi!
I'm really pleased with my Little Bear T10 tube preamp. For under $100 it is great sound for the buck. For my setup it has brought the biggest improvement in sound quality compared to other updates.
But hey, I'm working with sub $100 used thrift shop gear. So maybe that doesn't say much .

If you don't want to assemble (a 10 min job) and don't like the transparent plastic casing, the newer T11 model is ready out of the box and looks more business with its black aluminium casing. The T11 is another 50-75 bucks though.

 

[AvFan]

I got 2.

Esoteric Audio E-03
Graham Slee Accession

Can also recommend Liberty Audio B2B-1

Ray Sammuels Nighthawk is also nice.

Cheers
Mister Pig

Have you used the Accession with any SUTs for MC carts? If so, any favorite combinations?

 

[Mister Pig]

Have you used the Accession with any SUTs for MC carts? If so, any favorite combinations?

Actually it works nicely with a Jico Seto Hori cartridge I have.

I have also used it with a Boozehound pre pre amp, and that sounds good. Tried it with a SUT based on Beyer transformers. That is OK but not as extended in the top end as the BLH.

Its an excellent phono stage, and in a pinch it can also be a pre amp in an analog only system.

Cheers
Mister Pig

 

[patient_ot]

Have you used the Accession with any SUTs for MC carts? If so, any favorite combinations?

If you want MC you could just buy an Accession MC. That or pair the Accession M with a GS Elevator. All this stuff is available for free in home trial through the GS home loan program FYI.

 

[bangsezmax]

I thought it would be nice to have the recommended phonograph preamps listed in one thread. Please list only what you own or have used in the past and what cartridge(s) it paired best with.

I have used only a Radio Shack 42-2930 preamp to connect my first MM turntable to a receiver that did not have a MM input back in the day. It worked but that is all that I remember about it.

Nobody here wants to talk about the ART DJ Pre II because they're too inexpensive to be taken seriously by many folks as an audiophile device (and to be fair, they don't do LOMCs). But the lowly ART sounds better head-to-head than some other preamps that cost a whole lot more. It has that elusive 3-dimensional "air" that can make vinyl playback magical. Easily one of the best bargains in analog audio and highly recommended as a starter phono preamp.

 

[AdlerW]

Schiit Mani - This has been my longest-used preamp. I never had any interference issues, but certainly the possibility of that is a point against it. I find the sound quality itself to be really high, and I preferred it to the twice-as-expensive Musical Fidelity LX2-LPS, which I also tried.

Superior to the Mani, however, is the Parks Audio Puffin, which I tried most recently. The Puffin allows for a lot of customization of the sound, including tone controls, and I recommend it to the tweaker, though I personally didn't use most of the settings.

 

[Greenie]

Nobody here wants to talk about the ART DJ Pre II because they're too inexpensive to be taken seriously by many folks as an audiophile device (and to be fair, they don't do LOMCs). But the lowly ART sounds better head-to-head than some other preamps that cost a whole lot more. It has that elusive 3-dimensional "air" that can make vinyl playback magical. Easily one of the best bargains in analog audio and highly recommended as a starter phono preamp.

Agreed.
I bought one so I could run an extra TT through my setup. I was so pleased with it I bought another.
OK, only compared to integrated amps and TT phono stages, or other cheap phono amps, but for the money it's brilliant. You really need to get a feel for the gain setting, no MC facility, and the power light will burn your eyes out, but they are vastly underated imo.

 

[Rob DeFries]

I've got many, but only DeFries Audiosolutions, Fist, Second, Third and Fifth. (Phono gizmobox with seperate power supply)
No need for anything else. I'm happy with my Fifth, in combination with Luxman PD-284 and Denon DL-160 hi output MC.

 

[Marksj]

Nobody here wants to talk about the ART DJ Pre II because they're too inexpensive to be taken seriously by many folks as an audiophile device (and to be fair, they don't do LOMCs). But the lowly ART sounds better head-to-head than some other preamps that cost a whole lot more. It has that elusive 3-dimensional "air" that can make vinyl playback magical. Easily one of the best bargains in analog audio and highly recommended as a starter phono preamp.

Can't wait to hear mine. Got it on the cheap and a starter for me. I figured I could always spend far more after trying this in my system first.

 

[mkane]

PH16 & Herron VTPH-2. Also, Tavish Designs 6sl7 on a budget

 

[Kranky]

Can't wait to hear mine. Got it on the cheap and a starter for me. I figured I could always spend far more after trying this in my system first.

Try it with a 12v lithium battery as the power source. I got one from Amazon for around $30, and it further improves the quality of the Art's sound.

 

[Marksj]

Try it with a 12v lithium battery as the power source. I got one from Amazon for around $30, and it further improves the quality of the Art's sound.

Can you pm me the number ( not sure if posting link is allowed)

 

[geespot]

Van Alstine VisionQ

 

[MisterDK]

There was a time, like the 1950s, 60s, 70s, and 80s when Southern California was loaded with aerospace and defense companies, electronics companies, etc.

Douglas, Hughes, Lockheed, Northrop, TRW, General Dynamics, Ford, Loral, ... they knew how to solder.

McDonnell Douglas in Huntington Beach used to train and certify high school kids in electrical assembly, teaching them how to prep parts and solder properly. Standards were fairly high if you wanted your card that said you could solder to NASA standards. I took the class in ‘77 and still have my certification card here somewhere.

 

[justjed2]

I'm a Class III certified soldering instructor, as well as a re-work and quality control associate. I've seen, and repaired, some absolutely HORRIBLE solder, on systems I am not allowed to talk about! Machine soldering has taken a lot of the skill out of manufacturing, which I consider a sad situation. Between that and surface mount components that can't be soldered by hand, BGAs and so forth, the time of skilled solder technicians is almost over....

As for the OPs question, I have a Parasound Zphono USB (MM/MC capable, rumble filter, mono switch), that I use with an Ortofon 2M Bronze. VERY pleased with this combo. It works well with the 2M Blue as well, but the Blue has noticeably lower output, meaning the volume must be increased to get the same SPL. The detail from the Bronze is amazing. I also have a Shure/Realistic R47XT with a HE stylus that out-performs the 2M blue, tho not by much.

For a budget offering, in my case less than $100, I like the TCC TC-750, with a regulated power supply. It's not the most detailed, it's not the absolute quietest, and it's not the least expensive. But it's a very good balance of those features. Like the RS pre that the OP posted about, it's another of those that sounds better the longer you leave it plugged in(no power switch). I do recognize the possibility that the only reason it sounds so good(to my ears) is the fact that my pre-amp has a couple of tubes in it that warm up the signal a bit....