New Phono Stage

[Rhythm Willie]

I have an old kit preamp with a good MC phon stage which resides on the TV.

I am getting sick of changing it over to my 2 channel room when I want to listen to vinyl (Project Perspective with Ortofon MC30 super).

Searcing the net I have narrowed my choice down to a Cambridge Audio Azur 640P(discrete stages made in China). Have also looked at the Dynavector made in Australia/New Zealand.

I can get the Cambridge in Adelaide for $245, but am happy to pay more if there is a phono around that is significantly better without breaking the bank.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Decky]

Check this out

http://www.phonopreamps.com/tc754pp.html

Guys at TNT audio claim it is a giant killer and I am more then happy with it. Graham Slee 2SE (@$600 mark) is the only step forward ; NAD and CA opamp preamps are just not good enough.

[Decky]

Check this out

http://www.phonopreamps.com/tc754pp.html

Guys at TNT audio claim it is a giant killer and I am more then happy with it. Graham Slee 2SE (@$600 mark) is the only step forward ; NAD and CA opamp preamps are just not good enough.

[Rhythm Willie]

Guys at TNT audio claim it is a giant killer and I am more then happy with it. Graham Slee 2SE (@$600 mark) is the only step forward ; NAD and CA opamp preamps are just not good enough.

That does look like a bargain for that price, but it does not cater for MC cartridges.

There is this link on TNT that compares the Cambridge to a lower cost Graham Slee & (I Think) a Parasound:-

http://www.tnt-audio.com/ampli/3_phono_preamps_e.html

[jordansugars]

There's a Graham Slee 2 SE currently listed on Ebay if you're interested.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Graham-Slee-Gram-Am...1QQcmdZViewItem

Also there's an Amber unit which I'm not familiar with - I'm sure someone here could tell you something about it.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Amber-MM-MC-phono-s...1QQcmdZViewItem

[ophool]

Hi,

I have and was using a TC-754 and was quite pleased with it, as you quite rightly observe, this is MM only. The same firm also offer MC capable units at around the same price.

I had the opportunity to trial a Dynavector P75 and whilst I found it to have good synergy with the Dynavector 10x5 HOMC I had, it did not offer the same degree of improvement with the Denon DL-110 HOMC that I rather prefer, certainly not sufficient to justify the difference in price from the TC-754.

The Gram amp 2 SE mentioned on ebay is also an MM only unit.

When I did upgrade I went straight to the Era Gold V on the strength of the fact that I could add the Elevator MC step-up when (and if) I should go to a low output MC.

I have been very pleased with the performance and rate it much higher than the P75 - at least with my preferred cartridge.

Still, for your situation, the combination runs to 10x the price of the Cambridge unit and I think I would be looking very seriously at the Cambridge or for a good used unit of some sort on ebay.

The Lehmann Black Cube might also be worth a look, again much dearer than the Cambridge and not that easy to find, rare on ebay IME.

Have fun

[Rhythm Willie]

Thanks for the suggestions Guys, much appreciated.

I think I will stick with the Cambridge (Warantee etc), also found a good review via Hi Fi Choice and some forums.

Having had some rather expensive systems in the past (Naim Pre amp/Linn Sondek with all the upgrades), I have been a bit disappointed with so called expensive improvements/upgrades in the past.

In this regard it was interesting to see the thread on "Audiophile verses Music Lover" - it reminded me of an era in my life when I thought expensive amps etc from overseas would have giving me greater enjoyment. Alas this was not so.

EG ,I seem to be getting more enjoyment from the Project Turntable than the Linn and just one of the "Linn upgrades" cost me more than I paid for an almost new Perspective Turntable with an new Ortofon MC30 super cartridge. The fact that the Project is so easy to set up and does'nt require "expert technicians" to service it is also an advantage. It definately does some things( i.e. bass) better than the Linn.

The other biggest improvement to my system was when I used the money from the Linn to purchase Aksa Kit Power amps(100N+) which I built in mono configuration into georgeous gold anodised boxes with blue led's/partitioned power supplies, short signal paths etc. Good dedicated power supplies & a couple of blackgates and 6 months of A B testing to make sure my ears & others were'nt lying, it soon became obvious that these amps were quite a step above my Naim and Krell amps which have since been sold.

My experience shows that in occasionally "value for money" gear can sometimes sound better or have better synergy/match with certain speakers etc than expensive products.

From descriptions & photos The Cambridge appears to have high quality components(no opamps), but you can always upgrade a couple of caps/signal resistors and the power supply(once out of warantee)

[John L]

Hey Guys,

Sorry to hijack the thread - but phono preamps are what I'm looking at currently as well.

The background is that I'm upgrading my father's system at his place from his old 2 channel setup, to a multi-channel setup in the lounge with the new TV he just bought - and have found out I need to get a phono pre-amp for him to be able to play his records.

Now I realise that it's not the same league as some of you guys here, we're getting a Sherwood 6.1 amp, around mid-range stuff that will still sound reasonably good.

He's got a NAD turntable, so looked at the NAD preamps, and was wondering if it was worth the $199 for that, whether I should go for the www.phonopreamps.com TC-760LC (we don't need any more inputs from the preamp into the amplifier), or whether I should just go for a $50 Behringer one that can be found on eBay and online music stores here in Australia.

I'd prefer to get the $50 one of course - but would there be a noticable difference in a modest system paying more for a phono preamp which would primarily be used as background music at dinner parties etc. I'm sure he'll give the system a workout every now and then, but it's not a priority.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[dpastern]

My take on this in general - try a EAR 834p valve phone stage amp - designed by Tim De Paravicini (think I spelt his name right), it's been a classic for near 15 odd years or so and has a very good reputation. They sometimes come up on EBay UK, and they sell damn well quick, usually for around AU $600 or so 2nd hand. They do MM/MC, unlike a lot of phono stages these days which only do MM, and the few that do MC do a pretty crappy job from what I've read.

Dave

[Rhythm Willie]

The Cambridge with my Ortofon MC30 is'nt as good as my old kit MC Pre. I think it could be a loading mismatch.

I will try some old Garrot P77's to see what it sounds like with a MM cartridge.