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hello! i'm looking for a budget integrated with a really good phono stage. so far, rega, music hall, and marantz have come to mind. it can be vintage, used, new....as long as it's under $1000. my speakers are athena as-f1's (bought cheaply on local craig's list, and good!)
for the purpose of this post, nothing is important except price and phono stage.
thank you for sharing any suggestions!
Follow Ups:
Personal experience with Soundsmith phono stage is GREAT. I bought an MCP2 during the holiday season my system has never sounded better. They have a few models, both MC and MM (all under $1k). Worth a look for sure.
Arcam Alpha 8R has a great phono section..kinda warm British sound you seem to be looking for. These can be had well under $500.
It's a kit, excellent quality to add to your existing system.
Tubes, cheap and high quality to boot!
Highly praised for sound and phono ability
I like the sound of my Marantz PM8004. Full, rich, tons of bass and the best midrange I've heard on a solid state amp in it's class. But you have to avoid "dark" speakers or the treble will have an overly "polite" sound.
Otherwise it's built well with good quality parts!!!!
charles
nt
Des
Yep. For those long in the tooth (like me)that might remember.... the phono section of the 3020 was given a thumbs up more than once by The Absolute Sound back in the day. I borrowed my brother-in-law's 3020 years ago when my pre-amp went in for repair. Listening to vinyl thru that phono section was a revelation. I didn't even want to listen to my repaired unit when it came back. The 3020 had been discontinued, so I brought a 1020....which was supposed to be the pre-amp section of the 3020. Unfortunately it never had the magic of the 3020 to my ears.
Quad 99 pre with an 99 power amp or go for a Yamaha CA-610 to CA-1010 vintage integrated
Edits: 01/20/15
I recently picked up a new Cambridge Audio phono stage. Model is 651P-S. It will handle both moving magnet and moving coil cartridges. Nice unit for the money. Cambridge probably makes an integrated with a phono stage as well?
If you already own a good integrated amplifier but just need a phono stage, you might consider an external phono stage that can be connected to an auxiliary input. I recently bought a Chinese Yaqin tube phono stage for moving magnet cartridges that sounds exceptionally nice for its relatively low price of just under $200.
I own a very high-end system, but I needed another phono stage for a second turntable. I took a chance on the Yaqin because I didn't want to spend a lot of money. I can say that I am not disappointed in the least. The Yaqin is definitely the best sounding phono stage I've ever heard for $200.
Best regards,
John Elison
An integrated with a GOOD phono stage. [Scratch that: I just want the pre-amplifier with a good phono stage. Even that is hard to find unless one goes vintage.]I think that the outboard is the only reasonable way to go nowadays.
However, for those requiring a COMPACT implementation, I REALLY am thinking about what it would take to build one myself that can handle MC as well as MM.
Edits: 01/20/15
Well, I've never used a moving magnet cartridge with my Yaqin phono stage mainly because I haven't owned MM cartridges for 35-years or so. I use a Bob's Devices CM-1131 step-up transformer with my Yaqin and that combination sounds exceptionally nice.
If you want a preamp with a good built-in phono stage, I would recommend checking out the E.A.R. 864 . A friend of mine owns one and it sound absolutely awesome with his Denon DL-S1 phono cartridge, which is the same phono cartridge I have mounted in my Technics SL-1200 below.
If you really want to get the best bang out of vinyl I would go with a vintage integrated tube amplifier. You can pick one up for around $300-500. And have it professionally restore and upgraded for around $400-500. And you will have a really smoking vinyl rig. And once restored it will out last YOU!!!!I am running a restored Sherwood S-5000. And it really doesn't get much better. Go over to the vintage group and ask around for suggestions.
Plenty of Eico's, Fishers, Pilots that really are small gems.
Or try the Marantz PM6004 or NAD C326BEE. I have the Marantz PM8004 and it sounds pretty darn good. But both are actually quite "thin" sounding with vinyl as compared to the Sherwood.
Vinyl and tubes were meant to be together!!!
charles
Edits: 01/20/15 01/20/15
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