"Best Budget Phono Preamps" (blog post)

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mhardy6647
mhardy6647 Posts: 33,049
edited March 2017 in 2 Channel Audio
Just saw this link posted at HiFiHaven in a thread about good, cheap, adjustable phono preamps:
http://coloredvinylrecords.com/blog/best-budget-phono-preamps/
Pretty encyclopedic.

PS, here's a link to the HiFiHaven thread, FYI/FWIW :)
http://www.hifihaven.org/forum/records-and-the-gear-that-plays-them/52687-best-adjustable-configurable-100-phono-preamp
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  • mrbiron
    mrbiron Posts: 5,711
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    Nice name drop in the thread ;)
    The bugle was such a simple phono that did everything right. Too bad i'm on the back 9 when it comes to vinyl thus is why i don't need 3 phono's in the house.
    Where’s the KABOOM?!?! There’s supposed to be an Earth shattering KABOOM!!!
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,049
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    Hey, I feel both very grateful and very guilty.
    My house really isn't the hifi graveyard, or more precisely, the hifi black hole into which other folks' gear is sucked, never to reappear.

    Really.

    umm...
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  • voltz
    voltz Posts: 5,384
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    think I started with a cheap $99 pro-ject phono amp then Parasound Z phono then Grahmm Slee Grand amp SE then Vincent Pho-8!
    2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge

    HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD
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  • Jaybeez
    Jaybeez Posts: 748
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    I've carted vinyl back and forth across the country for 20+ years, and decided to break out my old Dual several years ago, and run through my recording rig via the TCC unit. It did the trick, and I even tried it when I set up a proper 2 channel set up. Have since upgraded to http://www.loungeaudio.com/lcr-mr-iii and really happy with it. A boutique company with highly rated gear. Probably won't need another upgrade anytime soon.
    2 Channel "Polk" Room:

    Marantz PM8004 Integrated
    Marantz SA8004 SACD Player
    Music Hall mmf 7.3 TT with Ortofon Bronze
    WiiM Mini
    Schiit Bifrost with Multibit Upgrade
    Polk 7B with RDO198s
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  • halo
    halo Posts: 5,616
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    The Zphono is not on that list :s
    Audio: Polk S15 * Polk S35 * Polk S10 * SVS SB-1000 Pro
    HT: Samsung QN90B * Marantz NR1510 * Panasonic DMP-BDT220 * Roku Ultra LT * APC H10
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  • Gerres26
    Gerres26 Posts: 863
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    Perfect timing, im in the market for a budget phono pre. I was set on a parasound zphono but im open to others as well. What is your real world experience with these? I'm probably going to buy used so the four i keep reading about are the zphono, cambridge 651p, schiit mani, and the musical fidelity v90-lps. What do you guys think??
    Thanks
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,049
    edited March 2017
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    That mani looks like a lot of Schiit in a high-value package :)

    (I really hate that sophomoric company name, though -- sort of like when I would go into a Friendly's "restaurant" and have to ask for a "Fribble").

    Mani-back-1000.jpg
    Mani-bottom-1000.jpg

    I'd say it's two pounds of Schiit in a one-pound enclosure -- but that would be a little too precious, so I won't :)

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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,049
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    halo wrote: »
    The Zphono is not on that list :s

    I guess it's not, technically, encyclopedic, then :*
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  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,984
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    halo wrote: »
    The Zphono is not on that list :s

    But Emotiva is. Just for kicks I looked at Emotiva's website and guess what? The HiFiHaven thread is sort of word-for-word from Emotiva's XPS-1 site. Don't know anything about HiFiHaven or Colored Vinyl, but I take this as a marketing thread.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,049
    edited March 2017
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    Not to sound defensive or anything :* but the word "Emotiva" doesn't appear on the hifihaven thread (I just did a search using Chrome's "find" ). I was pushin' the Bugle 2 myself there -- but I've gotta say the Schiit looks like a heck of a deal for the $. US made, too. Haven't heard one, though.

    I think many of the blurbs on the "Colored Vinyl" blog were cut 'n' pastes, based solely on the language & syntax.

    The Hifihaven thread mentions the Colored Vinyl link but has no comment other than "interesting".... I guess by the transitive property, it does mention the Emotiva blurb, though, upon reflection. :#
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  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,984
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    I was referring to the list "Best Budget Phono Pre's" in the first link in this thread, where Emotiva XPS-1 is depicted on the list. Certainly a "cut and paste." I misspoke when I referred to the HiFiHaven thread, its actually on the Colored Vinyl link from the HiFiHaven thread. Either way, it makes one question whether the author or blogger actually listened to any of the phono pre's on the list......
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,049
    edited March 2017
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    Yup, absolutely! Still, it's not a bad thing to have the list all in one place.

    I'll admit, I only read through a few of the blurbs (the ones I thought were interesting) so I -- umm -- kind of skipped the Emotiva one. Mostly, I looked at the pictures, you know? ;)

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  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,071
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    Is this budget? ;)

    http://www.decware.com/newsite/ZP3.htm

    I want one.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
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  • StevieB
    StevieB Posts: 256
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    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    That mani looks like a lot of Schiit in a high-value package :)

    (I really hate that sophomoric company name, though -- sort of like when I would go into a Friendly's "restaurant" and have to ask for a "Fribble").

    Mani-back-1000.jpg
    Mani-bottom-1000.jpg

    I'd say it's two pounds of Schiit in a one-pound enclosure -- but that would be a little too precious, so I won't :)

    Now, you can't say you don't know Schitt from https://www.shinola.com/audio.html
    McCormack DNA-1 Amp, Parasound Halo P5 Pre Amp, Denon DVD 2900 CD player, Adcom GDA 700 DAC, VPI Traveler TT with Denon 103R cartridge, Lounge Audio MKiii phono pre and Copla SUT, Polk SDA SRS 3.1 TL speakers, Tributaries series 8 IC's and speaker cable.
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  • FTGV
    FTGV Posts: 3,649
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    It requires some assembly but I'll add this to the list of good sounding budget phono pres .https://www.muffsy.com/ I built my own variation based on the same circuit for my modest vinyl rig. The results were extremely good IMO.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,049
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    StevieB wrote: »
    ...
    Now, you can't say you don't know Schitt from https://www.shinola.com/audio.html

    Yeah, yeah, yeah --

    :#
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,049
    edited March 2017
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    Nightfall wrote: »
    Is this budget? ;)

    http://www.decware.com/newsite/ZP3.htm

    I want one.

    Well -- Steve Deckert is certainly one of Steve Deckert's biggest fans.

    :)

    His stuff is OK, actually -- it's just gotten to be overpriced.
    And I grew tired of his mumbo-jumbo fairly quickly.

    DISCLAIMER: The first "modern" hifi product I bought was a Decware Zen SE-84B, with the hope of making my Klipsch Cornwalls bearable to listen to. It did work (the pairing sounded pretty good) but the 2 wpc or so of the SE-84B really wasn't up to the task of full-range reproduction even on the ca. 100 dB sensitive Cornies. The fact that he steadfastly claimed 5 wpc for the amp (which was actually impossible for SE EL84 or SV83 wired as triodes) until enough folks had measured them & demonstrated otherwise kind of rubbed me the wrong way, too.

    I built a pair of Bottlehead Paramours (SE 2A3), gave 'em one listen on the Cornies, and put the Zen back in its shipping box, where it still sits.

    I do pull it out now and again for a listen.

    16888346435_4881046bd9_b.jpgSE84B zoomin by Mark Hardy, on Flickr

    Not a bad amplifier, but nothing like the hype he gave 'em when he was selling 'em. Come to think of it, he might still sell an SE-84 variant(?).
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