new toy has arrived: Phonomena II+ phono pre
pglbook
Posts: 2,222
I got a great deal on a Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ phono pre on eBay a few days ago: $352, which I think is a steal at that price. I have been looking for a Phonomena or Nova phono pre for a long time and patience finally paid off! It just arrived yesterday - Seller sent it via 2-day priority mail, packed great - and it is in mint condition. I am very excited to get it set up and running in my system today or tomorrow. This will bring my vinyl to another sonic level (and it will also allow me to soon offer my previous phono pre, a Cambridge 640P, in the Flea Market at a good price).
One question for those who have experience with the Phonomena II+:
What settings should I set it on for use with a Shure M97xE cartridge (and Thorens TD 160 tt).
Thanks!
Here is a pic
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One question for those who have experience with the Phonomena II+:
What settings should I set it on for use with a Shure M97xE cartridge (and Thorens TD 160 tt).
Thanks!
Here is a pic
:
Comments
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New toys are always fun! Congrat's.
Tom~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~ -
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Nice phono pre, congrats!!Old Name: 55LS70Preamp: Decware CSP3 w/ 1 x Amperex 7308, 2 x Amperex 6922's, 1 x RCA 5R4GY Power Amp: Cary SLA Signature 2 X Mullard GZ32's, 2 X RCA 5691's, 4 X Tung Sol 6550 reissuesAnalog: Rega Planar 3 w/ P2000 motor, Deep Groove sub platter, Incognito tonearm wiring, JA Michell counterweight, Tangospinner feet, Dynavector 10 x 5 cartridge, Parks Audio Budgie Hybrid phono stage w/ 2 x BEL 6922's.Radio: HH Scott 330D tuner with HH Scott Type 335 multiplex. Both modified by Mapleshade.Digital: Marantz ND8006Speaker Cables: Kimber Kable 8TC'sSpeakers: Polk Audio LSIM 703'sInterconnects. Tuner: Audioquest Black Mamba II's, phono stage: Kimber Kable Hero's, PreAmp/Amp and Digital: Audioquest King Cobra"s
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Recommended Load: 47 kΩ; 250 pf.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
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That’s a steal
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Congrats! Can't wait to hear your thoughts after hooked up.Analog Source: Rega P3-24 Exact 2 w/GT delrin platter & Neo TT-PSU Digital Source: Lumin T2 w/Roon (NUC) DAC: Denafrips Pontus II Phono Preamp: Rega Aria MK3 Preamp: Rogue RP-7 Amp: Pass X150.8 Speakers: Joseph Audio Perspective 2, Audio Physic Tempo Plus Cables: Morrow M4 ICs & Audio Art SC-5 ePlus, Shunyata PCs Misc: Shunyata Hydra Delta D6, VTI rack, GIK acoustic panels
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I cannot comment on the 2+, as mine is the 2, but for some odd reason the 47K is omitted and the closest is 50K, may be the same on yours and likely not a huge difference. Never understood why a historical constant value would not be one of the settings, other than that, I've enjoyed mine.
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I cannot comment on the 2+, as mine is the 2, but for some odd reason the 47K is omitted and the closest is 50K, may be the same on yours and likely not a huge difference. Never understood why a historical constant value would not be one of the settings, other than that, I've enjoyed mine.
I just checked and the II+ does have a 47k setting.
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Recommended Load: 47 kΩ; 250 pf.
Jesse: I am going to finally set up the Phonomena II+ phono pre in my system today and have one other question: what would you recommend for the gain setting?
The factory default gain setting is 40db and I am thinking of going with that lowest gain setting, especially as my EE MiniMax pre has pretty high gain, but I'd appreciate your feedback about the proper gain setting.
I set the capacitive loading setting to 200 (there is no 250 setting; only 100 or 200 settings) and the resistive load setting to 47k.Those should be good so I now only need to set the gain setting, install it in my rig, and spin some vinyl!
Thanks again.
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I finally got the Phonomena II+ set up in my sytem yesterday afternoon and I spent a very enjoyable 6 hours listenting to vinyl. Overall, I am very impressed with this phono pre. The detail and soundstage are incredible.
I listened to a variety of records, including a few reference records of mine, to be able to judge the attributes of the Phonomena II+. I put on some Mosaic jazz lps (Tina Brooks, Thelonious Monk Live at the It Club). I think certain jazz styles and recordings are a great barometer of how well a phono pre pulls out the details of music. For me, that is especially noticeable in the percussion parts: the tap of a drumstick on a cymbal or the passing of a brush across a snare drum. The Phonomena II+ did a wonderful job pulling out all those little details and of separating the instruments in space. Listening to the Monk live lps made me feel like I was in the jazz club sitting near Monk himself. I also played some other music to see how well it would do with different styles of rock: a Grateful Dead live lp, Dylan Blood on the Tracks, Judas Priest Sad Wings of Destiny. The Phonomena II+ did a great job with all of those as well. I am very happy with it and would highly recommend it. It does a superb job of bringing the music to life (very dynamic) and capturing all of the details in a musical piece.
The only minor issue I noticed is that it has high gain, even at the lowest 40db factory default setting which I had it on. My EE Minimax pre amp also has high gain so it may just be that the two together present higher gain than I would have expected. I used to have to turn the volume knob much higher with my prior phono pre (as well as the phono pre in my Yamaha CR 2020). For example, setting the volume at 8 or 9 o'clock with the Phonomena II+ gets the same volume that I used to get at 10 or 11 o'clock with my other phono pre amps. -
Sorry, I missed your post from 3/14.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I would try the 100pF capacitance setting on the phono pre-amp. Cabling adds about 150, so you have to add the two together for desired total...or as close as possible.
It doesn't hurt to experiment."This may not matter to you, but it does to me for various reasons, many of them illogical or irrational, but the vinyl hobby is not really logical or rational..." - member on Vinyl Engine
"Sometimes I do what I want to do. The rest of the time, I do what I have to." - Cicero, in Gladiator
Regarding collectibles: "It's not who gets it. It's who gets stuck with it." - Jimmy Fallon -
Sorry, I missed your post from 3/14.
Jesse: No problem. I got it set up and running yesterday so all is good. Thanks.
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I would try the 100pF capacitance setting on the phono pre-amp. Cabling adds about 150, so you have to add the two together for desired total...or as close as possible.
It doesn't hurt to experiment.
Thanks for the info. I will do as you suggest and try it at the 100 setting in the near future and see how that changes things.
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One cool thing I just noticed yesterday after reading the manual...the previous owner had put his original sales invoice at the back of the manual, along with the warranty form. He bought it new at the end of April 2017 (he paid $749 for it so I got a great deal), which means it still has over a month left on the original 3-year warranty.
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....if warranty transfers from original owner.
Actually (and I should have stated it in my prior post) the original owner never sent in the warranty form...it is blank. I am not worried about the warranty though...if it has performed flawlessly up until now...I am sure it will be doing the same in a month (hopefully not famous last words, lol).
Thanks.
