Channel mismatch and drop in response are okay considering we’re talking about 0.5 dB values. But personally I wouldn’t buy a phono pre-amp without a channel balance knob. The stylus introduces huge mismatch in comparison and this is the point where i would like this dealt with.
There are very few full-featured analog-centric preamps available, it seems. Occasionally one finds some desired features at the add-on phono stage level, but it's usually hit and miss. Mostly miss. For playing records we'd like the ability to both isolate and combine channels (L, R, L+R). Balance control is necessary to match channel levels, and maintain a center image on both stereo and mono (although the best way to listen to mono is through one loudspeaker, as it was intended, IMO). Subsonic filter is often needed. For some records a high 'scratch' filter might be useful. Cartridge loading should be adjustable.
These features were pretty much standard with most top of the line mid-fi units in the '60s through '70s. Below are typical of what you'd expect to see. By the late '70s, many 'high-end' boutique units moved toward functional minimalism, which was a wrongheaded approach for playing records.
If I was looking for a phono amp today I think I'd prefer one that offers a few choices of capacitance for the MM input. My last PS Audio PS III offered 50, 150, and 300 pf.
Surprised we see so little of that today, they also should be loaded a 47k ohms. I guess if you don't run the audiophile baby MC your needs don't count today?
Back then, Paul (and Stan) were on the right track. Their little phono module (first sold direct to consumers via the back pages of
Audio magazine) was one of the first 'stand alone' phono stages I remember. There was nothing against it, at its price point. I owned one--build quality was what you'd expect from something like Dynaco, but no one expected it to be the last word in phono reproduction, or last a lifetime. For the tube fan, and also for a smaller price, Harvey Rosenberg sold a phono stage (with, I think secondary MOSFET amplification)... the NYAL MOSCODE
It.
By the late '80s and in to the '90s, it was getting hard to find a 'mainstream' product with even basic phono capability. Integrated amps from Japan sported DACs, instead. I think it was a push for DAT, that created this feature. My dealer sold the Luxman product, which had basic sampling conversion (32, 44, 48), but no phono. Instead, Lux offered an add-on module, hearkening back to the days of the PS product!