Best current phono pre under $600?

[Tom C]

If I may comment, I have been in the hi-fi hobby since the mid 70's. I've worked in the industry intermittently for four decades and as much as I try to digest the recent trend in anti-subjectivism I find it increasingly difficult to stomach. This nonsense that somebody can't possibly "hear" the difference between two components is nauseating. The idea that all DAC's should sound the same, nobody can detect anything above 44.1, cables don't make a difference, etc. unless you can prove it somehow in a double blind test with level matching is silly. I have cycled through so much gear over the past decades that I have long lost count. I can tell quite definitively and quickly if something sounds better or more to my liking than another piece of gear without much hesitation or concern. There seems to be this young school of "experts" that claim to know far more than they know and that get far more excited about measured performance than the actual sound of any given piece of Hi-fi gear. Cables make a difference (including digital cables) and no two phono preamps (especially phono preamps) sound the same. Careful and critical listening is just as much an acquired skill as is wine tasting, cooking or anything else in this lifetime. It used to be that the opinions of industry veterans were valued, as they should be but just as with most things these days we have a new crop of experts that haven't fully developed a sense of critical listening, never mind a sense of respectful communication. I have ordered a pp from Darlington Labs in part due to the organic, homegrown made in the USA nature of the business and in part due to the obvious level of build quality and design choices apparent as well as initial impressions from customers. I look forwrd to receiving and auditioning the unit.

Based on your comments, I expect I’m about your age, or perhaps the age of a younger sibling. So, I’ve been around about as long as you, and, from my perspective, the trend toward anti-subjectivism goes back to at least the 70’s. As I recall, that’s when companies began to be required to state amplifier power output and total harmonic distortion in standardized form. When I was in tech school in the late 70’s, the official teaching was that wires don’t matter as long as they can physically handle the voltage and current requirements, that transistor amplifier circuits typically have lower distortion than tube circuits, and so on. The engineers that I worked with at the time held these same ideas, back in the 70’s and 80’s. Marketing departments have been perpetuating notions to the contrary since that time. They want my money, and they will do what they can to separate as much of it from me as possible.
It’s not a recent trend, and it’s not only younger people. It’s been around a long time.

 

[TheBlackCreature]

Sorry. I admit the "wife" comment is a little cliché, but stuck working from home during Covid, she's the best I have for confirmation of my opinion. I have commented before on my Bluesound node dac and using a Schiit modius to upgrade the sound. I tried some single blind testing with my brother-in-law, but it was not a very rigorous process and got criticized for it. I suppose subjective opinions are just not welcome around here.

I also just ordered the mm-6 as I’m looking for a “budget” upgrade over the schiit mani!

 

[TheBlackCreature]

If I may comment, I have been in the hi-fi hobby since the mid 70's. I've worked in the industry intermittently for four decades and as much as I try to digest the recent trend in anti-subjectivism I find it increasingly difficult to stomach. This nonsense that somebody can't possibly "hear" the difference between two components is nauseating. The idea that all DAC's should sound the same, nobody can detect anything above 44.1, cables don't make a difference, etc. unless you can prove it somehow in a double blind test with level matching is silly. I have cycled through so much gear over the past decades that I have long lost count. I can tell quite definitively and quickly if something sounds better or more to my liking than another piece of gear without much hesitation or concern. There seems to be this young school of "experts" that claim to know far more than they know and that get far more excited about measured performance than the actual sound of any given piece of Hi-fi gear. Cables make a difference (including digital cables) and no two phono preamps (especially phono preamps) sound the same. Careful and critical listening is just as much an acquired skill as is wine tasting, cooking or anything else in this lifetime. It used to be that the opinions of industry veterans were valued, as they should be but just as with most things these days we have a new crop of experts that haven't fully developed a sense of critical listening, never mind a sense of respectful communication. I have ordered a pp from Darlington Labs in part due to the organic, homegrown made in the USA nature of the business and in part due to the obvious level of build quality and design choices apparent as well as initial impressions from customers. I look forwrd to receiving and auditioning the unit.

Let me know what you think! I’m looking forward to listening to mine. Has not yet shipped!

 

[kleintunte]

i'm looking for an pre-amp especially for connecting my turntable to my computer. By tossling or usb. What is a good opportunity. i saw the Rega fono mini A2D or the ART usb Phono plus or Optical Box E Phono? Please who can help me.

 

[kokoon]

Hey people, I need a cheap and good phono stage, as I'm moving away from fully integrated setup. Currently looking at the iFi Audio Zen Phono, primarily for its balanced outs (weird 4.4mm TRRRS jack tho). Anyone seen/heard one? Anyone MEASURED one? Various online reviews don't indicate any obvious faults, plus it's like 160 EUR...

 

[kokoon]

Hey people, I need a cheap and good phono stage, as I'm moving away from fully integrated setup. Currently looking at the iFi Audio Zen Phono, primarily for its balanced outs (weird 4.4mm TRRRS jack tho). Anyone seen/heard one? Anyone MEASURED one? Various online reviews don't indicate any obvious faults, plus it's like 160 EUR...

So I got the iFi and I like it a lot. Main reason was balanced out, which works as advertised. I made my own pentaconn 4.4mm trrrs to dual xlr cable, but you can buy them ready-made.

I can say the preamp is a substantial upgrade over the one built into Yamaha A-S500 integrated, but I haven't measured it. For cartridge I'm now running a Nagaoka MP-110 and it's really clean sounding. Before that I used an Akai RS-100 tri-pole, which was a bit quiet but still good sounding. If I had to use just one word for the preamp's sound, it would be "clean". And in a pleasant way, not fatiguing.

The iFi also has a magic "AI" rumble filter, which I keep turned off, because I noticed it also does a bit of cross-feed between the channels. I don't like this idea, even if I can't notice it when playing back music - I only noticed it when I disconnected an input channel. And in any case, I don't think I really need this filter.

The unit is surprisingly hefty and sturdy, it runs cool and sounds good. It's my first standalone phono pre and I would recommend it, if you're coming from an integrated at least. It's possible it's even very good, but I don't have a way of telling. Really curious about seeing a proper review with measurements.

 

[LTig]

.The iFi also has a magic "AI" rumble filter, which I keep turned off, because I noticed it also does a bit of cross-feed between the channels. I don't like this idea, even if I can't notice it when playing back music - I only noticed it when I disconnected an input channel.

Are you sure the crossfeed occurs only when the rumble filter is enabled? Did you try to disconnect one channel with the filter disabled?

 

[kokoon]

Are you sure the crossfeed occurs only when the rumble filter is enabled? Did you try to disconnect one channel with the filter disabled?

Yes, I did try that and the crossfeed was gone.

 

[Michael Koerner]

Very strong recommendation for the Zen from my side. It's a really fantastic device for the money. I've yet to hear something for twice the price being so flexible regarding amplification and sounding so good. I am quite speachless that you can have something as solid, nice looking, flexible and good sounding for that price.

Mike

 

[sofrep811]

I loved my IFI Zen Phono. However, my first one came DOI. My second one went out at 5 month mark. Had never touched or loved it. Loved this preamp a lot. Then left channel just went out. I was frustrated because I really like it for the price. I requested they just send me their Zen Blue V2 steamer and DAC. Solid amp and maybe it’s just my bad luck.

 

[Emulator II]

Very strong recommendation for the Zen from my side. It's a really fantastic device for the money. I've yet to hear something for twice the price being so flexible regarding amplification and sounding so good. I am quite speachless that you can have something as solid, nice looking, flexible and good sounding for that price.

Mike

...and as a bonus you can simply power it with a 5V powerbank. Together with its balanced output you'll get no hum or ground loop at all. So it's clean as it can be.

 

[Bernard23]

I've got an old CA 540p that I reckon can be improved upon, can't find anything to verify that though. Have looked at the Ifi phono, as well as used CA 640 and 651p phonos.

FWIW, an ageing engineer here, now working in metrology. I've yet to come across an industrial product (eg aerospace) that has remotely any kind of certification process involving subjective assessment. If you cannot prove something, it cannot be true is a pretty good starting point.

 

[Digital1955]

I've got an old CA 540p that I reckon can be improved upon, can't find anything to verify that though. Have looked at the Ifi phono, as well as used CA 640 and 651p phonos.

Its hard to beat a NE5532 for this usage.

 

[Bernard23]

Its hard to beat a NE5532 for this usage.

Presumably as a mod?
I'm not an electrical engineer by the way, can't even operate a soldering iron particularly well.

 

[audiopile]

Trouble is we listen -unfortunately closer to taste than a measuable phenomon . Still-you don't want a glass of vinegar instead of wine -we can certainly measure that difference . .

 

[Digital1955]

Presumably as a mod?
I'm not an electrical engineer by the way, can't even operate a soldering iron particularly well.

No, all the Cambridge Audio Phonos (54x, 64x, CPx), all used NE5532. With SA970GR transistors for an input stage.

 

[Oztayls]

If you can wield a soldering iron, I can recommend the Zhili Audio EAR 834 clone, in kit form. The board is high quality and so are most of the components. I did end up making a few minor changes by replacing some of the caps. The board is cleverly designed to let you separate the power stage if you want to fit it into a smaller enclosure or even put the power stage into a separate box. Basically, this kit involves soldering components onto a marked-out board, like paint by numbers, so is very simple to build. The sound is amazingly good and of course, you can roll the tubes if you feel like it needs it., and there is no hum at all.

 

[Balle Clorin]

DIY bring a new element to the hobby, great fun , fun to try different tube makes too.

 

[Bernard23]

I've just bought a used Ifi zen phono, bit of an impulse buy really out of curiosity. At some point, I'll try to compare the Yamaha inbuilt phone with the CA and the Ifi. I'm not expecting to hear much as I won't be able to ABx it. I'm not expecting there to be much difference, I think that the CA sounds better than the yamaha, but I'm not certain; either way, I like boxes. The silver ones always sound a little better too, probably because of their ability to repel unwanted photons better than the black ones, which means a cleaner sound and better soundstage.

 

[wynpalmer]

Are you sure the crossfeed occurs only when the rumble filter is enabled? Did you try to disconnect one channel with the filter disabled?

The Ifi uses what is essentially a form of crossfeed that acts to reduce the LF stereo information in a way that is similar to the "elliptic" filter that is generally used in LP mastering. This acts to remove the vertical modulation at LF so that warp components which result in a vertical displacement (i.e. stereo information) of the stylus are less audible. This results in a reduction in stereo separation, although it does improve as the frequency increases. The ifi uses, I believe, a single order design so the separation is limited.
By the way I believe that there used to be a post on the SoTA Pyxi on this thread. What happened to it?
SoTA has, believe it or not, had mechanical problems with the unit which has slowed down the full release, but if anyone has any questions, I am available to answer them.