My setup is just for vinyl, I'm most likely going to just run the phono right into the amp I'm getting (which has level controls on the front) or maybe put a Yamaha wxc-50 between the phono pre and amp since the wxc-50 has a aux in/out that apparently does nothing to the sound, but allow volume control.
The amp is a Yamaha mx-600u and the speakers are Vandersteen 2C
The turn table is a Kenwood KD-550 with a AT Series VIII cartridge, which was decent in its day decades ago. I have changed the stylus out to a lp tunes ATN3472VL Vivid Line polished diamond stylus https://lptunes.com/products/lp-gear-atn3472vl-stylus The cartridge/stylus setup has a Output voltage @ 1kHz,5cm/sec: 3mV
I'm trying to upgrade things one piece at a time and currently at the phono pre....I'm trying to determine which of these phono pre's is going to be best. I love jazz, blues, some classical, a little classic rock.....what I am slowly working towards is more realism....where a bass sounds like a stringed instrument with string vibrations, where you can hear that a cymbal is metal and the detail of the drumb stick attack, where a bass drum sounds like a bass drum and not a bass sound....but not end up with ear fatigue.
Here is my current list I have been looking at.....
Emotiva XPS-1
Cambridge Audio Duo
YAQIN MS-23B (I know you guys wont like this tube one)
EAR 834P knockoff
Pro-Ject phono box S2
Pro-Ject Box S Tube Phono (I know you guys wont like this tube one)
The tests here on the forum suggest Cambridge Audio Duo over the Emotiva XPS-1, but do those tests always translate into sound??? I do not know if they do or not.
Anyway....just wondering if any of you guys have tried some of these on the same equipment and know that some sound better than others or if you know of something else not on my list that you found better than one of these that is close to the $200 range.....if you know which do/dont have issues with hum.
I am open to new and used, but not really kits....I am not skilled at all with a soldering iron. If the 600U and one of these phono pre's doesnt sound better than my Sansui 5000a reciever, I will probably them off and go back to my 5000a (which I really like, I'm just testing the waters of more power and see if I can get more realism).
THANKS!!!
The amp is a Yamaha mx-600u and the speakers are Vandersteen 2C
The turn table is a Kenwood KD-550 with a AT Series VIII cartridge, which was decent in its day decades ago. I have changed the stylus out to a lp tunes ATN3472VL Vivid Line polished diamond stylus https://lptunes.com/products/lp-gear-atn3472vl-stylus The cartridge/stylus setup has a Output voltage @ 1kHz,5cm/sec: 3mV
I'm trying to upgrade things one piece at a time and currently at the phono pre....I'm trying to determine which of these phono pre's is going to be best. I love jazz, blues, some classical, a little classic rock.....what I am slowly working towards is more realism....where a bass sounds like a stringed instrument with string vibrations, where you can hear that a cymbal is metal and the detail of the drumb stick attack, where a bass drum sounds like a bass drum and not a bass sound....but not end up with ear fatigue.
Here is my current list I have been looking at.....
Emotiva XPS-1
Cambridge Audio Duo
YAQIN MS-23B (I know you guys wont like this tube one)
EAR 834P knockoff
Pro-Ject phono box S2
Pro-Ject Box S Tube Phono (I know you guys wont like this tube one)
The tests here on the forum suggest Cambridge Audio Duo over the Emotiva XPS-1, but do those tests always translate into sound??? I do not know if they do or not.
Anyway....just wondering if any of you guys have tried some of these on the same equipment and know that some sound better than others or if you know of something else not on my list that you found better than one of these that is close to the $200 range.....if you know which do/dont have issues with hum.
I am open to new and used, but not really kits....I am not skilled at all with a soldering iron. If the 600U and one of these phono pre's doesnt sound better than my Sansui 5000a reciever, I will probably them off and go back to my 5000a (which I really like, I'm just testing the waters of more power and see if I can get more realism).
THANKS!!!
Last edited: