I'm new to the vinyl world. I just picked up a Pro-ject Debut Carbon Evo. I initially ordered the Emotiva XPS-1, but they were a bit behind on shipping and I didn't have the patience so I went to my local Hifi shop and ended up with a used Graham Slee Era Gold V (with PSU1 power supply) for $500 (original retail I think was $900 or so). I don't know how old it is, but those were released in the early 2000s I think. My signal chain is: phono preamp --> Schiit Sys --> Genelec G Four.
I was curious if I actually needed a $500 preamp, to pair with my $599 turntable, so I ordered the following from Crutchfield:
If anything, what makes a difference for me here are the features. That being said, I'm probably mostly leaning towards the Phono Box MM, and putting that $400 elsewhere (like my pocket), but I do like the flexibility of the Zphono. It has a stereo/mono switch, which had a MASSIVE impact on the sound. Vocals got huge, maybe too much, but it was a marked difference and was somewhat fun to play with. I don't think I have many records in mono though. It also support MM and MC, has a rumble switch, and all via simple switches on the front (no jumpers to fiddle with). But at this price, if features/fun is mostly what I care about, then I'm thinking why not just a Parks Puffin with optical out? This way I can play with all those interesting features, and it would also let me send it to my MiniDSP DDRC-24 (Dirac) or Martin Logan Unison (ARC) for room correction as well.
Any thoughts/recommendations? I think I'm beyond testing more phonos. I don't think I can return the Graham Slee as there's nothing wrong with it, but looks like I can break even selling it elsewhere. So I'm currently stack ranking it as:
1. Pro-ject Phono Box MM, going into my MiniDSP DDRC-24 via analog. This just means I'll pipe my Bluesound into the Unison via optical for room correction. Both eventually hitting my Schiit Sys for switching & volume control.
2. Parks Puffin w/optical out
3. Parasound Zphono XRM
-Daniel
I was curious if I actually needed a $500 preamp, to pair with my $599 turntable, so I ordered the following from Crutchfield:
- Project Phono Box Ultra 500 for $~250 ("scratch & dent" but arrived like new). Limited edition of 500, with "audiophile" componentry. It's an interesting look with the blinged out chrome, and it is surprisingly heavy for its size.
- Project Phono Box MM for $89. Wanted to throw a cheap one in the mix...
- Parasound Zphono XRM for $499. Primarily got this one for the XLR out, as that gives me a bit of flexibility with my Genelecs that have XLR and RCA inputs. Down the road I'm thinking I could hook it up to a MiniDSP SHD or something. Also, my cable runs from source to speaker are going to be about 40', so figured it might be good to have XLRs.
If anything, what makes a difference for me here are the features. That being said, I'm probably mostly leaning towards the Phono Box MM, and putting that $400 elsewhere (like my pocket), but I do like the flexibility of the Zphono. It has a stereo/mono switch, which had a MASSIVE impact on the sound. Vocals got huge, maybe too much, but it was a marked difference and was somewhat fun to play with. I don't think I have many records in mono though. It also support MM and MC, has a rumble switch, and all via simple switches on the front (no jumpers to fiddle with). But at this price, if features/fun is mostly what I care about, then I'm thinking why not just a Parks Puffin with optical out? This way I can play with all those interesting features, and it would also let me send it to my MiniDSP DDRC-24 (Dirac) or Martin Logan Unison (ARC) for room correction as well.
Any thoughts/recommendations? I think I'm beyond testing more phonos. I don't think I can return the Graham Slee as there's nothing wrong with it, but looks like I can break even selling it elsewhere. So I'm currently stack ranking it as:
1. Pro-ject Phono Box MM, going into my MiniDSP DDRC-24 via analog. This just means I'll pipe my Bluesound into the Unison via optical for room correction. Both eventually hitting my Schiit Sys for switching & volume control.
2. Parks Puffin w/optical out
3. Parasound Zphono XRM
-Daniel