thoughts on a new phono stage

[Bigman80]

Hi Ben,

The Jolida JD9 Is easily recommendable but not easy to find one. Also two different manufacturers. One in China one in Maryland. I have the Maryland. It's very good.

There's loads to choose from. Good luck!


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[Zoidburg]

Thanks Oliver,

That's my thinking but lets leave it there now.

Looking for other suggestions as well please folks, particularly anyone with Croft experience.

cheers,

Hi Ben,

The Jolida JD9 Is easily recommendable but not easy to find one. Also two different manufacturers. One in China one in Maryland. I have the Maryland. It's very good.

There's loads to choose from. Good luck!


Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk

[speedracer]

I have tried quite a few phono stages in my system & heard a lot more at bake offs & whatnot, plus I owned a Firebottle Plus for a while so I know how they sound, which is very good, I would probably have kept it longer or upgraded it had I not found some cash for a big upgrade.
I used a Dynavector P75 mk3 for a while & really liked it until I heard the Firebottle, which was better by quite a bit, & I found moving on from the FB difficult, sometimes it is not so much that you get a better phono, just that you prefer a different presentation, & often what you gain on the roundabout you lose on the swings.
If you can find one a Kinshaw Perception SA 2 box MM/MC is easily in budget & is the best SS phono I have heard under say £500. Really very good. The Rega Aria is very good too, £800 ish new so should be easy to find second hand. Icon Audio's PS1 mk1 is also very good but I think just outside your budget unless things have changed recently. All the what I call mainstream phono's such as Graham Slee, Trichord & Lehmann mid-priced offerings were all bested by the Firebottle IMO.
I had a similar budget to you when I was looking & in the end I had to up it considerably to get a clear winner, but isn't that always the way!

[bob4333]

................. Icon Audio's PS1 mk1 is also very good but I think just outside your budget unless things have changed recently.

+1.

I had a PS1 mk 1 for a long, long time. Bought used for about £500 - fully supported by the company based in Leicester and at worst a new set of valves may be needed over time. These things are built like a tank (and almost as heavy).

After having gone through 4 SS stages nothing prepared me for how good this was.

Worth a listen.