New phono stage for christmas need help

[Lee Henley]

Know that I an a vinyl convert my CA 640p which I brought to start me off could be bettered, in fact I know it can !

Im looking for a phono stage with a budget of circa £700, could increase it for the right one. I cant do a big wide one such as the Eastern Electric minimax since I dont have the room to accommodate it, my ideal spec would be either tube or a balnced output with MM/MC switching

So far Ive been looking at these 2;

Musical Fidelity M1 Vinl - Like the look of this since it has balanced outputs which can go straight into the balanced valve input of my amp

http://www.musicalfidelity.com/products/M1-Series/M1ViNL/M1ViNL.asp

Icon Audio PS1 - All valve phono, dont know much about it but it looks a decent unit

http://www.iconaudio.com/portfolio-item/ps-1-mm-mm-mc/

If anyone has any further options then please put them forward so that I can investigate further

As always guys any help much appreciated

Lee

[morris_minor]

Hi Lee,

You might want to check out the Graham Slee range. I've got two, an Era V Gold with the PSU1 and a GramAmp 2 Communicator. Both are moving magnet stages, but there are good MC ones as well.

All of Graham Slee's kit has been well received, and when I first got my Era V it was a revelation. They take a while to burn in though, so if you demo one find out how long it's been powered up.

I've also got a Slee Solo II SRG headphone amp, that's pretty amazing too (IMO).

Cheers,
Bob
:cool:

[John]

The Nighthawk is a giant killer and just a bit over your budget Trust me you have to spend crazy money to beat it
The other option is to get Lurcher to build you one very good value indeed but I still think the nighthawk is very special

[DSJR]

Another GREAT BRITISH valve stage is the Croft - well made, should last decades, "we" all like the circuit Glenn uses and he's a really good guy. Shill? Unashamedly! :)

[Lee Henley]

The Nighthawk is a giant killer and just a bit over your budget Trust me you have to spend crazy money to beat it
The other option is to get Lurcher to build you one very good value indeed but I still think the nighthawk is very special

Is this the nighthawk

http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/f-117

[John]

Yep thats it
Do not let the size fool you I heard quite a few phono stages and this is very good

[Theo]

Obviously personal experience only, but of all the phono stages I've owned or listened to, Whest Audio are my favourites in terms of musical presentation, dynamics and soundstaging, specifically the 20 and PS30R. There are a couple of great deals on a well known auction site at the moment (nothing to do with me). The PS30R allows for balance operation but may well be over your budget. it's a stunner though.

[John]

I had the 30dt still perfer the Nighthawk but nice phono even if out of this price range

[Lee Henley]

Ive sent the guy an email who sells the Nighthawk to see how much one is delivered to the UK

[selfaddict]

I couldn't recommend Nick's products highly enough, he is the man for you if you want a bespoke phono stage with real word price :cool:. I have his 'dual phono' with separate PSU and I will never need to 'upgrade' again :).



The other option is to get Lurcher to build you one very good value indeed

[Lee Henley]

I couldn't recommend Nick's products highly enough, he is the man for you if you want a bespoke phono stage with real word price :cool:. I have his 'dual phono' with separate PSU and I will never need to 'upgrade' again :).

Does Lurcher have a website?

[John]

Nope but he uses AOS
http://theartofsound.net/forum/member.php?u=206

[julesd68]

Know that I an a vinyl convert my CA 640p which I brought to start me off could be bettered, in fact I know it can !

Im looking for a phono stage with a budget of circa £700, could increase it for the right one.

I've had three phono stages this year - started with a 640P, then a prototype Croft stage and finally got a Puresound P10. Each has been a big step up from the previous. A bonus with the P10 is the excellent customer service that you get from Guy - Mr Puresound. :)

[lurcher]

Does Lurcher have a website?

Well I do, but its not much to shout about.

http://www.longdogaudio.com/

[topoxforddoc]

Lee,
Another one to look at would be the World (Audio) Designs Phono 3 with valve PSU. New, it would be the £700 but as a kit. Used should be less than that. I bought mine for about £350 used a year ago. It's really good, not far short of the the phono stage on my £10k+ TRON preamp.
Charlie

[jostber]

I have the Hagtech Cornet, sounds wonderfully:

http://www.hagtech.com/cornet2.html

[lurcher]

Lee,
Another one to look at would be the World (Audio) Designs Phono 3 with valve PSU. New, it would be the £700 but as a kit. Used should be less than that. I bought mine for about £350 used a year ago. It's really good, not far short of the the phono stage on my £10k+ TRON preamp.
Charlie

Yep, that would fit the size requirements as well.

[Lee Henley]

Yep thats it
Do not let the size fool you I heard quite a few phono stages and this is very good

Well Ive had a quote today from Ray who makes the Nighthawk, turns out the UK cost delivered is £571, thats without any import duties of course!

A big ask is, does anyone in the Midlands use one at all, and if so could I come and hear it, I quite like the look of the Nighthawk as its quite compact and would sit nicely on my sideboard. I dont have allot of space which rules out any wide phono stages, I only have around 220mm to play with.

Heres hoping!

Lee

[John]

If you speak to Vic of Transfi he uses one and maybe up for a demo you get to hear the mighty Salvation and one of the best systems in the country; if he says yes.
Go to his website and ask him, he is quite helpful. Otherwise Clive has one and a few others but based in Manchester

[Lee Henley]

The search is over, just brought Rabski's modded EAR 834P, the size of the unit looked appealing and with the mods he has done combined with the tubes installed it seemed a bit of a bargain.

Thanks to everyone who responded on here

Here is a link to the item, hope its ok to post a link to the wam on here!

http://www.hifiwigwam.com/showthread.php?63076-Modified-EAR834P-phono

Cheers

Lee