FSOT: Best phono stage under £3000 (but going much cheaper)

[montesquieu]

SOLD

The return of a highly-souped up Audion two-box preamp (immediate predecessor to the legendary Audion Quattro, which has recently been re-introduced by Audion at a cost of £12,000 ) means I have my existing phono stage for sale.

The Audion is a perfect match in terms of gain for my power amp, and it also has one of the best phono stages of any preamp out there (the phono stage gain set for MM instead of MC being the main difference to the one raved about by Arthur Salvatore http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-Preamplifiers.html). This one has been factory modded at Audion, double mono silver-wired, cap upgrades etc. I owned this previously and have mourned its loss for a long time!

Anyway this means my Conrad Johnson EV1 phono stage is looking for a new owner. This is a truly wonderful phono stage which has seen off all comers - anything at all I've put into my system against it including a Whest PS20/MU20, EAR 834P, Icon PS3, Puresound P10, Graham Slee Reflex/EXP, and Tom Evans Groove.

Beautifully balanced top to bottom with a liquid midrange, explosive dynamics and a delicate way with fine detail, it partnered my Koetsu Rosewood beautifully and latterly has shone with my Shelter 501. Previously got the best of of an Argo i, Dorian mono and assorted modded Denons. Some nice tubes inside (there are 4 in total) including a Mullard 12AU7. Indeed it's comparable in quality to the Audion's phono stage - but given the Audion's wonderful match with my amp, and the fact I've been looking for a suitable pre for a long time, I'm somewhat tentatively going ahead with the Audion.

List price on the EV1 was £1795, I bought it new from Guildford Audio getting on for two years ago. I'm offering it now for a quick sale at £850 (cheapest I've ever seen one previously was £925). Prefer collected (Reading area) but can ship it for £25 insured.

It's 50db uplift and adjustable internally for any cartridge loading (I have the manual). Very low output MCs (anything below 0.5mv or so) may need a step-up and for that I'm prepared to part with my Martha step-up using 6:1 partridges for £120. (You won't need any higher ratio - the two are beautifuly matched and Marthas Dad made it for me specifically to match this phono stage, the very LAST Martha. Looking for £200 BTW if not buying the phono stage).

One thing to note about the EV1is the sheer quality of the internal components - I had a well-known 'audiophile parts' modder round a while back and got him to look inside - his view was that modding to improve the sound was next to impossible as it already has top of the range everything inside. Explains a few things.

http://www.audioreview.com/cat/ampli...7_2719crx.aspx

Consider a swop for a high-end CD player or transport.

Really thought never I'd sell this and it's currently the longest-lived component in my system. Apologies for the crap pic.