Project phono preamps?

Mechnutt

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I am looking to upgrade my phono preamp. Does any one have any experience with these-

Project Phono Tube Box DS3 b, Phono Box RS, and the Parasound JC3 Jr..

These are the ones that I am considering. I prefer a slightly warmer sound. TT is a vintage Thorens TD-145 with a plinth made out of Cocobolo wood and a Nagaoka MP-200 with plans to upgrade to a MC cartridge after I upgrade the phono preamp. My current phono preamp is a Vista Audio which is a 400 phono preamp. I am looking for opinions. There are not a lot of user reviews on the projects.
 
You might want to take a look at the Parks Audio Waxwing as well. It's not expensive, bit non-traditional for a phono preamp, but loaded with some modern tech features that may cause vinyl purists to whisper "blasphemy!"

 
The JC3 is supposed to punch way over its price point. It really has a good rep.

A couple phono stages not so expensive that really impressed me the Musical Surroundings and EAT. I could be wrong but I thought EAT is like a parent company of ProJect, or somehow related. A friend has a EAT table with the entry phono stage, Ortofon Black and the sound was incredible sounding like a much more expensive analog rig.

The Musical Surroundings have always sounded good even the entry level Nova. What really impressed me one of their not so expensive models shamed a phono stage build into a very expensive boutique brand preamplifier. The dealer said the boutique wasn't broke in yet or maybe settings had to be tweaked but whatever, I know which one sure sounded the best.
 
The JC3 is supposed to punch way over its price point. It really has a good rep.
The Op is asking on the JC3 'Jr', regardless I suspect it is also quite good.

Another is the offering(s) from Ronnie Sutherland........

 
The Op is asking on the JC3 'Jr', regardless I suspect it is also quite good.

Another is the offering(s) from Ronnie Sutherland........


Thanks I missed that. Sutherland is a good suggestion, he has stages at various price points and available from online dealers with return policy.
 
Thanks for all the replies and I will research all the options. I am leaning to the JC Jr.. I will upgrade to a MC cartridge once I get a new phono preamp.
 
Regardless of PP choice if going to an MC cart of reason I would also look into getting an SUT . A proper matched SUT to cart in a MM phono stage will surpass any PP /MC not using one internally.

If budget allows get the fully discrete analog Sutherland model, most IC based PP does tend to make analog LP sound , well , err , Digital …!


Regards
 
My budget is about 1500. If I had a better TT I would increase my budget. I prefer not to use an SUT. I have too many cables as it is. I may go the used route.

Anyone know anything about the Darlington Labs MP8b phono pre?
 
I also had a Pro-Ject Tube Box phono preamp as my first one phono stage. It was pretty good, but there are better ones available.

If i were shopping for a phono stage at the present time, I'd give serious consideration to to the Schiit Audio Skoll for $399. It also comes with a remote you can use with it. Supports balanced and RCA connections.

Here's a link to the product description page:
Schiit Skoll Phono Stage

Also, don't let it's very reasonable price remove it from consideration. Schiit Audio does their own manufacturing and sells direct to the customer, and their products punch WAY above their price points.

As an example, I have Schiit Bifrost 2 tube combination headphone amp/preamp. It has a single RCA input for a source component, and a set of RCA outputs for connecting to an amp so it can be it as a tube preamplifier. I put it into my main system for a bit connecting it to my CJ LP70S power amp, and I swear it was 80% as good-sounding as my Conrad-Johnson CT-5 preamp, which sold for....$8000 at the time. I was shocked how good-sounding the little Bifrost 2 was functioning as a preamplifier.
 
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Some features of the Schiit Skoll from the Schiit website:

Skoll is insanely quiet and accurate—and it does this with uber-simple, fully discrete, differential Class A zero feedback gain stages and a fully passive RIAA network. Or, in English, there’s not an op-amp in sight. Skoll’s gain stage is compound JFET-BJT pair running on massive 64V rails for enhanced linearity and freedom from overload. The result is over 100dB signal to noise ratio for 40dB of gain, and up to 70dB of gain on tap.

BTW, the Schiit Skoll also has a remote control, and here are some features you can use with the remote:

Adjust Everything from Your Listening Chair
Here’s where it gets good. Skoll includes a remote control, so you can adjust literally everything without getting out of your favorite listening chair. As in, you can:
  • Select input: choose balanced or SE input
  • Change gain: choose 40, 50, 60, or 70dB
  • Change resistive loading: Choose 47k, or 10, 50, 100, or 150 ohms
  • Change capacitive loading: choose 50, 100, 150, or 200pF
  • Select LF filter: choose no LF filter, or engage the 2-pole/15 Hz passive network
What's notable to is me is it's a phone stage with fully discrete, differential Class A zero feedback gain stages and a fully passive RIAA network.

What's not to like?
 
Puma, what Pro-Ject DS did you have? There are different versions. I am looking at the new DS3 Tube Box which is balanced and uses 6922 tubes as opposed to the 12AX7. The DS2 had good reviews and the limited reviews on the DS3 are excellent.
I have considered the new Schiit phono preamp because it has a good return policy. I have no doubt that it competes with more expensive preamps just like the Van Alstine phono preamp does, but I always find that giant killer gear is always lacking in something and never really lives up to the hype. With that being said, I am still considering giving it a try.
I am leaning to the Parasound as I know that one sounds excellent. I like a slightly warmer or colored sound that is why I am considering a tube phono preamp. The Parasound is going to be dead neutral which is not a bad thing. I would love to have a Tavish phono preamp but it is out of my budget for now. I am also considering the pro-ject solid state phono pre, the phono box RS. Damn, I do not like the naming of the Pro-ject phono preamps, it is confusing keeping the names straight.

The next few weekends I will be hitting the audio stores in town and do some listening. I will bring my Vista Audio phono preamp along for comparison. It is a great sounding phono pre that I picked up used. It has all the cartridge loading you could want, and it is dead neutral and quiet. The sound stage is huge, and detail is good. I am happy with it, but I am having knee replacement surgery in Feb., and I will have 11 weeks off to listen to music. So, I want to treat myself to a new piece of gear before surgery.
 
Puma, what Pro-Ject DS did you have? There are different versions. I am looking at the new DS3 Tube Box which is balanced and uses 6922 tubes as opposed to the 12AX7. The DS2 had good reviews and the limited reviews on the DS3 are excellent.
I have considered the new Schiit phono preamp because it has a good return policy. I have no doubt that it competes with more expensive preamps just like the Van Alstine phono preamp does, but I always find that giant killer gear is always lacking in something and never really lives up to the hype.
I most respectfully disagree. As an example, you should read the reviews of the new Eversolo gear. Their products are kickin' some serious *ss against much more expensive gear.

Also, the Schiit gear is superbly engineered. Jason and Mike really know WTF they are doing when it comes to audio product design. And, as I mentioned, my Schiit Bifrost 2 headphone amp/preamp used as a preamp alone was 80% as good as $8,000 Conrad-Johnson CT-5 preamp.

Moreover, there's return policy, so if it doesn't meet your needs, you can simply return it.

As for the Pro-Ject Phono Tube Box I had, I don't remember, its been something like 15 years now.

I now use an E.A.R. 324 solid-state phono stage. Tim de Paravicini really knew know to design audio gear. May he R.I.P.
 
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Puma, you misunderstand me. There is gear out there that is a giant killer. My point is that usually, not always, that giant killer gear does not always hit the mark of higher end gear. It can come close but not all the way. I have reviewed enough supposedly giant killer gear and owned few pieces to know this to be true. Certainly, the Schiit Yggy is a piece that performs above its price point. I had one in my system. I also own a couple of pieces of Schiit gear. I certainly have not ruled out the Skoll. I will take a look around town and see what is available first.

By the way, the Skoll had an issue with a buzz or a hum and Schiit was aware of the problem. I can't find anything saying that they fixed the issue. It was due to a transformer being too close to one of the boards.
 
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Puma, you misunderstand me. There is gear out there that is a giant killer. My point is that usually, not always, that giant killer gear does not always hit the mark of higher end gear. It can come close but not all the way. I have reviewed enough supposedly giant killer gear and owned few pieces to know this to be true. Certainly, the Schiit Yggy is a piece that performs above its price point. I had one in my system. I also own a couple of pieces of Schiit gear. I certainly have not ruled out the Skoll. I will take a look around town and see what is available first.

By the way, the Skoll had an issue with a buzz or a hum and Schiit was aware of the problem. I can't find anything saying that they fixed the issue. It was due to a transformer being too close to one of the boards.
My sincere apologies if I misunderstood you or took your post out of context.

Cheers and have a great day.
 
Puma, no worries, its all good. :)

I am looking at another phono preamp. The Hagerman Trumpet MC.

Does anyone have this phono preamp? I am curious as to what you think. It has great user reviews and a decent review from Stereophile but not a glowing review.
 
For under $1000 I would build the Bottlehead phono preamp. The parts will be better than probably anything under $1500 and you get to build it yourself. You know tubes will sound better (don't you?)
 
There are a couple of great reasons to build kits. 1. You will usually get a better component for the money, because you supply the labor. 2. You don't need to know anything about electricity or circuits. Just follow the step-by-step instructions. 3. A sense of accomplishment and pride. Anytime anyone comes over and sees my system it's really nice to point at something you built and say "I built that". 4. The excitement of plugging it in and wondering if it's going to work or burn your house down, it's always fun, every time. Cheers all.
 
There are a couple of great reasons to build kits. 1. You will usually get a better component for the money, because you supply the labor. 2. You don't need to know anything about electricity or circuits. Just follow the step-by-step instructions. 3. A sense of accomplishment and pride. Anytime anyone comes over and sees my system it's really nice to point at something you built and say "I built that". 4. The excitement of plugging it in and wondering if it's going to work or burn your house down, it's always fun, every time. Cheers all.
Completely agree. Something I got a lot of satisfaction from was building my my Nelson Pass-designed Class-A Amp Camp amps from a kit.

ACA-Top-View-Wired.jpg


You can see 'em here set up on the floor as pair of bridged monoblocks in a previous system. In this config, they put out 15Wpc Nelson Pass-designed Class A power.
ACAs.jpg


They're pretty dang sweet. BTW, the kits were only $349/each. Incredible value for money.
 
Hard to beat the ACA for sound. I left the original ACA kits behind with my abandoned office. I am tempted to do a set of the balanced new ACA amps. I have gone balanced with the MSB Premier setup. Time will tell. Now that I am retired, it might be worth one more project. I was eyeing that upper end ACA. Of course I would upgrade most the parts. Gotta buy a house and get a man cave first though.
 
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