Best phono stage?

[topoxforddoc]

^^ What loading value do you find that works?

As John Wright (the Decca London designer) is in the UK, I called him before Graham Tricker built my TRON Seven Reference. JW spoke to GT and the Seven is built with 33k load impedance and 220 pf input capacitance, as JW thinks that this is the optimum for Decca cartridges.

 

[Atmasphere]

^^Thanks!

 

[BruceD]

I was curious- I find that the MM Grados like to be in the neighborhood of 8K-10K...

Hi-Yes indeed if we knew and had the options available then to experiment --loading on the fly/etc/etc--as per John Wrights advice below re settings

Back then I cannot recall any easily allowed variances of such for the ordinary domestic audiophile

Great carts though--even today--I can still recall my Deram--ha!

BruceD

 

[Atmasphere]

We installed a loading strip on the back of our preamp, so dialing in the correct value is pretty easy.

 

[Loheswaran]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned the Constellation that was recently reviewed in HiFi plus - I can give no insight on the sound save for a brief listen at show

 

[harleyguy]

TENOR AUDIO.Mine is being made will arrive in may

 

[Loheswaran]

Following on from the above, I bought a Tron Seven phono (and a Tron Seven pre as well, but that's another story) about 2 yrs ago. I had been using various phono stages, from the usual suspects, Audio Research, Nagra, etc - in the UK the Tron Seven phono in full-on "GT" guise costs £10k GBP, so it is a big investment. I would add, that a lot of posters on here seem to be dealers, distributors and the like - so I take their "reviews" with a pinch of salt. However, I am a private individual, and I actually bought the Tron Seven GT with my own, hard earned cash.

When you buy a Tron product you get to deal with the main man, Graham Tricker, hence the TOTL model carrying the GT tag. You get to speak to the designer, the product builder, tester, dealer, etc - as it is all the same bloke! The quality of components used in this is excellent and the internal build quality is an OCD-fetishists dream. Don't be fooled by the simple black casework; the magic happens inside.

Suffice to say, this is the best thing I ever bought, and whilst other bits of my system change, the T7GT remains. Why? Sound quality. It allows music to breathe, flow and pour out. Never mechanical or artificial, the sound is an emotional experience. The level of detail is better than anything I have had too, but it is the timbre, the sheer musicality that makes it better than anything I have heard or owned before.

I guess you buy based on a number of factors. Sound quality, build quality, value for money. I put my money where my mouth is.

I unfortunately have not heard the tron in my own system, however, I visited Graham Tricker when I was auditioning turntables, and he used a DPS 2, Allearts cartridge, Shroeder arm A TRON PHONO STAGE AND PRE-AMP and some active Avantgarde Unos.

In all fairness it was one of the most enjoyable musical experiences I have ever heard. It was one of my first tastes of High End but I still reckon it was a special sound. I am more and more of the belief that whilst turntables get al te attention, it is probably the phono stage that makes the biggest difference - in pursuance of this then the phono stage must have been pretty special.

BTW - nobody has mentioned either the Tom Evans Mastergroove or the Whest Reference

 

[topoxforddoc]

As an aside, this may not be THE best, but it must be approaching the best value for money phono stage. Graham Tricker has just released a new "budget" TRON Convergence phono stage at GBP 1000 for the MC (with internal SUTs) and GBP 900 for the MM only version. It's being sold direct and is amazing value for money with great sound quality, ultra short circuit paths, choke regulated PS etc. I listened to it about a month ago in my system and it was very good indeed. If you want to read my review, it's here.

http://topoxforddoc.zenfolio.com/blog/2015/4/hi--fi-review---tron-convergence-phono-stage

 

[DasguteOhr]

Hi,

this Phono ist magic no Noisefloor(S/N Ratio over 100dB) better than CD-Playback,i never hear
better Details on LP with 40dB+ 1:20 Step up Silvercore.

http://www.simaudio.com/DATA/PRODUIT/18_en_detail~v~phono-preamplifier.pdf

It is a open Window to the Music...great

 

[MylesBAstor]

TENOR AUDIO.Mine is being made will arrive in may

Inquiring minds want to know. Any updates?

 

[JackD201]

Hand me down EMT JPA 66 confirmed today. I love ya bro!

 

[MylesBAstor]

Hand me down EMT JPA 66 confirmed today. I love ya bro!

Ha now you have a real phono stage!

 

[JackD201]

What to do with all those knobs and switches..........<evil laugh>!

 

[harleyguy]

Inquiring minds want to know. Any updates?

DELAYED end of june

 

[taters]

I am just curious. I read most of this thread and I heard very little about the ARC ref-10 phono stage. Do people hear not like ARC? I have read much about it on another site but very little on here. Is it just not exotic enough for people on here looking for Reference phono stages? I would love to hear your answers to these questions.

 

[garylkoh]

Tenor Phono 1

 

[harleyguy]

Tenor Phono 1

View attachment 21904

Welcome to the TENOR family

 

[ALF]

Tenor Phono 1

View attachment 21904

Hi Gary, really sweet, congratulations!

Cheers!

 

[Fsonicsmith]

Welcome to the TENOR family

Your system begs to have the electronics and table off to the side rather than between the speakers. Take a look at Jeff Smith's "Get Better Sound". There is literally zero chance that all that hardware is not being affected with vibrational energy from being between the speakers and zero chance that all that hardware is not interfering with the speaker performance. I don't mean to be a peanut gallery detractor. That said, this is "Exhibit A" to the concept that lots of us spend tons of money on gear and don't pay enough attention to optimizing the room and set-up, much of which can done for almost no money but just a healthy expenditure of effort and time.

 

[PeterA]

Your system begs to have the electronics and table off to the side rather than between the speakers. Take a look at Jeff Smith's "Get Better Sound". There is literally zero chance that all that hardware is not being affected with vibrational energy from being between the speakers and zero chance that all that hardware is not interfering with the speaker performance. I don't mean to be a peanut gallery detractor. That said, this is "Exhibit A" to the concept that lots of us spend tons of money on gear and don't pay enough attention to optimizing the room and set-up, much of which can done for almost no money but just a healthy expenditure of effort and time.

Are you referring to the photo of Garylkoh's system? You quote harleyguy but his posts don't have any link or reference to a system.