Current “Best Bet” SOTA Phono

[Uwiik]

After replacing about 70% of my components, now it is the time to “fix” my analog front end, that and I really am bored to death right now waiting for my recovery from back surgery. Today, inspired by a thread from @CKKeung https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/the-craziest-flagship-grade-phonoamps-shootout.32477/ I shall began my Phono journey. Right now I have Kuzma XL DC TT with Kuzma 4-11 arm and Miyajima Madake, as for the phono I am running Jadis JS3 with Silvercore SUT. There is no other way to put this nicely but I HATE my Jadis JS3, flimsy build quality, thin and wobbly chassis, bad machining, flat and uninteresting as a Nevada highway and noisy as Niagara falls, the noise man, very very noisy. I am still slapping myself for letting myself buy this no good contraption, I really didn’t know what I was thinking, even when compared to my previous lower end gear the JS3 was the reason I never listen to my vinyl collection anymore, it’s just uninteresting and noisy.

My components are as follow:
- Cary DMS600 streamer (Taiko Extreme coming)
- Pilium Elektra DAC
- Kuzma XL DC, 4-11 arm, Miyajima Madake (MSL Platinum coming)
- Jadis JS3 Phono
- Silvercore SUT
- Kondo G70 pre amp
- Kondo Ongaku amp (for high frequency)
- Air Tight ATM-2211 amp (for low frequency) (possibly to be replaced with Kondo Kagura early 2022)
- Wolf Von Langa Berlin speakers
- Mix of Goebel and Siltech cable
- Torus AVR20

I love how my system (digital) sound. Full of energy, crazy nice and tight bass with no tail, holographic imaging, real quick, haunting vocal, totally agnostic, I could feel I am in the middle of Lang Lang’s grand piano concert on one track and instantly move to a club in Vancouver on the next track. I just love it. So naturally I want Phono that is as transparent as possible with speed and slam to match. I have done a bit of homework myself and came up with the list below (based on what is possible/convenient for me to buy;
- HSE Reference, ready stock from my dealer, crazy nice sound but very expensive and XLR only, so I have to use adapter or order XLR to RCA cable to my Kondo Pre…emphasis on very expensive here because I need to save to buy Kagura.
- EMT JP66 MKIII, not too expensive and considered as God level phono by many, but lately I can see that quite a few people prefer other brands. Never heard one but I love how it looks.
- Trinity, is it still the best?? Can buy direct from manufacturer with discount. I love how it looks and as far as my experience, German HiFi never disappoints. Never heard one
- Zanden 1200 Signature phono, inexpensive and looks damn good, never listen to one but in general I like Japanese sound.
- Kondo M7 KSL with SFZ SUT, highly regarded everywhere but nothing fancy about it. Again, in general I like Japanese sound and the rest of my gears are Kondo too, the sinergy should be there and I know I like Kondo sound
- Aries Cerat Talos, never heard one ever, but it’s tube and people are raving about it, plus it looks sick.

Suggestion suggestions folks…. Thanks in advance!

 

[DasguteOhr]

You have a silvercore sut, why not silvercore lcr phono 1

 

[Uwiik]

Sota

You have a silvercore sut, why not silvercore lcr phono 1
View attachment 85133

SOTA level?

 

[Uwiik]

 

[Uwiik]

I can’t believe nobody talked about WVL Berlin. This speaker is PUUURFECT

 

[DasguteOhr]

Sota

SOTA level?

Of course, the lcr conzept is great a D3a from Siemens then pure silver lcr then second stage e 188cc mullard or tfk.
many tube devices use lcr phonos, for example thomas mayer has a similar concept. it plays transparently, dynamically at a very high level. I can only give you one tip to listen to.

Phonovorverstärker von Thomas Mayer

D3a Phonovorverstärker, Phonoentzerrer, Phonostufen, LCR RIAA Phono, Differenzielle, Symmetrische Phonostufen

www.vinylsavor.com

P.S i have diy one too otherwise would not recommend it

 

[Bobvin]

You might consider the CS Port phono stage. (Of course, everyone will say “try the one I own”.) Not un-godly expensive, but build quality is great, battery powered, quiet, dynamic where it should be, detailed and delicate where it should be too. I know another member on this forum has one and is also very happy. A worthy contender for sure.

(and for those who think I only speak well of brands carried by Rhapsody… this brand isn’t, I don’t think there is US distribution yet)

 

[Uk Paul]

In my experience, the RCM Theriaa Mkii outperformed the Silvercore phono across the board, by no small amount either. You won't need the SUT either as Theriaa is not short of gain and drive..

 

[Mike Lavigne]

After replacing about 70% of my components, now it is the time to “fix” my analog front end, that and I really am bored to death right now waiting for my recovery from back surgery. Today, inspired by a thread from @CKKeung https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/the-craziest-flagship-grade-phonoamps-shootout.32477/ I shall began my Phono journey. Right now I have Kuzma XL DC TT with Kuzma 4-11 arm and Miyajima Madake, as for the phono I am running Jadis JS3 with Silvercore SUT. There is no other way to put this nicely but I HATE my Jadis JS3, flimsy build quality, thin and wobbly chassis, bad machining, flat and uninteresting as a Nevada highway and noisy as Niagara falls, the noise man, very very noisy. I am still slapping myself for letting myself buy this no good contraption, I really didn’t know what I was thinking, even when compared to my previous lower end gear the JS3 was the reason I never listen to my vinyl collection anymore, it’s just uninteresting and noisy.

My components are as follow:
- Cary DMS600 streamer (Taiko Extreme coming)
- Pilium Elektra DAC
- Kuzma XL DC, 4-11 arm, Miyajima Madake (MSL Platinum coming)
- Jadis JS3 Phono
- Silvercore SUT
- Kondo G70 pre amp
- Kondo Ongaku amp (for high frequency)
- Air Tight ATM-2211 amp (for low frequency) (possibly to be replaced with Kondo Kagura early 2022)
- Wolf Von Langa Berlin speakers
- Mix of Goebel and Siltech cable
- Torus AVR20

I love how my system (digital) sound. Full of energy, crazy nice and tight bass with no tail, holographic imaging, real quick, haunting vocal, totally agnostic, I could feel I am in the middle of Lang Lang’s grand piano concert on one track and instantly move to a club in Vancouver on the next track. I just love it. So naturally I want Phono that is as transparent as possible with speed and slam to match. I have done a bit of homework myself and came up with the list below (based on what is possible/convenient for me to buy;
- HSE Reference, ready stock from my dealer, crazy nice sound but very expensive and XLR only, so I have to use adapter or order XLR to RCA cable to my Kondo Pre…emphasis on very expensive here because I need to save to buy Kagura.
- EMT JP66 MKIII, not too expensive and considered as God level phono by many, but lately I can see that quite a few people prefer other brands. Never heard one but I love how it looks.
- Trinity, is it still the best?? Can buy direct from manufacturer with discount. I love how it looks and as far as my experience, German HiFi never disappoints. Never heard one
- Zanden 1200 Signature phono, inexpensive and looks damn good, never listen to one but in general I like Japanese sound.
- Kondo M7 KSL with SFZ SUT, highly regarded everywhere but nothing fancy about it. Again, in general I like Japanese sound and the rest of my gears are Kondo too, the sinergy should be there and I know I like Kondo sound
- Aries Cerat Talos, never heard one ever, but it’s tube and people are raving about it, plus it looks sick.

Suggestion suggestions folks…. Thanks in advance!

keeping in the spirit of the 'zen' factor of your Kondo......

i'm told the Thomas Mayer phono's are very fine.....but require much patience to acquire. not heard one myself.

Phono preamplifiers by Thomas Mayer

D3a LCR RIAA EQ phono stages. All transformer coupled. Differential, balanced phono stages

www.vinylsavor.com

my CS Port phono is likely too modestly priced for your consideration; but i think with the proper silver wound SUT it plays with the big boys. super quiet, sneaky dynamic. the other one i would really consider would be the 'silver version' of the EMIA phono corrector with dual power supplies. you have to request the dual power supplies. it's standard with one. again; maybe not quite spendy enough.

LR Corrector

 

[mtemur]

- Kondo M7 KSL with SFZ SUT, highly regarded everywhere but nothing fancy about it. Again, in general I like Japanese sound and the rest of my gears are Kondo too, the sinergy should be there and I know I like Kondo sound
- Aries Cerat Talos, never heard one ever, but it’s tube and people are raving about it, plus it looks sick.

Suggestion suggestions folks…. Thanks in advance!

I listened EMT and Zanden etc. IMHO EMT is a great choice, maybe better than all the other options but not on the same level with Kondo. Kondo phono with SUT is better than the rest. since you have a Kondo G-70 pre, M7 phono would be more than needed with it’s high gain. Kondo GE-1 or GE-10 phono together with SFZ SUT would be a great choice considering other Kondo gear you have.

 

[Verdier]

A reasonable phonostage?

Yes, Aries Cerat Talos comes to mind first. Really really good. If you want to spend a little more money, there would be the Talos Signature. If it has to be absolutely totl, why not the Talos Ltd?

Yes, Trinity would also be worth considering. It will be harder to listen to a Trinity though. With Aries Cerat, that might be more possible, at least in a foreign system. Flyer in Belgium has a Talos Sig.

 

[Argonaut]

Aries Cerat Talos Signature … https://www.monoandstereo.com/2021/01/aries-cerat-talos-signature-phono.html

 

[Solypsa]

Which Silvercore SUT are you currently using? ( there are a few and also choice of winding metal...) Just curious...

 

[Cableman]

Jadis now is the pits. A disgrace. Shoddy and embarrassment to their previous good reputation. Avoid like the plague

 

[Cableman]

The most dynamic I experienced is the Tom Evans MasterGroove particularly the SR iteration. Very very good. The Ypisilon is also very nice but didn’t work in my set up. Not enough gain. But for overall musicality and finess I’d plump for Vitus Audio.Just beautiful

(I also listened to d’Agostino’s Momentum piece of drek phono. OMG. Just awful. )

 

[Uwiik]

Of course, the lcr conzept is great a D3a from Siemens then pure silver lcr then second stage e 188cc mullard or tfk.
many tube devices use lcr phonos, for example thomas mayer has a similar concept. it plays transparently, dynamically at a very high level. I can only give you one tip to listen to.

Phonovorverstärker von Thomas Mayer

D3a Phonovorverstärker, Phonoentzerrer, Phonostufen, LCR RIAA Phono, Differenzielle, Symmetrische Phonostufen

www.vinylsavor.com

P.S i have diy one too otherwise would not recommend it

Very very interesting indeed, the DIY one you own looks like something I would truly enjoy, and it’s tube….me likey tubey….Can’t see the DIY option on the link you provided, do you have further info on this? Thanks

 

[Gardener]

Had many phono stages , but nothing compares with the HSE ref , worth every penny

 

[Uwiik]

keeping in the spirit of the 'zen' factor of your Kondo......

i'm told the Thomas Mayer phono's are very fine.....but require much patience to acquire. not heard one myself.

Phono preamplifiers by Thomas Mayer

D3a LCR RIAA EQ phono stages. All transformer coupled. Differential, balanced phono stages

www.vinylsavor.com

my CS Port phono is likely too modestly priced for your consideration; but i think with the proper silver wound SUT it plays with the big boys. super quiet, sneaky dynamic. the other one i would really consider would be the 'silver version' of the EMIA phono corrector with dual power supplies. you have to request the dual power supplies. it's standard with one. again; maybe not quite spendy enough.

LR Corrector

I would strongly consider CS Port as it is mentioned by both you and @Bobvin, if only it’s tube driven the allure would be much stronger for me.

On the other hand, Thomas Mayer seriously piqued my interest and I am keen, care to elaborate about the “require much patience” part? I am fine with waiting for a long time, I am very very patient in that matter, I just can’t stand manufacturer who ignore or doesn’t respect their customer, doesn’t matter if they are indisputable world best.

 

[Uwiik]

I listened EMT and Zanden etc. IMHO EMT is a great choice, maybe better than all the other options but not on the same level with Kondo. Kondo phono with SUT is better than the rest. since you have a Kondo G-70 pre, M7 phono would be more than needed with it’s high gain. Kondo GE-1 or GE-10 phono together with SFZ SUT would be a great choice considering other Kondo gear you have.

This is one of the very strong contender in my book, naturally because of the rest of my gear. Are you saying that Kondo is league above even the EMT? Honestly EMT was the first one that caught my attention but lately that feeling weaned although I never heard one

 

[VinylSavor]

On the other hand, Thomas Mayer seriously piqued my interest and I am keen, care to elaborate about the “require much patience” part?

Hi!
I currently have a lead-time of 6 months maximum. Regular updates are always given to customers as their project moves through the build stages

Thomas