A dedicated phono stage?

[gbhsi1]

Hi,

I currently use the built in phono in my intergrated amp for my turntable. Would I reap more benefits from buying say a 'Project phono SE'?

 

[gpi]

With a system of the quality of yours I would aim higher than the Pro-ject SE. Maybe look at Trichord Dino territory.

 

[gbhsi1]

Trichord Dino is kind of pricey. I can get the Pro-ject SE for about £60...so would that not make a difference to the built in phono in my roksan? I would love to get the dino but too much for me right now. I have spent a hell of a lot for my current system already 🙂

 

[gpi]

I have never owned a Roksan amp so can't say really. I imagine there wouldn't be a great deal of difference, no as the built-in stage should be decent.

 

[gbhsi1]

That makes sense. Thanks for your replies 🙂

 

[Al ears]

Hi gbhsi1,

Just to add my experience, I would concur.

The phono amp in the Roksan is very good. I tried the Phono Box as I had one utilised in my old system with Pioneer amp. Here it did make a noticeable difference but when I tried it with the Roksan it made no difference. I did manage to get hold of a Trichord Dino to use in my current system and tried it with the Roksan amp - result - Excellent.

However, as you say there is a great difference in price.

 

[plastic penguin]

gbhsi1:Hi, I currently use the built in phono in my intergrated amp for my turntable. Would I reap more benefits from buying say a 'Project phono SE'?

Last year I asked a similar question. The fact that Roksan, along with Arcam produce some of the best built-in phono stages is kinda tricky, unless you're prepared to throw a huge bag of sheckles in the retailers direction.

Personally, I would spend my money elsewhere, like an improved cartridge, better cabling. Hey, what do I know?

 

[survivor]

I wouldn`t bother. If you had an amp with no phone stage then yes it would of course be worth your while but if you already have a built in phono then I wouldn`t consider upgrading unless you are thinking of spending quite a bit more to be honest. I know it`s hard sometimes to resist an upgrade but I`d try to hold out until a later date with this one if I were you.

 

[Fenton Beasley]

Check out the thread in this forum called, "Are phono stages on mid-priced integrated amps any good?"

I compared the on-board phono stage on my Kandy K2 with my Gram Amp Communicator and found little difference.

 

[gbhsi1]

All very valid points. I think I will save my money and when I can afford it, get the Dino Trichord 🙂

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I've got Roksan's KandyK2 amp and Rega P3 turntable. Roksan's got an integrated phono stage, but after adding simple Cambridge audio Azur 640P phono amp to my setup I finally began enjoying my vynils! It does make a difference - the sound scene opens up, sound stage becomes alive. For me it made a difference. I'd recommend borrowing one from your local shop and trying it out.

Roksan Kandy K2 amp, Rega P3 turntable, FocalJMlab 816V speakers, Ecosse the Conductor CA1, Ecosse CS2.3 speaker cable

 

[Anonymous]

I've got the PoJect Phono SE. Bought it about a year ago and have it plumbed into my Cyrus setup. It's a fine middle of the range turntable, and like anything else hi-fi the law of diminishing returns will apply, i.e quality improves linearly while price increases exponentially.

It's fine for me reliving my mis-spent "yoof" listening to 70s and 80s heavy metal, but serious vinyl buffs would almost certainly find fault.

When I bought it I went "one step up" on the Ortofon cartridge (it's a black one but that's about all I remember). Cost me about 20 quid extra.

The only criticsms I have of the ProJect is that the unit comes with hard wired in phono leads, which look a bit on the Currys side of the price / quality balance (I would have like to use decent interconnects like Chord Chameleons) and the volume isn't as high as the rest of the line inputs, so I have to adjust the volume (thank heavens for the remote, eh?).

But I have to ask, if you have a phono stage in your amplifier, and it's working okay, why bother?

 

[Anonymous]

At first when I didn' t have a phono stage, I thought it was enough with the Roksan' s built in one. Yet, when I tried out the dedicated phone stage of Cambridge Audio (simple, but highly recommended by the WHF, by the way 🙂 I really heard the difference. It does pay off to invest extra 120 EUR (so much it cost me to get in Germany, as UK e-shops do not ship outside the UK).

 

[malg]

I've just upgraded from the Pro-Ject to the MF XLPS V8. The difference is immense. I've got an old Kenwood KD8030 turntable with Ortofon Samba cartidge. I've listened to a lot of my old vinyl since upgrading, and the MF is just digging out a load of detail that wasn't there previously. I would agree with the comment earlier about borrowing one from your local hi-fi dealer. Any dealer worth their salt will lend you the gear. If you're anywhere near Manchester I would recommend Audio T, I've used them for a couple of years now and have never had a bad experience.