Phono Pre Amp - How much to spend?

[admin_exported]

Tomorrow I am auditioning some Amplifiers - Leema Pulse, Arcam A38 and Primare i30 - one of these will replace my current Arcam Delta 290P. Not a problem with Leema as it has a phono stage, A38 can have a phono card fitted but the Primare would require a separate phono stage.

The Primare is already right at the top of my budget and their Phono Stage, the R20, is £500.

If the Primare wins out can anyone suggest;

a) A good match for it that costs (a good bit) less than £500

b) How much would I have to spend to get a phono stage similar in quality to the phono card in my Delta 290P. I have seen good reviews on here of the Cambridge Audio Azur 640P - the price is good but is it as good as the Arcam stage I am used to?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated - I don't want to rule the Primare out but I can't live without my vinyl - though I do only have a Rega Planar 3 and some of my LP's have now seen better days so anything too good may be wasted.

Many thanks

Penfold

 

[Anonymous]

I'd look at the Rega phono amps before the CA640. I have the fono mini which is terrific value - musical, dynamic, not quite as detailed as the CA at the bottom end but, and it's a big one, it doesn't reduce the music to the same plodding pace that the CA does. Very disappointed in the CA for that reason, however it does have both MC and MM inputs.

I did the comparison with a Grado cartridge: possibly, with the Denon for which I bought the CA, things might improve.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks - that looks ideal. In my ignorance I hadn't realised they did them and of course it should be a good match for the P3 with the Elys cartridge.

Cheers

Penfold

 

[tenergy]

Hi! +1 on the Fono Mini although I have recently upgraded to the Fono with some middling results. My P3-24 (Exact) seemed to play "louder" when the Fono Mini was on, but that his since been sorted out when I started using the Rega SC-42 speaker cables.

Having said that, since you're going with the Primare i30, have you considered the Lehmann Audio Black Cube? There should be a variant (black cube, black cube SE or black cube statement) around your price point. Not for anything, but I stuck to the Rega kit only because I felt that going higher than the Fono would be a waste since I'm only using my Denon 1910 receiver to amp my TT kit.

 

[Anonymous]

Before bying the Rega try the Lehmann Black Cube versions , any of them. Here you have the advantage to be very flexible in case you change your catridge in the future. The P3 -24 seems to be a very good deck and also can handle a better cartidge. The Black Cube can be adjusted to whatever cartridge in regard to impedance, i.e if you might go for a MC cartridge in the future. I'am having a Black Cube SE but it was good with my MM system - Goldring GX 1012. When I changed to MC the sun really was rising. In my case a Benz ACE L, however this costs today 600 Euro, so a good investment but changing everything. Good luck in selecting a pre which meets your taste.