Phono Stage

[Troy62]

Hi all

I'm looking at retiring the 8000A and will probably replace it with an 8200CDQ so I will be needing to add an external phono stage.

My budget is upto £300 and at the moment the frontrunner is probably the Graham Slee GramAmp 2 SE.

I've joined the forum and put my name down for the loan scheme. So has anybody got any other suggestions that I can look at?

Cheers

Lee

 

[iceman16]

Hi all

I'm looking at retiring the 8000A and will probably replace it with an 8200CDQ so I will be needing to add an external phono stage.

My budget is upto £300 and at the moment the frontrunner is probably the Graham Slee GramAmp 2 SE.

I've joined the forum and put my name down for the loan scheme. So has anybody got any other suggestions that I can look at?

Cheers

Lee

Schiit Mani got some good reviews for that price.

 

[Al ears]

I would audition that Graham Slee, for the reason that it's one of the very few makes you can normally get to audition at home, and see what you think. If it's lacking in some way then get back to us.

I know I take the occasional dig at Ifor regarding these phono stages but they are normally good value for money and you, as I said, can audition at home with whatever set-up you own and not just something value dealer cares to setup.

Are you averse to second-hand?

 

[Troy62]

Thanks for the suggestion iceman. Never heard of them. I’ll check em out.

Al ears I’m a big believer in second hand. Apart from my turntable all my Hi-Fi is second hand. What’s your thoughts?

As you say I would be daft not to trial the Graham Slee at home in my system. It turns out one of the top men lives 10 minutes away and has invited me to the workshop and says I can borrow what I want without having to wait for the loan scheme so that’s an offer I can’t refuse

 

[ifor]

. to see you participating in the Slee forum.

 

[Troy62]

. to see you participating in the Slee forum.

hi ifor

i take it being an owner you’re a regular on the forum.

I’ve only managed to register and have a quick nosey round upto now but it looks friendly enough and I do plan on being a regular over there. I don’t tend to post too often on Hi-Fi forums. Not because I just want to use them to get what I want from them but because I only get to hear my system I don’t feel I’m qualified to offer advice to others if that makes sense

 

[ifor]

I’m a regular over there. Not often offering advice, but certainly participating.

 

[Troy62]

I look forward to seeing you on the dark side *good*

Youre a fair bit further up the price ladder than I’m looking at. Is this your first Graham Slee phono stage? I’d like to hear your thoughts and experiences of Graham Slee ownership

 

[BigH]

Bit out of touch these days but a few years ago Rothwell Rialto was one of the favoured phono stages around about £300, you can pick them up used but they don't come that often. It is MM/MC if that matters.

 

[ifor]

I look forward to seeing you on the dark side *good*

Youre a fair bit further up the price ladder than I’m looking at. Is this your first Graham Slee phono stage? I’d like to hear your thoughts and experiences of Graham Slee ownership

i was probably considering the same sort of price bracket as you when I started looking, but having landed at the Slee site having done a lot of reading of reviews etc I stuck around a while and got to know the people there and listened to their experiences. In the end, being a believer of always getting the best one can afford so as not to create a bottleneck to further system upgrades, I took the then top of the range Reflex M on home loan and was blown away by it. I bought it and rate it as being the best bit of Hi-Fi kit I’ve ever purchased. Since then I’ve bought other bits, met Graham, John and some forum members on a few occasions. In short, I have confidence in Graham’s integrity and what he designs.

 

[Al ears]

Bit out of touch these days but a few years ago Rothwell Rialto was one of the favoured phono stages around about £300, you can pick them up used but they don't come that often. It is MM/MC if that matters.

It is still considered to be a bit of a classic at the price point. There isn't much that can equal it still and very little has changed over the years in phono stage design.

 

[ifor]

you might be surprised.

 

[Troy62]

Thanks for all the advice regarding the phono stage. I’m going to have to leave it for a while as I’ve just blown my budget on a pair of Spendor A5R’s in white *biggrin*