as an owner of a rowland consonance i highly recommend the phono stage.
i have a VPI Aries turntable with a Benz M09 MC cartridge and records sound
very good- plus the phono pre is VERY quiet. it is easy to install and has adjustments for MM/MC and more.
also see if you can get the JRDG sorbothane pads (probably included in the sale)
that stick on top of the line stage and phono stage modules to reduce resonances. Of Course if you can find a better phono pre than the rowland that's fine, but don't try to save money and end up with an inferior product.
there is another catch to all this- Rowland offered (and i bought) a phono AND line stage upgrade years ago- $400 for each module- which improved the sound a good 25% or more. i don't have golden ears like some folks but i heard a remarkable and very welcome improvement in soundstaging and imaging. whenever i see a consonance for sale on Audiogon i look for but seldom if ever see any mention of this significant improvement of the preamp.
P.S. it is a good idea to clean all the pins on both line and phono modules- a good contact cleaner is a nice accessory to have. as long as you have the top off of the unit you may as well do this also.
P.S.S.- the rowland consonance is "almost" as good, IMHO, as anything (SS) you can buy regardless of price. if you get the upgrades i mentioned you might never even have to buy another preamp. seeing these units going for less than $1K is a joke- ask ANY rowland dealer or owner and see if they don't agree with me 110%.
