Do they make a quiet great sounding phono pre amp??


Hi, I have purchased and listened to 3 phono preamps which are: A musical surroundings phonomena, musical surroundings Nova II, and a Manley labs Chinook. The Manely labs Chinook is by far bettter sounding then the first two (double the cost too). But, All three have given me nothing but trouble (noise,noise,noise even terrible clipped signals!), and 2 of them basically failed on me. So before I go DIGITAL, can someone please tell me who makes a phono preamp in the $2,000-$3,000 range (tube or solid state) that I can rely on, and sounds as good or better than the Chinook?? Thanks.


Matt M                                             
128x128mattmiller
I agree with the others that your problem probably lies elsewhere.  I have used the phono stage in my previous CAT preamp, a Michael Yee (designer of the Musical Surroundings Phenomena) Audio solid-state phono stage, an Aesthetix Rhea (very important to use low-noise tubes since they use tubes for all of the gain), and my current Manley Steelhead.  Only when using noisy tubes have they been a problem.  In fact, the surface noise on many LP's completely overwhelms any phono stage noise.  I use a Lyra Titan i cartridge with 0.45mV output.
Hello Raul,
I appreciate your  reply. You did not directly compare the Klyne and the Herron phono stages ( or hear the Herron in your system).  It is clear that you hold the Klyne in very high regard. These two units very likely have different sonic characteristics and choice will be determined by taste and system synergy concerns.
Charles,
"Quiet sound" is a result of the complete system amplification, not just the phono stage.
The Tech at Manley is trying to say that I am experiencing "static discharge" from my turntable. I have 3 turntables a Thornes TD160 w/Grado prestige woodbody, Rega P3 w/Dynavector 10X5 and groovetracer upgrades, Project Xtension 10 w/Dynavector 20X2, never have I had a problem in the past. My system has been in the same room for 5 years. All I know is that anytime I play vinyl I have major problems to the point where I cant even listen to the system. The Chinook was sent to Manley a couple months ago and they ripped the guts out of it and replaced almost everything...I cant even listen to it now because its sending dangerous clipping signals through my system. As far as the Musical surroundings are concerned they both injected electrical grungy noise that is very loud during soft passages and between tracks. I agree that the Chinook should be dead quiet and for a little while it was! Something is going on. When I change source to CD my system is dead quiet and plays wonderfully. These phono pre amps are killing me!! I really thought I was past all this gear stuff and wanted to just sit and enjoy some vinyl but Nooooo! I'll work it out and let you guys know what happens.  Thanks all for the great advice.

Matt M
Another tube phono stage to consider might be the Baby TRON Convergence. I listened to it with my Avantgarde Duos (104 dB/W) horns, which will reveal any intrusive circuit noise. I ran an Allaerts MC1B through TRON Meteor preamp and TRON Voyager 6W SET power amp. No circuit noise from the horns, even with the volume cranked up.

It sound very good too :)