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How much difference will a phono stage upgrade make?

For the past couple of years I’ve slowly been upgrading my audio equipment. I currently have a Primaluna Dialogue Premium HP integrated amplifier, an EAT C-Sharp TT with an Ortofon Quintet Black MC cartridge, and Tannoy Revolution XT 8F speakers. The weak link at this point, it would seem, is my phono stage, which is a Pro-Ject Tube Box DS. All things considered, my system sounds really good to my ears, but I can’t help but wonder what a phono stage upgrade would bring to the table. I’m looking at the Manley Chinook Special Edition MK II, which is a big step up in terms of cost, but I wonder how much better it will actually sound. Has anybody made a similar upgrade, and was there a marked uptick in sound quality?
12hz
stevecham
3,298 posts
 
I owned a Chinook (now a Steelhead) and it was a very good upgrade. I also had an Aesthetix Rhea which I liked except for the low level tube rush. The Chinook is dead quiet if that's important to you and I would say is about 85% of the Steelhead sonically. Haven’t heard the Herron, though I read it gets very good marks from every owner that has one. I don’t think you’d be disappointed with any of these.
schubert
4,867 posts
 
Rega Aria is also Excellent .
robelvick's avatar
robelvick
466 posts
 
I started off with the Pro-Ject Tube box as well.  It was pretty decent, especially considering its cost.  Moved on to the iFi iPhono 2, and then a Parasound JC3 JR.

Each was a step up in SQ, but just a little bit each time.

Then I found the Gold Note PH-10.  I bought one last year and it was a game changer.  Stupidly, I sold it, thinking I could do better staying around the same price range. Boy how wrong I was.. A few other phono preamps in between, and lots of money not-so-well-spent..

.....I finally bought another PH-10 , but this time with the PSU, and it's even better than I remembered.  Very flexible, and can accommodate just about any cartridge imaginable. 

Unless your set on a tube phono pre, I would take a hard look!

YMMV
Rob
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
702 posts
 

+ for the Chinook

Also the Gold Note ph10, Allnic audio if you can find a nice used one ( first choice). Another contender you don't hear about much and surprised me was the Audio Note UK phono stages (particularly the stage 2 Audio Note Kit phono stage).

photon46
1,008 posts
 
The RCM is not tube based but as is the case with most quality components these days, the sonic differences between tubes vs. solid state is less than in the past. One thing I considered when debating tubes vs. non-tubed phono stages was the necessity for very low noise tubes in phono stages (and the expense of procuring/replacing them.) My experiences with tubes aging and getting noisier with the passage of time led me to prefer using tubes in preamps and amplifiers instead of phono stages. Perhaps those with more experience than I can weigh in on whether they have more noise issues with tubes in their phono stages vs. other components that amplify voltages to a lesser degree.
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