K&K Maxxed-out vs Aesthetix Rhea

Second Tvad's suggestion. If I where pushed to select, I would go for the K&K. I've owned a Rhea and have heard the K&K along side my Alaap. The K&K is far and away more preferable to my ears. Your Coronet should be a great sounding unit given what I've heard from other Hagerman gear. It would probably benefit from a larger, more over-built power supply. That is also my impression of the K&K, but to a lesser degree, and I haven't heard all of Kevin's mods.

3 in a row. Atma it is. Rhea is not that impressive when compared to real top end phono stages. Never heard teh K&K.

Thank you guys.
I thought that the phono section of the MP-3 was good, but do you think is at the same level of the K&K?

I have no experience with the K&K, but I do have experience with the Atma-Sphere phono.

Realize that Ralph basically built the MP-3 and MP-1 preamp as fully balanced phono preamps, and the line stage sections are bonuses. In other words, his attention to perfection is focused on the phono. That should give you some perspective, if not the comparison you seek.

Adjusting the phono's impedance loading is a simple task of attaching different resistors to the loading screws on back side of the preamp.

Also, realize that if you have RCA outputs and a ground post on your turntable, you can run balanced to the MP-3 using a pair of RCA>XLR interconnects Ralph builds specifically for this purpose. FYI, I have a set of these available if you ever decide to go the route of adding the phono to your MP-3.

I don't know what the differences are between the phono stages in an MP-3 vs MP-1 but in my MP-1 I would race it against anything out there at any price. This is especially true with Ralph's MKIII.1 updates. Really, really scary when you run your phono balanced. Also you would save on an additional cord, ic's and a base. Good luck.