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Looking for a suggestion for a good Phono Stage

I have a Luxman PD264 with a Grado Cartridge and an Audio Research SP-4 pre-amp. My amp is a Classe CA-200 and I have B&W 802 Matrix Series 2 speakers. If I ever replace my TT I would probably go with a higher end Rega.
128x128patrickrealtor76
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,033 posts
 
Klyne 6 or Klyne 7 Phono.
Sonically closing the gap between Transistor & Tube.
pbnaudio's avatar
pbnaudio
1,534 posts
 
Liberty Audio B2B-1
patrickrealtor76's avatar
patrickrealtor76 OP
24 posts
 
Mechans- I think the cartridge is a Grado Green Prestige. I would probably upgrade the cartridge at some point. I don't believe the particular ARC SP4 I have has a built in phono stage. I believe ARC put out an SP4-A that had the phono stage. I don't want to spend much more than $200, either new or used. I do have a fair collection of vinyl, but most of my investment is CD.
mechans
2,999 posts
 
That budget kind of limits things, I can't think of anything other than a Bellari with it's single tube, sorry.
lespier
67 posts
 
"I believe ARC put out an SP4-A that had the phono stage"

Patrickrealtor76
I'm fairly sure all SP-4 preamps came with a built in phono stage. However, not all came with a built in MC head amp.
If you use a high output cartridge(like most Grados, MMs or HOMC) there should be no problem. If you want to at some stage move to a low output MC then a good step-up transformer would probably better than the head amp that came with the SP4 anyway.
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