I wanted to send a thank you and follow-up to the folks that provided feedback to me here. It was extremely valuable and I'm very pleased with the system I've ended up with (so far!). Here's where I landed for those interested (or making similar decisions)...
First, I upgraded the tubes in my PrimaLuna HP integrated to KT-150s as suggested here (and elsewhere) and I can wholeheartedly back the recommendation. Smoother than the KT-120s with an even better soundstage and air between instruments. I get double benefit as the headphone output (which does a superb job driving my Hifiman HE-1000 headphones) uses the tubes too, and now that the tubes and headphones are burned in, the headphones have helped be do a little more critical listening on the cartridge and phono stages on top of the Zu Soul Supreme speakers.
My VPI Signature with 3D tonearm turns out to be a nice match with the Lyra Kleos. The Kleos is very sensitive (in a good way) to the details in the recording, and I should not be surprised that a well-manufactured album is easy to tell vs. one that was not well-pressed. The Kleos has not once sounded analytical to me, however, regardless of the pressing, and so while I'm getting tons of detail, it's as musical as I hoped/wanted by a long-shot. I'm very pleased with this choice. I know this is not super useful beyond suggesting that this table/arm/cart combo appear to mate well together, but there you go.
I had a loaner Ortofon 2M Red cart while I waited for the Lyra and I was shocked at how well this meager cart sounded on the VPI Signature table and the 3D tonearm, and I can only assume it would have sounded even better with further burn in (I only put about 15 hours on it). There is, of course, a big upgrade in the Kleos, and I'm not suggesting that the Red would have been a logical stop for anyone on this overall rig. It does, however, have me looking hard at a 2m Black for my second table using the phono input on my vintage Marantz 2265B integrated.
I have been doing an extended listen with two particular phono pre's, the SimAudio 5.3 with external PS, and the Herron VTPH2 (which I have installed and burned in some decent NOS tubes despite Keith's written recommendation suggesting NOT doing this, as the supplied ones are matched excellently already).
Both are excellent, and I can say that I could easily live with either for a very, very long time. Sorry if that sounds like a cop out, but I really can't verbalize a difference worth stating here.
If you are a tube guy, get the Herron. If you are not, get the SimAudio with the external PS. I am keeping the Herron, only because I found one used and already bought it, and the price for this SimAudio with PS is a little more than the used Herron and not discernibly better in my system (but certainly as good). I wanted to hear more differences between them (either way), but without a clean way to switch back and forth quickly, I went with the "listen to 1 for a week then switch to the other for a week" for 2 cycles. I didn't take enough notes nor listen critically with enough records I'm familiar with, so I'm not going to type any perceived differences. Both, as I said, are excellent and I don't think you can go wrong with either at this price level. Both the Herron and the SimAudio were better IMO than the used Audio Research 3SE I had on loan (which was really good for the $1200 used price and MM output), but that only covered the MM output of the Ortofon Red, so again, not a critical review I would want to back up in a real comparative argument...just my quick opinion.
As a tube guy, but owner of other SimAudio products, I will admit that I wanted to believe I would NOT like the SimAudio as well given it's solid state. However, this was not the case--I loved it. It's just not providing me any noticeable SQ improvement over the Herron, as I said, I already paid for the Herron.
I wanted to get my hands on a Chinook as a 3rd well-recommended phono pre in this price range, but I no longer feel motivated to go through the effort of trying to track down a demo or buying one and returning it if it's not better than the Herron. I suspect it to be on par with the other two, and maybe only sound slightly different if at all.
Next year I will likely buy a used phono pre in what I consider to be the next price tier up, like the Audio Research Ref 2 SE or the Allnic 3000 (or others), and see if I can justify one costing 3-4x the used cost of the Herron, but that will be a different thread at a different time, and I may never feel motivated to do that either.
Oh, I should also add that I got the periphery ring for the VPI table and I can highly recommend that too...it seems to have lowered the noise floor further and you can physically see that the arm and cart are not moving up and down at all per rotation, like I often saw easily from my listening chair without the ring on most records. I have to imagine that makes the sound more consistent on any albums that had any warp at all, even if not very visible. Worth the extra money and extra step per album side IMO.
As a first-time vinyl guy, has it been worth it so far? By almost all standards, I spent a big sum of money (over $10K) on a vinyl front-end, and another $5K on cleaners and vinyl itself, so it should sound insanely good IMO. And in most cases it comes very close to sounding insanely good. My only hesitation is that I was surprised that some vinyl--even brand new--is not to audiophile standards, and might not sound any better than it's digital counterparts, in particular on a great digital front-end like I think I have. YMMV.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed feedback. Happy listening!
First, I upgraded the tubes in my PrimaLuna HP integrated to KT-150s as suggested here (and elsewhere) and I can wholeheartedly back the recommendation. Smoother than the KT-120s with an even better soundstage and air between instruments. I get double benefit as the headphone output (which does a superb job driving my Hifiman HE-1000 headphones) uses the tubes too, and now that the tubes and headphones are burned in, the headphones have helped be do a little more critical listening on the cartridge and phono stages on top of the Zu Soul Supreme speakers.
My VPI Signature with 3D tonearm turns out to be a nice match with the Lyra Kleos. The Kleos is very sensitive (in a good way) to the details in the recording, and I should not be surprised that a well-manufactured album is easy to tell vs. one that was not well-pressed. The Kleos has not once sounded analytical to me, however, regardless of the pressing, and so while I'm getting tons of detail, it's as musical as I hoped/wanted by a long-shot. I'm very pleased with this choice. I know this is not super useful beyond suggesting that this table/arm/cart combo appear to mate well together, but there you go.
I had a loaner Ortofon 2M Red cart while I waited for the Lyra and I was shocked at how well this meager cart sounded on the VPI Signature table and the 3D tonearm, and I can only assume it would have sounded even better with further burn in (I only put about 15 hours on it). There is, of course, a big upgrade in the Kleos, and I'm not suggesting that the Red would have been a logical stop for anyone on this overall rig. It does, however, have me looking hard at a 2m Black for my second table using the phono input on my vintage Marantz 2265B integrated.
I have been doing an extended listen with two particular phono pre's, the SimAudio 5.3 with external PS, and the Herron VTPH2 (which I have installed and burned in some decent NOS tubes despite Keith's written recommendation suggesting NOT doing this, as the supplied ones are matched excellently already).
Both are excellent, and I can say that I could easily live with either for a very, very long time. Sorry if that sounds like a cop out, but I really can't verbalize a difference worth stating here.
If you are a tube guy, get the Herron. If you are not, get the SimAudio with the external PS. I am keeping the Herron, only because I found one used and already bought it, and the price for this SimAudio with PS is a little more than the used Herron and not discernibly better in my system (but certainly as good). I wanted to hear more differences between them (either way), but without a clean way to switch back and forth quickly, I went with the "listen to 1 for a week then switch to the other for a week" for 2 cycles. I didn't take enough notes nor listen critically with enough records I'm familiar with, so I'm not going to type any perceived differences. Both, as I said, are excellent and I don't think you can go wrong with either at this price level. Both the Herron and the SimAudio were better IMO than the used Audio Research 3SE I had on loan (which was really good for the $1200 used price and MM output), but that only covered the MM output of the Ortofon Red, so again, not a critical review I would want to back up in a real comparative argument...just my quick opinion.
As a tube guy, but owner of other SimAudio products, I will admit that I wanted to believe I would NOT like the SimAudio as well given it's solid state. However, this was not the case--I loved it. It's just not providing me any noticeable SQ improvement over the Herron, as I said, I already paid for the Herron.
I wanted to get my hands on a Chinook as a 3rd well-recommended phono pre in this price range, but I no longer feel motivated to go through the effort of trying to track down a demo or buying one and returning it if it's not better than the Herron. I suspect it to be on par with the other two, and maybe only sound slightly different if at all.
Next year I will likely buy a used phono pre in what I consider to be the next price tier up, like the Audio Research Ref 2 SE or the Allnic 3000 (or others), and see if I can justify one costing 3-4x the used cost of the Herron, but that will be a different thread at a different time, and I may never feel motivated to do that either.
Oh, I should also add that I got the periphery ring for the VPI table and I can highly recommend that too...it seems to have lowered the noise floor further and you can physically see that the arm and cart are not moving up and down at all per rotation, like I often saw easily from my listening chair without the ring on most records. I have to imagine that makes the sound more consistent on any albums that had any warp at all, even if not very visible. Worth the extra money and extra step per album side IMO.
As a first-time vinyl guy, has it been worth it so far? By almost all standards, I spent a big sum of money (over $10K) on a vinyl front-end, and another $5K on cleaners and vinyl itself, so it should sound insanely good IMO. And in most cases it comes very close to sounding insanely good. My only hesitation is that I was surprised that some vinyl--even brand new--is not to audiophile standards, and might not sound any better than it's digital counterparts, in particular on a great digital front-end like I think I have. YMMV.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed feedback. Happy listening!