[Bret L]

Every REALLY good phono pre I have heard has been a simple, homebrew
affair tweaked around a specific cartridge and most were, if solid
state, battery powered. The tube ones had AC supplies but often ran
off factory built LAB supplies left intact and unmolested, with
additional filtering added in some cases. Some of these rigs looked
like the sardine cans Meat Loaf rigged up to Alice Cooper's PA in the
forgettable movie "Roadie".

The most expensive Mark Levinson, Jeff Rowland, ARC, conrad johnson,
or Krell products i have heard often worked perfectly well but NONE
have done what these simple homebrews did. None got to that first tier
level.

Now, a lot of the homebrews sucked **** through a straw, and a lot
were merely adequate, and some were quite good, but not magnificent.
But more than one or two have achieved the highest level of quality,
soundwise.

They were also a pain in the ass to live with, to be sure. They
lacked the convenience and idiotproofing features commercial goods
require to be merchantable, and they mostly looked like crap too. But
they really did what so many multi-thousand dollar products have
aspired to but never quite did.

There are several lessons in there. The situation is analogous to a
well made garage race car vs. a really expensive prestiege sports car.
The race car has little slicknness and is built like something you'd
build in a garage, a modern Lambo or Ferrari is perfect and
magnificently detailed. But the race car will WIN RACES and the
exotics won't, not without factory support and a fleet of 18 wheel
transports to haul it, and an unlimited budget.

The expensive cars and stereo gear are not really sold for or
intended to WIN THE RACE, they are sold to convey to their purchasers
that you _could_ win the race, and to make observers of their
purchasers think they are Big Winners with Big Wallets and Big Dicks.

It shouldn't be that way, you may say, and you could be right. But it
is that way.

[Boon[_2_]]

On Feb 7, 1:49*am, Bret L wrote:
*Every REALLY good phono pre I have heard has been a simple, homebrew
affair tweaked around a specific cartridge and most were, if solid
state, battery powered. The tube ones had AC supplies but often ran
off factory built LAB supplies left intact and unmolested, with
additional filtering added in some cases. Some of these rigs looked
like the sardine cans Meat Loaf rigged up to Alice Cooper's PA *in the
forgettable movie "Roadie".

*The most expensive Mark Levinson, Jeff Rowland, ARC, conrad johnson,
or Krell products i have heard often worked perfectly well but NONE
have done what these simple homebrews did. None got to that first tier
level.

*Now, a lot of the homebrews sucked **** through a straw, and a lot
were merely adequate, and some were quite good, but not magnificent.
But more than one or two have achieved the highest level of quality,
soundwise.

*They were also a pain in the ass to live with, to be sure. They
lacked the convenience and idiotproofing features commercial goods
require to be merchantable, and they mostly looked like crap too. But
they really did what so many multi-thousand dollar products have
aspired to but never quite did.

There are several lessons in there. The situation is analogous to a
well made garage race car vs. a really expensive prestiege sports car.
The race car has little slicknness and is built like something you'd
build in a garage, a modern Lambo or Ferrari is perfect and
magnificently detailed. But the race car will WIN RACES and the
exotics won't, not without factory support and a fleet of 18 wheel
transports to haul it, and an unlimited budget.

*The expensive cars and stereo gear are not really sold for or
intended to WIN THE RACE, they are sold to convey to their purchasers
that you _could_ win the race, *and to make observers of their
purchasers think they are Big Winners with Big Wallets and Big Dicks.

*It shouldn't be that way, you may say, and you could be right. But it
is that way.

I don't necessarily disagree with you there. Some of the best phono
preamps I've heard were little more than a printed PC board, a few dip
switches and a no-frills case. That includes models from Graham Slee,
Dynavector and Lehmann Audio. They all sound great and they're very
affordable. Then again, many phono preamps are nothing but those same
innards placed in a nice case with a thick faceplate and plenty of
blue LEDs. They cost double of what the others do, and they don't
necessarily sound any better. One well-known high-end manufacturer put
their phono preamp in the same chassis as one of their SS power amps.
Open up the case and there's a LOT of empty space. Price? $7000.

With affordable phono preamps, you're usually paying extra for such
conveniences as knobs on the front panel instead of dip switches, a
volume control and maybe an outboard power supply. The latter is a
very good idea IMO. I own and use the Lehmann Audio Black Cube SE,
which is just a Black Cube with a hefty outboard power supply. I liked
the regular Black Cube at its price range, but it wasn't my favorite.
The SE, however, is a leader at its price point. It sounds MUCH better
than the regular, yet shares the same circuitry.

When it comes to phono pres, however, I do like a few tubes. The Nagra
preamps, for example, are simple but expensive. But I don't think I've
heard my rig sound better with any other pre.