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Ronnie wrote:

Not expensive, Small size...cheap and cheerful....

http://www.goodsoundclub.com/TreeItem.aspx?postID=957#957

Not only that. I spoke with many many many quite serious designers who confessed to me that they never ever were able to make absolutely transparent sounding no-gain buffer. So, if a SS solution can deliver an absolutely transparent buffers then why SS should not make a good phonostage? It looks like signal to noise ratio is also very much on the SS side….
 
Of course there are hundreds of cheap SS MM/MC phonostages, stand-alone and built-in  into the various consumer prodacts. I tried a few and they sounded garbage-like. However it indicates only that what I tired was bad but it does not suggest that any SS at phono-level should suck. The Guy Hammel’s  buffer is a clean vindication of that fact.

So, what happens at top-of-objectives SS phono market? Keith Herron’s VTPH-1 phono corrector has in it’s MC configuration a SS gain stage. I did not own this phonocorrector, but heard it a few times. Generally the Herron’s products sounds quite pleasant and his phono sounds promising.  Lloyd Walker has his purely SS 66dB phonostage with some kind of secretive NASSA- flying, Pentagon-confidential, Baghdad flea market selling SS chip. I heard it as well in a number of occasions. The phonostage was OK probably would require some in-house audition-evaluation in order to say something more defiantly. I never pursued this SS as I generally do not find that Lloyd Walker is worthy audio thinker or interesting audio designer. All Walker’s products are just the glorified tweaking, with brainless design philosophy and cheap marketing propaganda spread by ironically-accidentally… the idiots-users. Still, it is possible that Walker’s phonocorrector might sound fine if it would be made without participation of the Walker’s head . John Curl with his  ”fun club” has his Vendetta Research (Blowtorch), FET-based phonocorrector. It has 62-70dB gain, little low but also low noise. I heard the Blowtorch many times, it sounded OK but I never heard it driven by MC. Some people like this Vendetta phonocorrector some do not. I never pursued Vendetta because my high disrespect to John Curl and that entire consciousness that sits behind all those people of the John Curl’s club. They are culturally not equipped and intellectually corrupted to make any more or less serious audio. Still, it settles down my personal relation with Vendetta (Blowtorch) but dose not address the question about the SS applicability for phono-correctors. Jonathan Carr has his Connoisseur phonostage that reportedly is very good. I heard it twice in uncontrolled condition. I can’t say anything about it and it should be heard more properly (preferably with no Lyra cartridges)

Interesting that I looked for the top of the line, expansive, “big and flashy” phonocorrectors but it is very possible that some $299 cheap SS box would do better? Would it be?

So, why tubes in phonocorrector if the tubes can’t do make a sonically transparent buffer? Perhaps marketing-wise the guys who do analog want to see tube? I do not know. Screw the marketing and screw the prejudices. Let to see and hear the actual results. It would be very good if any small SS devise would do 80dB gain… Or perhaps it is necessary to add to my 7788-7721 phonocorrector another stage and forget about it? The answer is pending….

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