MoFi StudioPhono $300
Why would you waste your time listening to a $300 phono section, much less proclaim it to be really good?
I would offer the reverse. I am willing to proclaim the StudioPhono exceptional BECAUSE I DID LISTEN TO IT!
Playing records is fun, but it’s a bag of cats. You have to deal with tables/arms/cartridges. One could make a good argument for your cartridge choice being the most vital in the LP playing chain. What about the varying levels of records and…. Do not forget- the first electronic handshake in the chain is the PHONO PREAMP.
If you’re nuts for vinyl and serious about getting the most out of records, I’m going to recommend you spend the motherlode on the table/cartridge. StudioPhono is so good, so cheap, that you can allot your investment where it makes the most sense, in the table/arm/cart.
For me, a fine phono preamp has to support MM&MC. Anyone can make an MM that physically works. But to support MC with an acceptable noise floor is almost as big a challenge today as it was many years ago. Cheap parts = noise. Hiss & hum are unacceptable.
In StudioPhono we have an excellent MM & MC phono section. It’s inexpensive, quiet and adjustable for MCs. In listening to the new MoFi UltraTracker+ combo, StudioPhono provided better detail than the phono sections of a $7000 preamp, and $2500 integrated amp. The dynamics and detail of Arrau playing Schumann are unmistakably superior with StudioPhono!
Oh, do you have any LPs with warps? I do.
And, do you have any LPs that are mono? I do.
To accommodate us real world LP owners, StudioPhono has a SUBSONIC button to reduce wild LP rumble. It also has a MONO button for your golden oldies. What else does?!
If you want to obsess about phono sections for many thousands, you’re welcome to do so. But for only $300 you’re in the ball park, and hopefully you’ll have a few pennies left for an improved table/arm/cart package.