Best MM Phono Stage.

My set up is similar to yours, I moved from a cheap Project phono preamp to a Rega Aria and have never regretted It.

The Lejonklou is the best phonoamp for a Linn Adikt because it's technically adapted and finetuned! My friend has this combi and sounds marvellous. Better than Stageline, Rega Fono MM, ifi or other ones. 

You can spend a lot of money on the best and you won't find any agreement which it is anyway, I heard a Thomas Mayer valve job sounding rather fine but it wasn't in a Naim system and a MM one will set you back £4000 plus in the UK and comes on two chassis.

How does the DV P75 do on MM, anyone tried it? It would give the option of exploring MC later though where it does excell and you might not wan't that temptation.

The switchable eq Slee would be good if original jazz pressings are your thing.

I use a Heed Questar MM fed by a Gyrodec / DV-20X2, great synergy cost around £300.

Amps, 272/100

My Naim dealer really likes the Jolida JD v2  upgraded phono pre w/ Naim gear.

I purchased a Lounge Audio LCR and it is excellent.  They are working on a tube version that should be really good.  

HiFiman posted:

I use a Heed Questar MM fed by a Gyrodec / DV-20X2, great synergy cost around £300.

Amps, 272/100

Never seen heed gear in the flesh, but have heard good things.

hi Dupree -- are you planning on staying with the Adikt? If so, the Lejonklou is worth exploring. i find that synergy between the cartridge and the phono stage is the most important factor, and the Lejonklou is made for the Adikt.

i've also heard good things about the Tron Convergence -- i'd like to hear one myself, but tough to do in the US.

Might be worth considering a Linn Uphorik if you have any thoughts of going MC in the future - that's if it's anywhere near your price range.

Clive

DUPREE posted:

HiFiman posted:

I use a Heed Questar MM fed by a Gyrodec / DV-20X2, great synergy cost around £300.

Amps, 272/100

Never seen heed gear in the flesh, but have heard good things.

I took a punt on the Heed, read great reviews and purchased one. The Heed will be the last phono stage I will own it's that good until a fault occurs

I am using a Graham Slee Accession, and it is fabulous.  The unique approach to EQ is hard to evaluate independently, but the Accession does sound better than their previous best, the Reflex M. If eventually you want to use it with an MC cartridge, no problem--just add the GSP Elevator step-up or a good transformer, such as the Denon AU-S1.

Can you explain what you mean by 'hard to evaluate independently' I am not sure I fully understand. I am really interested in the Accession, you overall think it is a good fit for the LP12/Adikt?

A 'Linn and 500 series' friend whom I trust massively, swears by the Adikt/ Lejonklou synergy. I realise this is not what you are asking though.

Chris

The EQ technology in the Accession is allegedly unique.  You need to read the details on the Graham Slee website, but essentially there are two circuits, one to EQ the cartridge, the other to EQ the record.  My point is that I can't say whether the increase in SQ is due to this new circuitry or not.  If it is, it would be interesting to see other manufacturers try this approach.  But in a practical sense, if you buy the Accession, it doesn't matter what the reason for the improvement is, it just sounds better than the earlier models.

I'm a more recent vinyl user so my first phono stage was a Schiit Audio Mani, which was highly regarded for the price.  It was an enjoyable listen but was lacking in a few areas compared to my more expensive digital front.  From what I have read, the Mani is supposed to be much better then the Phonobox S, so you should have room for lots of improvements with an upgrade.

I went from the Mani to a Simaudio 110LP & it corrected any of the areas that were lacking & thought a very worthwhile improvement.  I have more recently swapped the 110LP, for its new bigger brother the 310LP Neo, again a good jump up in performance.  Its around the same price as the Rega Aria but it has a bit more flexibility & I knew I liked their house sound.  The Aria is obviously supposed to be an excellent match with a Rega table (currently own an RP6) but wasn't sure about synergy with other brands if I swap in the future (thought Sim might be more "universal").

I was in a similar situation to you a while back. I deceided to investigate the NVA phono 1 on the grounds that the manufacturer offered a 100% refund if not satisfied.  I have now moved to their phono 2 with 2 power supplies and there is the phono statement to investigate.

There are a large number of manufacturers who offer phono stages and I could probably live with many of them. My advice is to listen to a few at home if possible. You turntable and amp deserve something "better" than the Project.

Good luck with search, have fun and remember it's you ears that matter, not the salesmans !

NJC Audio make a cracking phono pre amp....it's basically built to order and to a very high standard...they also make a dac and quality headphone amp too.check them out online.

Brubacca posted:

My Naim dealer really likes the Jolida JD v2  upgraded phono pre w/ Naim gear.

I purchased a Lounge Audio LCR and it is excellent.  They are working on a tube version that should be really good.  

The Lounge Audio is excellent vfm if you are in the US- $300. Gifted one to my nephew and left one on my son's LP12 with the very modest Rega Carbon. Great boogie machine.

ATB,

Mark

aht posted:

The EQ technology in the Accession is allegedly unique.  You need to read the details on the Graham Slee website, but essentially there are two circuits, one to EQ the cartridge, the other to EQ the record.  My point is that I can't say whether the increase in SQ is due to this new circuitry or not.  If it is, it would be interesting to see other manufacturers try this approach.  But in a practical sense, if you buy the Accession, it doesn't matter what the reason for the improvement is, it just sounds better than the earlier models.

Just to clarify, these comments have nothing to do with the options on the Accession to use pre-RIAA equalization curves.  I have no use for those, never tried them.  The mono switch is useful, though, especially if your preamp doesn't have one.

With your system, why not upgrade to a moving coil and a Superline?  I just got a Lyra Kleos SL and it is very good.

I agree with Skip; my Denon 304 sounds just as nice and crisp as my ND5XS with a Naim phono amplifier