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Re: Recommend a DIY phono preamp

Sorry for the long post...

Have you thought about the K&K audio kit? You can buy it with all the parts including the chassis. It can handle both MM & MC cartridges as well as RCA and XLR ins and outs. It is more expensive than the others listed but (IMHO) you get much more. Kevin Carter has wonderful customer service. He was available by phone as well as e-mail during my kit build. I just recently changed a resistor to address some issues with the compatibility of my cartridge of choice. I e-mailed Kevin with the problem on a Wed night and got a response back Thursday morning. Hard to top that! The K&K kit is the "cousin" as Kevin puts it to the Art Audio Vinyl Reference and sounds very similar. MF and Stereophile just did a review on the Art Audio Vinyl Reference a few issues back and it made it into class A in Recommended Components (if any of that matters to you).

I have built the Hagerman Cornet. Great phono stage for the money. Even better with a few cap upgrades and NOS tubes. Jim's CS is also top notch. The Cornet was my first kit build. If you decide to go this route, take your time. The directions are very good. My advise would be to build it "stock", get it working, and then upgrade things. This will allow you to "see" or, more appropriately, hear the improvements. You can add a K&K step-up kit or one from Bent Audio (S&B) for the added gain needed for your MC cartridge. The S&B TX-103's are expensive but excellent!

That said... If you can swing the extra money for the K&K kit I would go there. It is leaps and bounds ahead of the Cornet in every department (as it should be for the increased cost). It is the last phono stage I plan on owning. I put in the same league as the Lamm and Asthetix Rea. Some friends and I did a few head to head comparisons using the three phono stages. It was a draw. All sounded different but we all agreed that each of us could easily live with any of the three for ever and ever without feeling like we were missing something. To be honest, I was a little shocked that the K&K did so well. Both the Lamm and the Rea are much more expensive. This was using a Lyra Helicon SL on an SME 10 SME V arm combo.

Hope this helps.


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