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Post by brutiarti on Jun 23, 2019 18:48:56 GMT -5
Got a Schiit Mani and a Simaudio Moon. I’m keeping the Mani for now as it sounded better than the Moon but the Moon had a lower noise floor with the same gain. Anybody out there that compared the background noise of the Mani vs the XPS or any other phono stage.
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Post by 26gary26 on Jun 23, 2019 19:06:00 GMT -5
Just beginning doing a comparison with XSP-1 Gen2 to Mytek Brooklyn Dac. I keep you informed. Using 2 different phono cartridges also, Shure MX97XE and Stanton 681EEE.
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novisnick
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Post by novisnick on Jun 23, 2019 19:24:23 GMT -5
I’ll be watching with great interest!
I’ve been shopping phono preamps for some time now.
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Post by brubacca on Jun 24, 2019 8:07:23 GMT -5
Is the mani relatively new?
Chatter is that there was a silent revision and the newer one sound much better than the original. Which moon is it? The 110lp v2?
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Post by brutiarti on Jun 24, 2019 8:52:01 GMT -5
Is the mani relatively new? Chatter is that there was a silent revision and the newer one sound much better than the original. Which moon is it? The 110lp v2? It was brand new. It is not horrible but the Moon was way quieter. It was the 110LP V2, at almost three times more expensive it didn't justify the increase. Wondering if all preamps under 1K will be at the same level as the mani. I have the parasound Zphono coming my way. I will do a comparison. Next on my list is the parasound JC3 jr if the zphono doesn't deliver. |
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Post by brutiarti on Jun 27, 2019 9:53:40 GMT -5
Well the Zphono was disappointing. Pretty good quiet background though, but the sound was compressed. The Mani is still the best so far besides being not that quiet. I have the JC3 jr coming my way. We'll see how behaves...
IDK if wall warts are more noisy than standard IEC connections
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Post by 26gary26 on Jun 27, 2019 10:57:48 GMT -5
Just beginning doing a comparison with XSP-1 Gen2 to Mytek Brooklyn Dac. I keep you informed. Using 2 different phono cartridges also, Shure MX97XE and Stanton 681EEE. I am lucky to have a friend that is a sound tech for concerts in the San Francisco bay area. He is paying me a visit to help me do a comparison of the above noted components. I am also lucky to have purchased the Rolling Stones 15 album set that was recorded at 1/4 tracking speeds on vinyl at the London studios from the master tapes with them being in 16 & 24 bit. Sorry if I am invading this post with my info. If so please private message me and I will start another post. Looking forward to what you find out in your search also. |
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Post by brutiarti on Jun 27, 2019 11:09:08 GMT -5
Just beginning doing a comparison with XSP-1 Gen2 to Mytek Brooklyn Dac. I keep you informed. Using 2 different phono cartridges also, Shure MX97XE and Stanton 681EEE. I am lucky to have a friend that is a sound tech for concerts in the San Francisco bay area. He is paying me a visit to help me do a comparison of the above noted components. I am also lucky to have purchased the Rolling Stones 15 album set that was recorded at 1/4 tracking speeds on vinyl at the London studios from the master tapes with them being in 16 & 24 bit. Sorry if I am invading this post with my info. If so please private message me and I will start another post. Looking forward to what you find out in your search also. Cool. I didn't know that the Mytek had Phono input. How does it sound? |
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Post by geeqner on Jun 27, 2019 12:37:46 GMT -5
Rumor has it that PS Audio is working on a Stellar Series Phono Pre
If I were looking for a separate unit for this function - I'd be keeping a pretty close eye on THAT.
(Stellar series seems to be decent / quality engineering for the buck vs. over-priced "audio jewelry" and may be in about the same PP Class as your TT.)
NAD products have always had a pretty darned decent phono section as well
(I STILL like the one in my relatively inexpensive 7220 PE Receiver that I am currently using as a Pre, but it's MM only)
Looking forward to your and your friend's observations on the Phono performance of the XSP-1
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Post by brutiarti on Jun 27, 2019 15:29:43 GMT -5
I also have my eye on the McIntosh MP100. Cheaper than the parasound JC3 but it has the controls on the front and it is pretty to look. I just need something silent but with the dynamics of the Mani.
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Post by 26gary26 on Jun 27, 2019 20:31:04 GMT -5
I am lucky to have a friend that is a sound tech for concerts in the San Francisco bay area. He is paying me a visit to help me do a comparison of the above noted components. I am also lucky to have purchased the Rolling Stones 15 album set that was recorded at 1/4 tracking speeds on vinyl at the London studios from the master tapes with them being in 16 & 24 bit. Sorry if I am invading this post with my info. If so please private message me and I will start another post. Looking forward to what you find out in your search also. Cool. I didn't know that the Mytek had Phono input. How does it sound? I am really impressed with the Mytk Brooklyn so far in regards to how it has improved the sound of XPA2-Gen 3. Makes my RF-7II Klipsch speakers really sing with more depth to the music. Tried plugging my Mytek Brooklyn Dac into my XPS-1 Gen2 and connected to my XPA2-Gen 3 and noticed even more gain in depth. |
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Post by 26gary26 on Jun 27, 2019 20:33:03 GMT -5
Waiting for my friend the sound tech this weekend to do more plug and play. I will keep you posted of results.
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Post by lehighvalleyjeff on Jun 27, 2019 22:56:35 GMT -5
Got a Schiit Mani and a Simaudio Moon. I’m keeping the Mani for now as it sounded better than the Moon but the Moon had a lower noise floor with the same gain. Anybody out there that compared the background noise of the Mani vs the XPS or any other phono stage. I had a SimAudio Moon 110LP v2 in my system for a week. The noise floor is extremely low and it is a very detailed little preamp for its price. The only thing about Moon stuff that makes it hard to buy is that it literally takes 300+ hours to break in. A friend has some Moon gear and has spent a small fortune on it. It all sounds very detailed and nice but he insists as does the Moon rep that their stuff takes forever to break in and until it does sounds kind of flat and almost boring. |
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Post by brutiarti on Jul 3, 2019 16:42:51 GMT -5
Well the Parasound JC3 jr is a really good phono preamp. Still not completely silent but the sound is very neutral. The “mono” button is nice to have, the Beatles mono LP’s sound amazing. I think I’ m gonna keep it as I don’t want to spend more in a phono preamp.
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Post by almatti on Apr 7, 2021 4:55:49 GMT -5
I've seen posts of the Emotiva phono preamp vs the Schiit Mani. I have the Mani. How would I A/B the 2 ? Connect both outputs from the phono preamps to the Inputs of a A/B switch box? Would that distort the signals in anyway?
My current system consists of: Denon DRA-800H RECEIVER; Audio-Technica LP120XBT TT, Tascam CD player recorder, Tascam double cassette player, connected to Elac Debut Reference speakers and a pair of Fluance Signature Series Surround HiFi Bookshelf speakers AND a IOTA SA3 with a Emotiva a A-300 Amp connected to 2 separate pairs of speakers - Emotiva B1+ and Elac Debut 6.2s ( different than the Elac reference).
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Post by jackpine on Apr 8, 2021 14:59:00 GMT -5
The output from a turntable is pretty low. Using an A/B switch would require a set of cables from the turntable to the switch then two sets of cables to the two phono preamps. Not really ideal for a low level signal plus you would need two more sets of cables from the preamps to the amp. You already have a lot of duplication you have a turntable with a built in phono pre 2 amps with built in phono pres and the Schiit. You also have four sets of speakers. I'd advise consolidating some things before making any more purchases.
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Apr 8, 2021 15:28:43 GMT -5
I absolutely agree....
The output of a turntable is very low and will be likely to pick up extra hum from both the switch itself and the additional cables. And, even if you don't get noise, the additional cables and switch will probably add enough extra capacitance to change the way everything sounds. Your best bet is to connect the outputs of the phono preamps to line level inputs - then just move the turntable cables between phono preamps. (That way you've only got one proper cable between the cartridge and the various phono preamp inputs.)
You also need to keep in mind that phono preamps tend to interact rather strongly with cartridges... So whatever you decide with the current cartridge may be very different if and when you get a different one.
The output from a turntable is pretty low. Using an A/B switch would require a set of cables from the turntable to the switch then two sets of cables to the two phono preamps. Not really ideal for a low level signal plus you would need two more sets of cables from the preamps to the amp. You already have a lot of duplication you have a turntable with a built in phono pre 2 amps with built in phono pres and the Schiit. You also have four sets of speakers. I'd advise consolidating some things before making any more purchases. |
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