[royboy2k]

I've been toying with the idea of getting a turntable, probably a used Music Hall or Rega. Anyway, I have a Creek 4330R integrated which has no phono stage, but a phono module can be purchased (I think it's like $90).

Does anyone know how this module stacks up against dedicated phono stages such as the Little Rat or maybe something from NAD around $100?

Also, my brother has a Sony DA333ES receiver. Anybody have an idea how good that phono stage might be?

Obviously I'm quite new to the analog world, so any help is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[TimSchirmer]

Actually... my dad just got a hafler phono preamp for like 80$.

I'll review it when I get the chance.

 

[royboy2k]

uh, bump.

 

[WIJGALT]

It's supposed to be pretty decent - though I've never heard it. Should be reasonably akin sonically to their stand-alone jobs (OBH8, 9). My feeling would be that it should be more than adequate for the Music Halls & Rega 2, 3.
Also a heckuva lot more convenient & you won't need another pair of interconnects.
Be aware that you will need to choose an MC or MM module depending on the type of cartridge you will ultimately employ (yeah, you're gonna need one of those, too).
Good luck.

 

[smokey]

royboy2k

If you haven't done so already, check out the Audio Asylum. In the vinyl forum, search under Creek. It should return you a number of opinions on the Creek phono modules. I was looking myself recently, and all of the opinions seemed quite positive. However, you got to keep in mind the price of these things, they are not going to beat any kilo buck dedicated phono stages. But for the price, they seem to more than hold their own.

Hope this helps, at least a little bit.

 

[drewski]

All of those little phono stages that you mentioned are decent and provide decent sound for the cost , but none are great (as smokey has already mentioned)- you can add the Rega, Music Hall, and Sumiko phono stages to that list as well. While I've never heard the internal Creek phono stage in your particular amp, I would still believe that the internal module will sound as good as or better than an external box. There is a saying that the best interconnects are no interconnects (I don't always think this is true, but I do think it's true for a phono stage)- if you buy an external box, you will need to buy a decent set of interconnects (just as WIJGALT has already mentioned) which are more expensive than the phono stages that you are looking at! Also, especially with the Rega tables, there are many combinations that cause humming or ground loops. With an internal phono stage, there's less of a chance that you'll have any hum problems because you'll have a single ground.

As for the Sony ES receiver, I wouldn't go there either. Sony's receivers are much more geared for HT applications- much too bright for two channel listening. If you're interested in analog, you're probably looking for something without that grainy digital sound. Something like this defeats the purpose of going analog.

Hope you find what you're looking for!

 

[royboy2k]

Ok, sounds good guys. I'm still not sure I want to sink money into a TT, but if I do I'll probably go for the Creek module.

Thanks for all the replies.