[cpw]

How important is the phono stage w/ MMF-5 w/ stock Goldring cartridge?
I've got an NAD 705 receiver and a
Phase Linear 3300 preamp that both have phono stages. Will I be totally disappointed w/ performance of these or are they not too much of a mismatch w/ that TT/Cartridge?
I'm sure a dedicated stage would be a big improvement but given the limits of my vinyl, it's hard to justify the expense of a stage at this point. I'm trying to strike a medium between decent performance now and upgradability.
Will using these stages disappoint me and turn me off to vinyl or will it be the beginning of a long (and expensive) journey?

Amp=HR-2/Phones HD600

Thx,
CPW

 

[daycart1]

IMO, you'll be reasonably close to optimum with the MMF 5 if you use a phono stage in one of those devices. Try it and see. You should probably budget first for more vinyl--you'll want vinyl in excellent condition with that headphone rig because it will bring out the noise in damaged vinyl.

Once you collect a lot of records, you might want to think about hardware upgrades.