I.Greyhound Fan, did you get a chance to audition the Gold Note PH-10 or any of the other recommendations prior to purchasing? Just wonder what the other options you tried with your system.
No I did not. I read just about every pro and user review that I could find and it has the sound that I am looking for. I bought one used from Canada for 975 U.S. dollars with shipping included. I am taking a leap of faith. I can always flip it and probably get more than I paid. They sell new for 2200. No one here in the Twin Cities has the preamps that I was looking at. I could have bought the Darlington or Pro-ject Tube Box DS3 and returned them if I did not like them but the Gold Note I suspect is better than both.
I also like the fact that the Gold Note PH-10 has RCA in and XLR balanced out. No special cables needed like the Darlington. Plus it is so adjustable that you can use any cartridge with it. No dip switches like the Pro-ject. Just an LCD screen and a knob to scroll through settings that you can change on the fly.
I should get it sometime next week.
I am eventually going to pair it with a Hana ML MC low output cartridge. I eventually would like to find a good price on a used VPI Scout to replace my vintage Thorens TD-145 which I will give to my son along with my Vista phono preamp and a Nagaoka MP-200 cartridge that I just love.
I will post a review when I get it. I already bought a pair of Belden 8402 XLRs for it. I really like the sound of the 8402 cables which sound better than my Cardas Parsecs and AQ Columbia's.