[jlafrenz]

You should just go back to the Jolida with the magical sound it gave that room Judd... ...What pre were you using before with the Jolida, was it the Music Hall pre?

PS other than the quick jab, I am with everybody else here open the pot on the EMO taking the resistance out of that path so you can just here the attenuation of the passive pot, knowing how much those EMOs have on tap you will probably be just barely squeaking you passive past 0.

The Jolida I had was an integrated. It has actually been on my mind to go back to a Jolida. I talked to a dealer last night about my situation. What I was told is that if I keep my current speakers that the 202BRC would be a nice unit. If I want to prep for any future upgrades I could go with the 502BRC or the JD-5T as a pre and the 502P as an amp. It is very tempting, but an increase in cost for sure from what I have now. I may give the tube pre a shot with the Emo to see if I like it. If not, then I can add the tube power amp. My other option would be to go to a Vincent Hybrid unit or a Virtue.

[jlafrenz]

Tonight I turned up the gain all the way on the Emotiva as suggested. I have to admit that it did sound a bit better. Not quite perfect, but better. I think the phono stage still struggles. It seems like it needs to open up a bit yet. I have taken into consideration that vinyl is a bit more mellow than listening with my PC and DAC though. I'm still up in the air as to what to do.