[I.Greyhound Fan]

Hi, I am thinking about upgrading my phono preamp to another tube preamp.  I am looking at the Pro-Ject Tube Box DS3 B.

Does anyone own this or the Tube Box DS2?  I am curious on what you think of it.

If I decide to go SS, then it will be the Parasound JC3 Junior. 

I prefer to go the tube route as I have had a tube phono pre before.  I am currently using a Vista Audio phono preamp that sounds very good.

TT is a 1970's Thorens TD-145 and a Nagaoka MP-200 cartridge for now. Eventually, I will upgrade probably to a Hana MC.  Preamp is a BAT VK51se and amp is a Pass Labs X250.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I guess no one here owns these phono preamps.

Anyone own the Project phono box RS or RS2?

[nlitworld]

I owned the Tube Box S2 and it was fine for what it was, but there is better than the ProJect stuff for equal or less money.

Tubes4HiFi have several phono options. The PH14 at $500 assembled in a custom chassis and ready to go would beat the DS series. Plus if you felt like upgrading parts, everything is thru hole mounted.
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/PH14.htm

If you felt like really going wild, I have the PH16 that I hotrodded a bit farther than a standard kit and it blows away my friend's Parasound JC3 Jr.
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/PH16.htm

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I owned the Tube Box S2 and it was fine for what it was, but there is better than the ProJect stuff for equal or less money.

Tubes4HiFi have several phono options. The PH14 at $500 assembled in a custom chassis and ready to go would beat the DS series. Plus if you felt like upgrading parts, everything is thru hole mounted.
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/PH14.htm

If you felt like really going wild, I have the PH16 that I hotrodded a bit farther than a standard kit and it blows away my friend's Parasound JC3 Jr.
http://www.tubes4hifi.com/PH16.htm

I have looked at these before and still may consider one.  I would go with the PH16 with the Mundorf caps for sure if I went this route.  I like the projects and JC Jr. for the XLR outs.  My system is fully balanced.  And I do not want to use a SUT as I have enough cables everywhere.

The project Tube Box DS3 B and phono box RS are supposed to sound much better than the S series phono preamps but I do not doubt that the PH16 can sound better.

[nlitworld]

 I do get the SE vs Balanced route. Luckily there's cables for that thought. With the ProJect series that I've heard (and a few other high gain phono stages, the power supplies get pretty noisy. With this series in particular, anything above 40dB gain is noticable and 60+ was pretty gross by comparison. With those considerations, the Parasound would be the better choice.

If you really felt like going all in on the tube route and accepting a SE to XLR cable lifestyle, the Don Sachs phono stage is something to look at. It's an upgraded PH16 and you can have a SUT built inside. That's the design upgrades I followed for my PH16 build and it is best of both worlds but most $$ option.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I do get the SE vs Balanced route. Luckily there's cables for that thought. With the ProJect series that I've heard (and a few other high gain phono stages, the power supplies get pretty noisy. With this series in particular, anything above 40dB gain is noticable and 60+ was pretty gross by comparison. With those considerations, the Parasound would be the better choice.

If you really felt like going all in on the tube route and accepting a SE to XLR cable lifestyle, the Don Sachs phono stage is something to look at. It's an upgraded PH16 and you can have a SUT built inside. That's the design upgrades I followed for my PH16 build and it is best of both worlds but most $$ option.

Thanks for the food for thought.  If I were to go with the DS3b or the RS I would buy an aftermarket Teradak LPS to use with it. I own Teradaks and they make a nice difference.  I have read that the the DS3 and RS are quiet, but I certainly appreciate your input and will take it into account before I purchase anything.

Does Don Sachs still build gear?

[rotarius]

I love tubes, have owned many tube preamps but for anything needing more than 12db gain, I just stick with SS for superior THD + noise.  It's not about the psu but the tubes themselves.  You already have to contend with noise and distortion inherent to vinyl, why make it worse?  I would pick the JC3 any day.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

I love tubes, have owned many tube preamps but for anything needing more than 12db gain, I just stick with SS for superior THD + noise.  It's not about the psu but the tubes themselves.  You already have to contend with noise and distortion inherent to vinyl, why make it worse?  I would pick the JC3 any day.

I am leaning to the JC3 Jr.  Currently, I have a BAT VK51se tube preamp.  It uses 8 6H30 tubes and is dead quiet.  It ought to be quiet as this thing cost 10K new years ago, although, I bought it used.  I am in no hurry but would like to buy something by February as I am having a knee replacement surgery the second week of February and will be laid up for several weeks.  I am taking 11 weeks off work.  I should get a lot of listening done.

[wdlvwdlv]

I purchased the Pro-Ject Tube Box DS2 over two years ago second hand and have been quite happy with it. My gear is what I would call mid-fi, I usually get products pulling above their weight and usually above entry level hi-fi. So, in terms of quality and sound I personally find it quite refined and warm. The unit has had zero issues, in its ongoing lifetime. The only thing I did was to remove the top screws to make tube swapping easier and replaced it with thin velcro. Top stays shut and secure but I don't have unscrew the unit every time.

I did hear about the Phono Box DS3 B last year and presumed the Tube Box DS3 B would follow soon. If you have further specific questions, I'd be happy to oblige. Overall quite pleased with the unit and won't upgrade anytime soon since my turntable doesn't have a balanced output.