[jdandy]

Originally Posted by JJinID

Sorry to hear that Dan. There are a lot of phono stages out there - I have no doubt you will find the right one!

Jeff.......The field is full of phono stage preamps, but it is becoming apparent that only the premium level ones are truly satisfactory.

I have a number of great things going for me in the studio. The room was designed, built and insulated for sound. It has been fully treaded with bass traps and acoustic panels to tame the audible anomalies. Even the entrance door to the studio is insulated and seals top, bottom and sides when closed. The room is very quiet. You can hear a pin drop. Add to that the McIntosh system with premium interconnects, power cables and speaker wires. The sound system that is dead quiet, no hissing, humming, buzzing, nothing but silence at any volume setting with no signal present. This is wonderful, and helps paints an absolute velvet blackness behind every sound that comes from the system. This system in this room is highly revealing of any flaws in components and/or source material. There is no sneaking anything by this sound system. It is a true asset when everything is right, and a liability for the weakest link because it cannot hide. This is the case with the Pass Labs XP-15. It just cannot hide in this system, period.