phonostage

[cressy]

i like the xlps i have now, tbh i havent been inside it but im sure its ss, im sure theres better having heard various vale ones over the last few years but this little beauty is bang on for what i want. ive had a few ss ones previous to this including a 25 quid monacor one that was brilliant for the money and a qed discsaver that on battery power was a cracker. for amps, valves every time, phono stages im not sure theres a clear winner. this depends on budget of course. low end ones in my experience tend to be better ss as they dont seem to be as susceptible to mediocre build quality, but a good circuit well built in a decent case is always going to be better than a good circuit built to a price in a **** case. i got a decent jump in quality by putting the monacor in a nice heavy built wooden case instead of the pressed steel ringy earth loopy case it was in!