Quote Originally Posted by paddler
yeah, i've been looking at vintage Mac stuff and intended to go in that direction but got worn out trying to figure out which model/specific unit without the ability to audition. I will eventually try Mac down the road. The phono preamp looks good. I was considering that Project tube unit, was that the model you auditioned?

I had a Project Phonobox 2, for a long while, then moved to a Clearaudio Smartphono.

then got a graham slee Revelation & elevator combo (on very long term loan), and during that while, I was looking for a new phonostage (because the graham slee wouldn't stay mine forever)

I compared the project tube box 2 (like the one they suggested), Leema phono stage (don't know model number anymore - not the 5k one ), a clearaudio Basic + & symmetry, various step ups, and the Lehmann audio black cube, with and without upgraded power supply. I also tested the Lehmann audio Black Cube SEII.

I got them all pretty much at the same time, and compared all the units with the Clearaudio Smartphono, and the Graham slee combo.

cartridges used were: Denon DL-304 and a Denon DL103, with a better body.

in the end, the Black cube with the upgraded power supply was the clear winner, performing even better than the graham slee combo, which cost about 3 times as much. without the upgraded power supply, the sound was very good also, but bass authority was slightly better with it. Still it sounded better to my ears than the others. The sound was lively, very dark background, very spacious & great soundstage. there was alot of air between the instruments and voices. I also liked the "finished" look of this product, while it might not seem that special in photo's, it actually is. inside you'll find seperate dual mono circuits, very very nice components, good shielded power cable too, with separate supplies for both left and right channels. there clearly was quite some engineering behind this

the clearaudio's came second, with an open, detailed sound, and very quiet also, very good build quality also, but the sound was well, somewhat "dead", it does sound very good, but a bit analytical for my taste, the black cube was far more musical, just like the Graham Slee's. While not being able to adjust the settings here, the clearaudio's impedance for MC carts is high enough (800) for most carts, and there is enough gain to support the lower output MC's too.

the Leema was a very good performer, just, not with my 304. Due to the low (and not adjustable) impedance, it rules out the carts demanding a higher loading (such as my 304). With the 304 the soundstage really collapsed, and some sort of a veil was put over the sound, like someone were to put a blanket before the speakers. With the 103 though, it was musical and dynamic, but it missed some detail, the clearaudio & Lehmann were quieter too. overall, this was a great phonostage, but it didn't work with my main cart, so it was no deal for me (also pretty expensive for what it is...)

The project tube box...
well, it did sound detailed, somewhat, the soundstage was good, not impressive, but good. But even with the addition of the tubes, in a desperate attempt to liven things up, it sounded dead to my ears. there simply was not as much life in it as the others mentioned above, nor the dynamics. others might like it, but it's just not my cup of tea. also, the background was more gray-ish... somewhat noisier, so it seemed...

Anyway, hope this helped... it's hard to clearly remember everything I heard, it's been half a year ago or so since I did the comparison...

eventually, I settled with the Lehmann audio Black Cube, now saving for the PXW power supply...

Keep them spinning,
Bert.