My fourth phono preamp has been delivered. I am trying the Simaudio Moon 110LP. I am enjoying the Grado Statement Sonata. I have been running it through the Graham Slee Fanfare which loads the cartridge at 470 Ohms. The Grado is designed for 47K Ohms and the 110LP will allow me to select 47K and 60db of gain.

I considered the Grado phono preamp which has two gain settings but no other loading options than the 47K. Since I have other cartridges I wanted to be able to have a little flexibility.

The Rotel when used with the low output Grado in MC mode loads the cartridge with 100 Ohms as does the Cambridge Audio 640P. The Rotel is a little more sensitive than the CA 640P but neither has the gain for the dynamics I expect. The Fanfare is better matched to the output of the Grado.

When I am home and open it up I will set the jumpers to work with the Grado. Then plug it in and give it a listen. I know it may take up to 200 hours to fully burn-in. I am expecting better sound due to better build quality and proper loading. I will be comparing it most closely to the Fanfare. If it is not better back it goes.

I bought the Graham Slee for his belief that phono preamps are better made for only one gain stage. I wanted to try the 110LP for the choice of loading and gain at a very reasonable cost.