Phonostage for Nova and Technics

Hi,

Currently I have a Nova with a Technics SL-1210GR (Ortofon 2M Blue) and a Rega Fono MKII phono stage. It feels that the Rega might be the bottleneck so I am interested in exploring some alternative phone stages. I am interested if anyone has done this exercise for their Nova. Looking for some guidance from community members regarding a phono stage that has a a modern design (e.g. Primare R15, Chord Huie which both might be overkill).

Check out the Gold Note PH-10, which looks beautiful and has a v interesting and versatile feature set.

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I have a Techy 1200 (modded) and an Atom. Not exactly like yours but similar enough to validate my preference.
I use a Rothwell Simplex MM phono stage and am very happy with it.

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I don’t own a Nova with my Technics 1200, but rather a Supernait, and use the Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ (as well as its companion power supply); it’s quite good with a variety of loading options to suit every flavor.

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I dont own a Nova, rather a NAC202+hicap+Nap150x I also run a modded technics 1200, I previously had a Rega mk3 phono and found an nice improvement when changing to a Lehman black cube se. Also the switchable mc loadings are nice to have due to ease of swapping cartridges on the technics due to removable head shells.

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Have a look at Graham Slee, I had a Rega Fono with my ClearAudio Emotion and a Rega Aethos.
The Fono was bought as an add-on when I switched to the Aethos

It became very quickly obvious that the Fono was the Weakest Link (Goodbye) in the end I bought the Graham Slee for the fact it was dedicated to MM and I wasn’t paying for extra circuits or relays or whatever.

They said give it some time to burn in, that wasn’t needed - sounded great .

A Technics SL1210 GR is a nice turntable and you should find phono stages at all price points. In the end I bought a mid-range unit and added a power supply. Total bill £695 but worth every penny . I feel I am now getting the best out of the turntable.

To me the basic and mid-range Graham Slee units succeed because they don’t offer masses of filters, valves or MC V MM . Just straightforward engineering.

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My current set-up is a Thorens TD160S, SME Series 3S arm, Grado Reference Sonata MM, into a Naimuniti 2. I had a ProJect pre-amp for a short while but wasn’t at all impressed. I replaced with the
ifi Micro Phono which opened up the music beautifully. It is a small, well-made unit with a host of sound adjustments and switchable to MC to boot. I’ve had it 5 or 6 years now, and no plans to change. It was approx £400 when I bought it, and is now around £550. In cost terms it seems to me a fair match with the Naimuniti2, and I think it still has the potential to match any upgrade in the system.

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In your situation, I think I’d have a look at the Lejonklou Gaio.

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That looks very interesting from different perspectives, never heard of them before but thanks for the suggestion!

Somewhat leftfield, but if you’re sticking with MM then the Pure Sound P10 is very good indeed, especially with upgraded valves.

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My Gold Note PH10 works perfect with my uniti Star.

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