MC Phone Preamp Recommendations

I have a Rega Planar 6 turntable, Ania Pro cartridge, and Aria Mk3 phono preamp. The Aria suffers from a buzz or hum (60Hz or 120Hz) noise that's noticeable at normal volumes when not playing a record, and after extensive troubleshooting the most likely culprit is noise in my AC and seemingly poor filtering in the Aria. How I arrived at this conclusion is if I listen to it with a battery powered amp & headphones - with nothing else connected (ie. no turntable), regardless of where in my house or how I might spatially move the Aria, the noise remains. Note, it uses a 2-conductor polarized plug, and grounding the chassis to the outlet makes no difference, which rules grounding issues out as well.

Anyway, I got an iFi Zen Phono preamp tonight and it's dead quiet. It sounds pretty good, but not as good as the Aria (noise aside) so I'm looking for other good options to consider. What I'm looking for is 1) something with adjustable loading (the recommendations for my cartridge are 100 ohm, 1000 pF), 2) adjustable gain, up to 60-70db (my cartridge's gain output is 0.35mV), and 3) something quiet. I'm thinking of spending up ~$1K.

The Darlington Labs MP-7 & SU-7 pair looks interesting, as does the Emmeline F-117 Nighthawk. Any other good recommendations?

The forum members here tend to have level heads, being able to see past audiophile hype and spotting products of good value, so I figured I'd ask here first.

 

Darlington does not have adjustable loading, but you can request the load out that your particular cart needs when you order it. The Nighthawk does have adjustable loading but IMO the Darlington beats the pants off the Nighthawk.

My recommendation is to send Keith at Darlington an email with your setup and ask his suggestions, then place an order with them. They have a return policy if you don’t like it. I will say at this point you’d have to kill me to get me to part with my MP-7.

 

I am very happy with my Elac PPA-2. It was designed by Peter Madnick, which is why it carries the Acoustic Alchemy name. It's very adjustable and is the best sounding phono pre I have heard. I don't know how it would compare to the Darlington or the Aria. One of the features that Madnick often uses are two ground lugs. One is chassis ground which can be connected to the turntable motor and the other is analog ground which can be connected to tonearm ground. I am using a Music Maker 3 cartridge which is based on a Grado and Grados are notorious for hum due to their moving iron design. The MM3 cart is dead silent on the PPA-2. PPS-2 is usually about $1100 online.

 

I've had both of these and many others at this price point. I still have the Emmeline, in my system it matched or bested the Darlington in most aspects.

If you can stretch your budget Id suggest the Austin Audio Works Black Swan at 1500. Its a huge step up from either of the above and its completely & easily adjustable on the fly.

 

Just goes to show it all comes down to synergy and preference. The Darlington is easily one of the best phono preamps I've ever heard, and I would not take the Nighthawk over it even if you paid me. I don't think the Nighthawk is bad, just not as good as the Darlington in any area.

 

Just to muddy the waters further, you might look at the Sutherland KC Vibe https://sutherlandengineering.com/products/kc-vibe/ at $900

I have not heard them, but I've been interested in Sutherland gear. It comes pretty highly recommended across the board.

 

I went from the iFi Zen Phono to the Darlington MP-7 / SU-7 combo and can not be more happy with the results. The Darlington combo is just as quiet as the Zen, but with a huge step up in sound quality (detail, musicality, soundstage, everything).

Don't have a huge wealth of phono experiences. The only other phono I've tried in my system was the Schiit Mani 2, which was in the same league as the iFi Zen.