Unhappy UK Phono Stage Owner

I made the "mistake" to borrow (through the excellent Graham Slee Forum and the more than excellent Suggs) an Era Gold preamp.

It arrived, I plugged it in and.... nothing happened. Only... wait...

Songs started making sense! My modest turntable started singing. Once I sat across my speakers and listened to the entire "Animals" LP by Pink Floyd. The entire album. Speachless. I said it must be something else. I unplugged the preamp and switched back to the internal one. Oh god no, the sound "hurt".

I kept (as I must shamefully admit) the preamp for more than 15 days. It was that great. Finally I returned it reluctantly. Now I was facing a very different problem. I had to find a preamp that sounded as natural, as liquid, as GOOD as this one. 

I tried a friend's phono (a Rega Aria or something) and it sounded like mud.

Finally I decided that GSP was too expensive for me and I'd go with a more affortable model. 

So I picked a Tisbury Audio Domino. UK made? Check! Aluminium body? Check! I even made a spreadsheet to compare the 3-4 models I had in mind.

And it came, I connected it and.... Ok it sounds naturally better than the LP5's internal preamp but still. It's not even 20% of the enjoyment I had with the Slee. I mean, I am no audiophile by any means. I buy records and I do care about the pressing okay , I can understand when a digital recording is transfered to vinyl and I hate that but I don't fancy myself as an audiophile. 

I like my music, I love my records and since last year I spent tons of money on them. But today I admited it to myself: I can't go on thinking that my preamp is as good as the Era Gold. It's not. It is as simple as that. I now have to sell (probably at a loss) my Tisbury and then look to buy the one my ears told me was the one from the beginning. Maybe I couldn't believe that such a tiny machine can have such a difference in a system or that the price difference was too big to justify this move. After all the turntable cost less. Then. Now it has a Shibata stylus so I guess my system has "matured". 

Now tell me am I going to be alright? 

I'd really appreciate any comments or suggestions!

Take care people,

Kostas

 

Than later on the possibility to upgrade with a PSU1

Sounds a little out of the ordinary, but GA2C/PSU1 is a very good phonoamp solution 

And I do use that setup myself with my Michell TecnoDec/RB250/Nagaoka MP110

 

So maybe try another loan than or... just buy the least expensive GrahamSlee phonoamp ;-)

Good luck!!