MPP

I owned one of those for sometime... and I decided to start building riaa amps because the Naim was not much better than my stock Meridian 101 phono preamp.

There you go! Self explanatory..

To also comment on the phrase that paradise had great acknedgment here among users on the forum, an important factor has to be taken in consideration: 99% of the people here own a $200 cartridge and a cheapo table arm cabling and rest of audio gear.
This condition limits value to all sonic impression.
In short you cannot declare paradise a cutting edge sounding phono unless you put it on several top quality sound systems and collect critics for educated crew who is used to deal with the pinnacle of audio.
Also silence is yes very important but I heard several dead quit Phonos that sounded like crap.
Boulder might not be a standard for noise floor but it is surely a reference soundwise no doubts about that!
 
Technology wise the Boulder is based on a worked over version of the Dean Jensen J990.
That is hardly SOTA. That does not imply that it does not sound great and
build quality is first rate.
I never said that the Pardise is cutting edge. I get tired to repeat my claims like a praying mill.
The Paradise in the hands of the geniussed, the experienced, the average DIYer and the downright foolish. So what ?
 
diyAudio Chief Moderator
Joined 2002
Paid Member
I had enough play with a 2008 in an expensive installation I was doing some work on few yrs ago. Hiss was audible on 89dB sens speakers at 2-3m distance when the MC phono was switched in at most gain. Build quality was first rate, the user interface very nice also. High industrial quality machine in other words.
 
I had enough play with a 2008 in an expensive installation I was doing some work on few yrs ago. Hiss was audible on 89dB sens speakers at 2-3m distance when the MC phono was switched in at most gain. Build quality was first rate, the user interface very nice also. High industrial quality machine in other words.

Was it still audible in your set up when a vinyl was playing at normal listening volume? Did this distract you from the overall musical event?
 
This opens up a can of worms. NOISE FROM THE PHONO STAGE IS NOT ALLOWED.
It swallows up the micro details. Noise from mechanical problems of vinyl tracking is very different from electronic noise that simply limits dynamic range. Also why should a noisy stage sound better then a clean one ? That really does not make sense to me plus where is the problem ? Phonos can be designed for minimum noise so why not do it ?
Incompetence ?