Dorian wrote:Hey Ed, any feedback on the Herron?
Dorian:
I am really enjoying the Herron VTPH2A phono stage. It is superb. It is organic, has a wide soundstage, and places instruments/voices in the 3D space very well. It also quieted the background by a few dBs compared to my prior phono stage, although I do get some tube rush with the Dynavecvtor XX2 Mk2 at max gain, which is +14db, on my preamp. Of course, my preamp is never set at those levels because I already have enough gain.
I am still trying different setups with the Herron though. For example, in the past, I typically loaded my phono stage (with or without SUT) to optimize the XX2. Usually, settling on loading at 80 or 100 Ohms. With the Herron in my setup, it seems to sound best without any loading. This surprised me. But this is consistent with Keith Herron's opinion. I am fully content with this setup, would not change it, and am enjoying it immensely.
But

, I have used the XX2 into the HM7 SUT into the Herron's MM tube stage (thus bypassing the MC FET stage). The first thing I noticed was that, with the Herron only and using the MC inputs, the location of the instruments/voices was - say - 1/4 of the way in front of the plane of the speakers relative to my seating position and went back from there. With the SUT and the Herron using the MM inputs, the location of the instruments/voices was 1/8 of the way in front of the speakers and went back from there. Adding the SUT did not make it sound laid back but rather just located the instruments very slightly back in the 3D space. I preferred this (others may not).
Adding the SUT brought slightly more fullness of tone and drive to the music, and more gradations in dynamics in quieter passages (this improvement was more noticeable in the past with my prior phono stage; I assume the improvement was not as noticeable with the Herron because the Herron already inherently had these characteristics). At this initial stage, I prefer having the HM7 SUT in the chain as it provides more complexities/nuances to the music. It is seductive in that way. YMMV.