Quote:The extra cost of a CSP2++ might take it out of a niche price and not be cost effective. Unless of course he offered a totally new pre + phono alongside the CSP2. Now a Decware TT ..... :)
I know what you mean as everything Decware puts out is often stellar, but I think if the person knows that it's just a simple stage to get you going it would be a pretty cool option.
If the headphone jack is removed and replaced by a phono stage I think it could be done if the chasis was isolated nicely. I think it would be a good seller for the company. I'm not saying that it would be as stellar as the ZP3, but it would allow poor folks like me another option because buying all the single components gets expensive.
As an example,
Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum has a decent phono stage (it's not going to win any awards, but it's decent). It runs about $2300 which is not bad because it includes everything you need to get started listening to vinyl (sans the TT, Speakers and Cables of course). They also sell some upper range phono stages, but those can be added on later at least the Cronus Integrated gets you to blow the dust of your records. Another one is
Prima Luna, you can add an MM stage to most of their products for $199.
One of the things that makes me hesitate about buying the CSP2+ is that is doesn't have enough inputs ... I'm not sure if this is because they are trying to keep it small or Steve had other design concerns ... But I could see another Preamp in their lineup doing good if it had a few more options.
p.s. a Decware TT? How cool would that be!