I want to make folks aware of Darlington Labs phono preamps. Solid State, but my experience is that, for the money, IMHO, would be very hard to top.

I started with their MP-7, and liked it very much. Outstanding, and for $650, I think it is a steal. I lived with it for about 6 months, and then read online that they had a new model available. Or, in my case, an upgrade from what I already had.

I sent it back to them, to have my MP-7 modded into a MP-8b.

I have been listening to it for about a week now, and it is amazing! Like I said, I liked the MP-7 a lot, but the MP-8b is out of this world! I have not been able to stop listening to my records. I now consider my phono and digital sound to be about dead even in quality, but the phono play just has that extra bit of a more natural sound.

This is highly recommended, and for the money, just stupid good.

I noticed that balanced is an option. Not sure how that is managed. There are no XLR jacks on it. Hell, the thing is very small - no room for them. I had planned to email them about that one, but don’t need to do anything different anyway - everything is right as is. I shit you not. This thing is special.

Yes indeed. The upgrade made a big difference! Highly recommended.

I upgraded my MP-7 to the MP-8B, both of which I use with the SU-7 step up.  I definitely think the upgrade is worth it.  Perhaps the most noticeable change is that the noise floor is much lower in my view.  (I used a Schitt Mani 2 while my unit was being upgraded and found it much less capable.)