Looking to upgrade my phono stage and the opportunity to purchase a 9.0X has come up. Has anyone here owned both? Lateral move? Thoughts?
Cart is a Grado Aeon 3
I found the 9.0X lacking bass slam compared to my solid state phono (Bryston). It did have a more airy dimensional sound stage, but wasn’t enough to satisfy the fun factor.
I’ve owned both the Modwright PH9.0 (minus the X upgrade, that was offered after I purchased the 9.0) and the SPP. The SPP is voiced slightly on the warm side of neutral in the midband. The 9.0 was awash in it. Too much of a good thing for the the balance of the rest of my rig. Maybe Dan has tamed that excess with the X upgrade. I’ll never know since I traded the 9.0. Based on what I do know, I would advise purchase only if the dealer backs it with an in-home trial period if it doesn’t mesh well with the other components in your system.
I had a 9.0 on home trial last year with an X on order, and it made nasty banging noises. I sent it back. Apparently it has a grounding fault that was a design issue. The dealer could cure it with a Puritan grounding unit. Apparently the issue has now been fixed.
It was a shame because it terms of specification, the 9.0X was exactly what I wanted. It was a bit on the warm side and not very fast. That’s valves for you.
I ended up buying something that was the complete opposite of what I had in mind and love it!