Eros or Smash for extra gain on vinyl in Stereomour

[denti alligator]

I often turn my Stereomour all the way up when playing vinyl (using a Seductor). Gain just isn't enough sometimes, though, and I have put a Quickie in between the Seductor and Stereomour for when I really want to crank it. It sounds nice.

But I want a step up (plus, I'm tired of switching out batteries). One option would be to get a Smashand use the Stereomour as a power amp for all inputs. The other is to get an Eros. I imagine I would get about the same gain from the Smash as from the Quickie, but with a more refined sound. The Eros would get me more gain, but not as much, right?

What would you do in my situation?

[Brent]

Quickie gain is 7dB and Smash is 10dB. Eros is 50dB vs. 40dB for the C4S Seduction, so the net gain of substituting the Eros is a similar to inserting one of the preamps.

That being the case, I'd unhesitatingly recommend going with the Eros over the other options as the best solution with respect to sonics and long term investment. I've been down a similar path, having owned a C4Sed Seduction for many years, then adding a Smash, Eros, and BeePre over the last few years. They've all been fun and worthwhile projects, but Eros and BeePre are unequivocally in a different class of performance from Smash.

Besides, Eros is on the wish list in your signature. That seems relevant to the decision too. 

[Chris65]

Guess you mean Reduction phono?? Seductor is a power amp.

[denti alligator]

I meant Seduction phono, sorry. It has the C4S, so I think that's a little more gain. In any event, seems like the Eros is the way to go for me. I can always add a Beepre later for even more!

[Rocketman248]

I noticed a huge improvement when I went from the C4S Reduction to the Eros.  Both in sonics and in gain.  Can't go wrong with that one!

[Brent]

Ha, I just read it as Seduction anyway because that made sense to me. Or maybe I saw it in your sig.

I thought Seduction was 36dB stock and 40dB with the C4S kit, but maybe I am misremembering.

Moving "up" the BH product lines has never left me disappointed, even when I wasn't 100% sure it would be worthwhile. Eros makes the most sense to me in your situation and gives you cleanest setup with your Stereomour II. I put 'Quiets on both my preamps and would recommend that too once you've got your gain where you want it, should you get the itch to do something else.

[denti alligator]

I put 'Quiets on both my preamps and would recommend that too once you've got your gain where you want it, should you get the itch to do something else.

What are 'Quiets?

[Natural Sound]

What are 'Quiets?

I believe he is referring to the MourQuiet stepped attenuator.
http://bottlehead.com/product/mourquiet-stepped-attenuator-upgrade-for-stereomour-ii/

[Brent]

Sorry, that is correct: I was referring collectively to the BeeQuiet, MourQuiet, SmashQuiet, and any other BH stepped attenuators upgrades I might be forgetting.