Analog Upgrade itch

@eddiechanghk 

In my view the upgrade to Kuzma R or Ref II with 4point should be significant.

The 4point is pretty much unbeatable in my view for the money. I have installed 4points vs other arms such as Moerch, Helius and a few others - it is a step up in transparency and very neutral.

The overall sound of the Kuzmas/4point I would describe as self effacing - neither lean nor bloated - nicely balanced. One thing I really like is that the Kuzmas designed to be easy to set up which makes dialling them in easy.

For phono stage I would suggest investigating the cost of adding the Gryphon Legato Legacy phono boards to your existing Pandora. The Pandora is state of the art so why not take advantage of that architecture ( dual mono power supplies etc ) and just get the phono boards installed. ( You also save the cost of interconnects phono to pre ).

Cheers.

@eddiechanghk 

Depends on your budget. How much do you want to spend ?

The Allnics tend to be on the lush side. Manley is very good - and very flexible.

I would suggest you do the TT upgrade first and then do the phono later.

This gives you the opportunity to reassess  your phono requirements once you have the new front end dialled in.

@eddiechanghk 

Both the 4point9 at 13g effective mass and4point11 at 18g effective mass will be fine for the Etsuro. Personally since you already have enjoyed the fantastic VTA on the Stogi S get the 4point11 if you can.

Going from the Stabi to either the R/4point or Reference 2/4point I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how much improvement you get over the existing set up.

I think the Reference 2 is better than the R for the reasons you have suggested - the Kuzma M is where the new DC motor hits its straps ( it has a bigger motor/bearing and platter than the R ).

If you need to squeeze the budget I would say go for the Ref 2/4point9.

@eddiechanghk 

Pardon for my ignorance , does a SUT+ MM phono plays better than direct to a MC phono and what is the sonic improvement, generally can provide from a SUT ?

Really depends on the quality of the particular units - you cant generalise.

The Allnic H7000 actually has a SUT built in.

Be aware there are 2 versions of the H7000 phono -

1 version with SUT plus active MC step up ( this would give you the choice of SUT vs active

another version with 2 SUT MC inputs.

You need to check with the dealer which version he is recommending.

The Feickert is a very good turntable, but if you are going for a 4point then I would get the Kuzma R. The Feickert's are quite often paired with Kuzma arms and should work well if you are keen on the Feickert. Soundwise I still prefer Kuzma R.