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Clearaudio Innovation Wood or shoot for the stars Techdas AF 3

      I currently have a VPI Prime turntable with a Benz Micro LPS-MR cartridge and a Simuaudio 610 lp phono stage. I was about to upgrade to Clearaudio Innovation Wood with probably a Kuzma 4-point arm when my wife says that this better be my last turntable upgrade and she said I could spend more for as long as I never ( never probably means 5 years, I hope ) upgrade my turntable again. This got me looking at the new Techdas AF5 ( just launched at the recent Tokyo Audio Show). However my dealer prefers  of course the more expensive AF 3  with a Graham arm. Although, he can also do  Kuzma except I have to wait for an armboard as most Techdas armboards are already pre-drilled to fit Graham's. I have heard the Clearaudio extensively in a friends place with the Universal arm and Mysonic Lab Signature Gold and its sounds great but I have never heard the AF3's. Though I have heard the AF1 in another friends system which costs  probably 20 times mine and it sounded beyond this world ( at least for me). Hoping that the trickle down technology on the AF3 will get me 80%-90% of the sound of the AF1. 

    Now, the question is which table to get? Assuming home audition is not possible ( but of course I will try ). The cost of the AF3 will leave me broke ( to do anymore upgrades to my system) but hopefully happy and satisfied.  The technology on this thing alone makes me want to buy it. The awesome reviews help too. The Clearaudio also has good reviews. I've heard it, it also sounds wonderful and quite a few people here own them and  it leaves me wiggle room too to upgrade some other stuff ( ARC REf phono 3 perhaps or  an additional cartridge for different flavor ) . Though I noticed that owner's keep them for a few years ( from my back reading of threads ) but still upgrade to much higher priced turntables ( hence my hesitation ) as this is  sort of the "last table for life" kind of situation. 

     This a once in a lifetime deal ( because of the wife's blessing and the amount involved ). I don't think she'll give me another chance like this one .  Hoping your thoughts/inputs can point me to the right direction. Thanx.
      
PS. Please do not suggest other brands, due to availability and dealer relationships these are already my finalists, so let's limit the discussion to the 2 above mentioned turntables.
attymbb
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attymbb OP
25 posts
 
Inna,

The rest of my system

Pre -ARC Ref 6 
Power -ARC Ref 75
Speakers - Von Schweikert VR 44 Active
Phonostage - Simaudio 610 lp 
CD/SACD/DAC - Esoteric k07
Streaming - Macbook Air with Audioquest Diamond USB 
Speaker cable - MIT Matrix 28
IC's - MIT Oracle 3.1 ( front end )
Tonearm Cable - Synergistic Tricon
IC to power - Masterbuilt Performance ( 6m)
PC's - Shunyata Alpha Series ( various models )
Power Condtioner - Audioquest Niagara 1000 ( front end ), Shunyata PS 8 ( power amp, active woofers )
Furutech Gxtd- R wall receptacles
TAOC racks

   Aside from no turntable for a long time ( hopefully versus forever ), no other upgrades for a while since I will be a poor man after this ( if I go the AF 3 route ).

folkfreak,

  My initial budget is closer to 15k, 11k for the table and 4k for tonearm ( 9" Kuzma is around that pricepoint, IIRC ). So going from that amount to 32K is a very big price increase.

Lostbears,

        I agree it is very difficult to demo tables and yes the the Ref 3 phono has 2 inputs. In fact, my ARC dealer has been bugging me to upgrade to it for a good price. But I feel the upgrade is useless unless/until I upgrade my TT 1st.
    
 
inna
7,296 posts
 
This is tough. To choose maybe the last turntable. There is a sad finality to it. I do hope this is not really the case, only no turntable upgrade for a long time.
Could you list the rest of your system including cables and power management devices, so that we could see the whole set-up?
Generally speaking, my thinking is close to folkfreak's - about 50% spent on the table. But that's general.
You absolutely want to compare the tables in similar systems if you cannot do home audition with both. The dealers must understand. You might only need an hour or so, they could stay with you while you are at it. And you could offer to pay them for this. I would.
lostbears's avatar
lostbears
538 posts
 

 You can also fit a second arm on the  ClearAudio Innovation wood. The nice thing about the Audio Research Ref Phono 2se and I assume the Ref Phono 3,  is that it has two configurable inputs. Which is great if you run two arms or two different tables.




folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
So in effect you have $34k to spend? $27k for the table and $7k for the arm. In my opinion it really matters if this is it or if you think you will have room for more upgrades in the future

if this is really the end then as @lostbears suggests you would be best off to set some money aside for the phono stage and a better cartridge as the ones you now use will be a limiting factor. You can consider the used market for the phono stage, plenty of Ref 2SE available and I’d consider adding a step up as the high gain in the ARC phono is its weak point, I just added a Music First step up ($3k) to mine and it is a game changer

However if you want room to upgrade further the AF3 is the ideal choice as you can add a second or third arm, and the compact size allows all sorts of clever bases to be used (like the Herzan). But this is basically setting you en route to a $75k LP system

one other angle to consider is how you apportion the mix in your LP system. I personally would not spend over 50% of my budget on the table, instead think more like a third for the table, a third for the arm/cart/interconnect, and the last third for the phono stage. 

Hope this helps
lostbears's avatar
lostbears
538 posts
 

 I would go with the ClearAudio Innovation wood with Universal arm and upgrade your phono preamp. 

 I own a ClearAudio Innovation wood with Universal arm and Benz Zebra wood cartridge. My phono preamp is an Audio Research Ref Phono 2se. This is a truly excellent sounding combination.

 Turntables are difficult to demo. There are just so many variables.



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