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Help: DSOTM Sounds better on CD than LP

I was listening to Dark Side of the Moon the other day on CD thoroughly enjoying myself when I remembered that I had the LP of this album. I dug through my collection with great anticipation of the joy that I would soon know. I put on the LP and something horrible happened. Gasp…..The soundstage collapsed in on itself and the magic or the album was lost. As you all know CD should never sound better than analog so I am now faced with the dilemma of how to bring balance back to the universe.

I would like to upgrade both my cartridge and phono amp. I am willing to spend up to about $3k for the pair but am willing to move up or down a bit from there based on significant improvements in sound or a lack thereof. The cartridge will be new and the phono will be used. I have thoroughly searched the forum and have a few carts in mind but would like to get some informed opinions from you all on what combination would best suit me.

My current setup is as follows,
Speaker: Thiel 3.6
Amp: Parasound HCA-3500
Pre: Classe Cp-50
Digital: Esoteric X-03
Table: Spacedeck
Arm: Space Arm (The carbon fiber one)
Cartridge: Nottingham Tracer 1
Phono: Grado PH-1
System

Let me try to give a little description about what performance aspects I am looking for. I have had both tubes and solid state in my system before and I am open to either. I have found that I prefer my music to be coming from a dark abyss rather than from a live silence. My current setup has great tonality and is very listenable but lacks in absolute resolution, detail and staging. I would like more of each of these. It also works great for singe instruments and solos but when the whole band comes in it seems to get confused about where to place the instruments and how to distinguish between them.

Thanks in advance for helping guys.
cadence151

Showing 1 response by tubetan

tubetan
24 posts
 
Cadence 151,

I read your original post with interest since I am also a Nottingham Analogue owner (Hyperspace - Ace Space). I always thought Fletcher was aiming a little low when he sent his tables out the door with a Tracer. I think from the Spacedeck on up, these tables have incredible potential. I'm not certain the stock cartridge is able to exploit that potential.

I am also looking at potential cartridge choices and have been reading with interest about the moving-iron Soundsmith Aida. It seems to combine the best traits of moving coil and moving magnet. It is available in both high and medium compliance and in stereo and mono versions. Since it's not ultra-low output, you don't need a phono pre with a lot of gain or ultra-low noise, which opens up a number of choices in the $1 - $2 K range.

Let me know when you make a final decision on your cart and preamp. I'll be interested to know where you end up.

Eric
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