Help with phono amp upgrade


Hello:  Need some input from those in the know.  My current system:
Mesa Tigris tube amp
ifi phono pre
Sansui 2050c ( older belt drive table) with Hana SL cartridge.

question:  i feel as though the IFi is very quiet and clear, but at times a bit harsh.  I’m thinking of buying
a used Sutherland PhD to improve the harshness in my system.  I’ve got around 2k to spend.  Yes, i know the table is old, but it sounds sweet and haven’t jumped at a new one... yet...

thanks ,
wb27

Showing 7 responses by wb27

Thanks, I’ll check it out. Not in a rush, so any other input is appreciated....
getting a new  ifi 2 seems reasonable, but looking for better... thx
Forgot to mention speakers....
coincident conquest floorstanding speakers... they are older Canadian made speakers - very efficient and sound great with the Mesa....
Thanks all !

my local shop is letting me try an Allnic H-1201s.
so far I’m mighty impressed... everything is more real.  I’m hearing more bass, more presence.  I’m a clarinetist so I had to hear that first- just amazing !  Almost makes me want to upgrade the turntable for MORE...
Thanks Elizabeth, I thought that could be the case so I purchased a van Evers clean line.  It did wonders for a quieter background but the IFi still sounded thin with strings above mf.  I’m pretty much glued to my records at the moment as the Allnic 1201 is really very different than the IFi. There’s much more bass and heft to the music without losing any detail.  Piano sounds amazing.  Never thought my old stereo could sound this good.  I was a bit nervous as my Hana Sl calls for greater than 400 ohms load and the Allnic does not offer even this much impedance ( coming from IFi this felt like a shortcoming) no matter, it sounds great.  Just to see (hear ?) we reinstalled the IFi: the music is less spatial, less tonally convincing.  I’m also shocked at that slam this little tube amp can muster !
it seems my speakers are doing things they haven’t done before - I guess they should, new, the 1201 is 3k, the IFi is $500....
Thanks again everyone!

Im buying the Allnic used $1k.  Now, once I sell the ifi and a ps audio sprout I’ll have some $$
for a new turntable.. my old Sansui sounds great,
or at least the Hana SL sounds great....
my sansui occasionally runs a little slow, I give it a rest and it seems better.. but a new turntable is in my future... anybody try the Funk Firm LSD...
yes, that’s the name: little super deck...
The bearing was lubed five or six years ago. It gets played a lot so it might need to go in.  I was thinking of having a better cable soldered in while he had it. This Allnic is something in this system. I’ve had a few questions and the distributor up in Canada couldn’t have been nicer !
Fun hobby !  So now I’m thinking of trying tube dampers on my old Mesa amp... at least in my system the Allnic is spooky quiet..