If you had $12k / £10k to upgrade your analogue front-end...

Since you're obviously in the UK, I would absolutely demo two or three Nottingham Analogue (Dais or better).

@whart  is right - it is very difficult to demo the analogue front end, because it's not always clear what you are hearing (cartridge, arm, table, and especially how well they have been set up, not to mention phono) but, and it's a big but, sometimes you get lucky and find a combination that's head and shoulders above the competition. That's how I ended up with Nottingham.

How good was it? Until I built my DIY air bearing table, it was the best I had heard at sane prices. But you can definitely improve on the arm, at least you can if those of 20 years ago are still representative. The most important things in an arm are rigidity, low resonance, and adjustability.

Remember, no setup without adjustability, preferably adjustability on the fly.

Pair that with a Dais and then you have a table upon which even a big Koetsu is not wasted. Then you can ask to home demo a phono stage to suit.

At least, that is how I would proceed. YMMV. Good luck!

RE: NA Dais

I think so too. It does have a quirk, which is really a feature which contributes to its excellent sound. The motor is very, very, weak, about 1.8 W. You have to spin the table with your hand to start the platter moving - the motor is just strong enough to maintain rotation against bearing friction and stylus friction.

That's good news, for many reasons. It's cheaper to build a low power, high precision AC motor. It's easier to build a high precision motor controller for a weak AC motor. So you don't have to pay a big bill for R&D as well as manufacturing. And there's little power left over to vibrate the platter.

Also, the sub-platter is metal (for mass - actually moment of inertia) and the top platter is a thick slice of of  graphite, which NA calls a mat. Graphite is one of the best mates to vinyl, because its speed of sound is virtually the same as speed of sound for vinyl. So vibration in the record is transmitted optimally into the thick graphite and thence sunk into the massive metal subplatter, with little reflection or resonance.

These are empirical facts. Some here may dispute them on the grounds that their physics intuition says otherwise. Well, physics is a science, and science is based on experiment. This was an experiment, an experiment that worked.

Also, if you ever decide to DIY, the base is the weakest point of the turntable. An obvious way to improve the sound is to replace the base with one made of Panzerholz, preferably B25. The nice thing about that is that it's easily reversible if you don't like it. Also, it's best to place the Dais on a board of Panzerholz.

Good luck with it!

A suggestion. A step-up transformer for a moving coil cartridge is a ridiculously easy way to get into DIY.

The finished boxes that you see often contain little to nothing more than a raw step-up transformer or two (Sowter (UK) makes a good one, Lundahl (Sweden) makes many good ones, and there are others that I haven’t tried) which cost maybe 200 - 300 GBP. Add some inexpensive connectors (XLR from Neutrix, RCA from Switchcraft) and a box, and mount the parts in the box, and you have something which competes with the big boys. You don’t need to switch them - it’s better if you don’t - just follow the manufacturer’s recommendations for hook-up and you’re done.

Most people think, OMG, it’s magic, the pros know all this stuff that I don’t, so I can’t do anything. This is a mistake. The pros do know lots of things, and one of them is, that manufacturers give detailed instructions on the use of their equipment. They are often called ’Application Notes’.

A pro would never think of using something like a transformer without looking at an application note, or at least an explanatory drawing (called a ’schematic’). Why not call up Sowter, explain that you want to build a SUT for a MC, and ask for their advice? I found them very helpful when I did that 10 years ago.

What have you got to lose? Are they going to take away your corner office?

Fair enough Cainullah. Just a thought.