Is Coincident Statement Phono pre-amp an overkill

10-26-13: Essrand
I did expect to keep the TT (Clearaudio Concept) for a few years. I hope getting the Coincident will not make do that upgrade too.

Based on a quick read-through of this thread, it seems to me that this is the major issue that needs to be considered. As Banquo mentioned earlier, the Coincident phono stage will not work properly with your present cartridge. In addition to the gain issue he mentioned, it does not provide suitable loading for MM's. So you'll want to invest in a high quality LOMC, that will do justice to the phono stage, and not require further upgrading in the foreseeable future. And although I'm not familiar with the Concept, I'd seriously question whether a $1400 turntable + tonearm would do justice to that cartridge, if used as anything more than a temporary stopgap.

I don't mean to be discouraging, but I'm just suggesting that if you go for the Coincident you should be prepared for the possibility that you'll want to upgrade the turntable and tonearm sooner rather than later. And seconding Isochronism's point about buying once, that upgrade, done right, is likely to involve considerable $.

Regards,
-- Al

Essrand, in relation to the point I raised in my earlier post you may find it useful to read the following thread, and also the thread that is linked to in the post in that thread by Thom_Mackris (Galibier turntable designer):

Largest Impact - Arm or Cart?

As you'll see, although opinions are divided there is considerable support among the assembled experts for the notion that the quality and performance of the turntable and tonearm are more important than that of the cartridge.

Regards,
-- Al

Essrand, just as with moving magnet cartridges, the Sumiko Blue Point Evo III moving coil cartridge is not compatible with the Coincident Statement Phono Stage. Its output is too high (2.5 mv), and it requires a 47K load, which the Coincident does not provide. You need a low output moving coil cartridge if you want to use that phono stage.

Regards,
-- Al

Hi Lew,

Yes, it is described as using a SUT, and I'd imagine that it could be bypassed internally and a suitable resistive termination put in place. But it seems clear from the description that internal modifications would be required, and I doubt that many of us would want to do that to such a special piece. Or even have Israel do that, if in fact he would be willing to.

And of course the mod would have to be undone later if the OP eventually goes to a LOMC, unless the design were further modified with the addition of a switch and wiring changes, the result very conceivably being a signal path that is compromised to some degree.

I suppose also that an external SUT could be purchased and used in the reverse direction, to reduce the voltage and increase the load impedance. But that doesn't seem to make much sense either, sonically or financially.

My basic feeling, fwiw, is that something as special as this piece should be kept in stock form, and used as its designer intended.

Best regards,
-- Al