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Jolida JD9: I think I over-bought. Alternatives?

In my infinite quest of attaining gear that punches above it's weight class.... I landed a used JD9 to try it out and I'm frustrated. The AT120ET cart is too high of output to use the high outputs (even with 12au7 tubes). I ended up using the low outputs. While it still sounds good, I can't help but think that I'm not getting as much out of it with the cart i'm using. ...and I don't want to upgrade my cart.

I think I might go back to the Cambridge 651p or Musical Fidelity V90-LPS. Both sounded pretty good. I post here, so you guys can talk me out of it ... or suggest an alternative. On the plus side, I did score some 12ax7 mullards, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

I have a stock technics 1200 Mk2 that I'm quite happy with. Just need a preamp that matches nicely with the cart. I think there might be something in-between the $200 - $600 that might be a good match.

Conversely both the Cambridge and MF are pretty good. I'm not looking for a critical preamp. Thoughts?
128x128martinman

Showing 1 response by jedinite24

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jedinite24
1,503 posts
 
Hi Martinman

I use a restored stock Technics 1200 Mk2 too but my cartridge is a Denon DL-110 with a Ortofon SH-4 headshell. The phono preamp I use is a Hagerman Technology Bugle 2.

http://www.hagtech.com/bugle2.html

It is a nice phono preamp on a budget IMO. I liked this preamp better than the Cambridge Audio 640P. I felt the music was more alive with the Bugle2.
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