MMF 2.1 - next upgrade path?



I thought I was going to spend only $300 to enjoy vinyl only in a rainy day with all those surface noises. I was wrong. I ended up listening way more than that. If I knew vinyl was this good, I would have spent more to start with better turntable, at least maybe MMF 5. Anyways...

I am thinking of the next upgrade, with strong supervision by my lovely wife - there you go, budget limitation.

1. Cartridge: Grado, either used or new, within $150
2. Save some money for now, buy a new turntable sometime next year
3. Separate phono stage within $150. Currently I am using built-in phono stage of Musical Fidelity A300.
4. Any more ideas?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
silvmoon

Showing 1 response by patrickamory

The next upgrade should be a better table. I'd save up. You can get a notable improvement from one of the medium Regas, or should you be willing to go the used route, a Thorens off of Ebay (some reconditioning may be necessary, but these tables will blow away even the MMF-5). If you can swing it, the VPI Scout is probably awesome, but it's significantly more expensive ($950 w/o arm, $1500 with arm).

After that, the cartridge. I'd think about one of the cheaper moving coils, such as the legendary Denon DL-103 (available for about $160-200 from overseas dealers) or the new Dynavector 10X5 (probably $250 at the right discounted price), either of which will be a significant upgrade from the stock Goldring. Be aware that the Denon will require significantly more gain than your current moving magnet cart - I'm not sure whether your MF provides an MC stage. If not, you should plan on buying a step-up transformer from Jensen or Stevens & Billington. The Dyna is a high-output moving coil and won't require any more gain than an MM cart.

Hope this helps.
Patrick