Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ -OR- Moon 110lp v2 -OR- Parasound ZPhono XRM Phono

thanks DeKay!

@audphile1 

I set it as described in the manual. I have no idea how to change with the rest and if I tried, I would absolutely mess it up.

I don't know if anything is wrong with it. Maybe it just has its limits?

@dekay 

that's exactly what I thought, testing CD vs vinyl. I will do it now and post results shortly.

@tablejockey

the middle is the Moon - I guess?

However, there are two approaches:

1. I go for best fit for the Rega P3 for now

2. I go above the P3 "grade" and then later upgrade to a P8 (I hope) and then my phono stage I bought now will be OK for the P8?

@dekay 

I am just generally confused, shouldn't a better equipment improve the sound (in general, if setup properly)?

My current phono stage is in my Musical Fidelity A3.2

@tablejockey you mean the P3's age? It's one year old.

I want a lot of things and I am in no danger of getting them :)

Mr @dekay

I tested 2 different albums, very different quality.

The vinyl is way more laid back, deeper bass, less treble, more airy with a bigger soundstage

The CD is full of highs, screechy but musical, forward - and tiring.

I definitely felt there was something lacking with the turntable. The vocals are pulled back too much. I have no idea if the phono stage will fix it, but when I switched, the volume of the analog source was half of what the CD’s, same amplifier but the phono preamp of it, which should/could be quieter

thank you DeKay, I understand

@dekay 

I will post a new picture. I now have the TT sitting on a cabinet

thanks DeKay, do you think my current cabinet is a problem?

thanks DeKay, I will definitely look into these options. I "thought" the Rega feet do some of the/a decent job of isolation. 

DK: you mean this?

I have the Elys 2 MM. with maybe 300 hours on it.

I thought my Rega feet had a spring but it's just a piece of plastic. Short term I couldn't squeeze in another piece of furniture, so I am thinking I could put rubber under it or isolation feet. like something under $35 and see if it makes a difference.

I did listen again to Dylan, ELO and Van Morrison with 3 seconds delay on CD and vinyl and found the vinyl to lack some detail. I cleaned the stylus and.... I'd be wary of aligning it, just yet, I would need to learn how.

Nice! I ordered some, Magic Eraser bath tomorrow!

I made some gains detail-wise, by re-setting the arm and putting rubber feet under the rigid feet.

I also received a Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+, connected it and sounds absolutely bad. I know it shouldn't so I must be doing something wrong.

@pkatsuleas I love the sound, especially the vintage sound, that CDs can't recreate. All the imperfections, background noises, everything that brings it alive.

@pkatsuleas

I did screw up the settings, back to fixing it!

So, yes, I found the details. It's super crisp and bright. Is there a way to tone it down to more neutral with the load and gain settings?

@pkatsuleas 

yeah, I am on the lowest on the gain :)

I agree with you, the vinyl has to be clean. I have some that sound absolutely terrible from the most anal, recording quality obsessed musicians.

Time to learn vinyl clean for me on the cheap. 

@boothroyd 

what are you, a magician? Everything you said is spot on.

I did lower he slider away 1.75 and it did improve the higher frequencies a lot. 

I did level the turntable, and always check that first.

I need to learn more about gain and loading to be able to ask informed stupid questions :)

Man this is hard. And fun.

@dekay @boothroyd @tablejockey  and all

I have been using the Musical Surroundings Phonomena II+ for a week now and the difference is significant, detail, tone is much improved, layered.

It confirmed that (in my current chain) the weak link was my phono stage in my integrated amp. Now I just have to find the best phono stage in my price range

I did listen to the MF with the changes for a couple days before the MSP arrived but I'll try again

you are right.

But I stopped listening to it and switched back to MF because I didn't get the settings right, for a couple days on the MSP.

Lots of incompetence on my part

it is more accurate too. There are sounds that are simply not "read" by the MF. High frequencies mostly.

After my 2 months long testing 4 subwoofers and 1 phono stage, and my limited budget, I need to decide which one I need more. Given that I never really enjoyed any of the subs, maybe should test other phono stages. This one seems a bit harsh.

thanks @audphile1 I see that that’s what you have (besides other models). I will look into it

@audphile1 the MkII is already a bit over my budget. I am not sure this where I need to push my limit, I need a better amp, and a sub, all that would improve the sound of my speakers. I would benefit the most from cleaning my LPs

I never tried the Parasound but the Rega mm mk5

the winner is the Moon. 

The Musical Surroundings was nice but a little flat, the Moon did it right, detail, depth, sweet and rich sound. 

The Rega was bad, I will be kind and not elaborate on how bad. I guess they know how to make good turntables. 

Customer support from Musical Surroundings was almost non-existent. Rega's was OK. Simaudio's was the best. 

thanks @oddiofyl hopefully something from those 10K components trickled down....