There are many great phono stages at far less than what some here recommend. Let’s see...the Graham slee Era Gold V....the one Fremmer drooled over...it’s a grand! How about the Ear 834p? How about the pro ject tube box ds2? All raved about in countless reviews. Then there is the ifi phono3....a grand....even the cheap musical fidelity lx lps is a fantastic phono preamp.
Need advice for upgrading my analog setup
Hello,
I got into records 2 years ago and have been using ProJect Carbon Debut Evo with a Sumiko Rainier cartridge. It has served me great as my first table and a way to see if I would enjoy playing records. Well I do enjoy records. And my dad gave me all of his records too (he's a CD guy but never abandoned his collection when vinyl fell out of vogue).
Anyway, I'm planning to upgrade my entire analog setup and I'm very much a buy once , cry once kind of person. I'm looking at a SOTA Sapphire, Origin Live Zephyr tonearm, and a Soundsmith Zephyr Mk.III cartridge. Is this a good combination? Are there any other combinations of gear in the $6k range I should consider? I try to buy American as much as I can. I've looked at VPI but I like the look of SOTA much more.
Oh and I'm using a Darlington Labs MP-7 phono preamp that I'm happy with and don't plan on replacing.
Thanks for reading and helping me out.