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Need help finding a new phono stage.

I just purchased the Marantz tt-15s1.
It has a dynavector 10x5 installed on it.
I have a Cambridge audio cp1, and it sounds great. Which I'm not fully understanding because I thought that stage was for mm only? Can someone help explain this?
My amp is set 3/4 the way up for the volume level I like.. but even at full tilt it doesnt sound distorted or anything!
I guess my main question, and my next step is what is a good phono stage to upgrade to??
For now though I am happy. 
Thanks in advance.
128x128kevdubbya
nandric's avatar
nandric
4,086 posts
 
ASR Basis Exclusive with battery power supply introduced new
models nearly each year. The consequence is that the ''older
models'' can be get for cheap. For those who live in Europe I
can recommend ''audio-markt.de'' site as ''place'' for search. 
glennewdick's avatar
glennewdick
1,666 posts
 
second the gold note ph10. But if budget is smaller then id say the ifi Iphono 2 is killer, for the money, $500 phono stage.
kevdubbya's avatar
kevdubbya OP
12 posts
 
Thanks for the replies.
I'd say budget is 500 to 750.
Just wasnt sure about mc or mm. High vs low output and all the technical stuff.
Would a different stage help with gain? Or volume. It just feels like I shouldnt have my amp turned up so high.
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
Absolutely it will.
A lot of even budget phono stages have gain options, have to if capable of mm and lomc operation really.

Course if you had a mm cart with 4 to 5mv output it would likely be fine.

An oldie but a goodie especially suited to your cart would be a Dynaudio P3.
Lots of option internally configured with easy to use jumpers.
The new mk4 is about 1k, but you can find the mk3 for $500 or less lightly used.
Highly recommended with your cart imho.
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,769 posts
 
As long as it is driving the speakers to your satisfaction, there is no issue with turning it up so high. Remember, in most cases, a volume control reduces the volume by offering progressive resistance to the signal such that full volume is the actual gain of the amplification stage. So the less resistance used by the volume potentiometer, the better the sound.
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