I went from the Lounge LCR to the Parasound JC3 Jr. It was a significant upgrade across the board.
I was skeptical about spending that much on a preamp after my experience with DACs, however, the improvements are not subtle. |
Given you are looking for a line stage preamp, a separate phonostage, and replacing your TT and cartridge, I suggest you first purchase the line stage pre that mates well with your amplifier. Then consider the phonostage and TT/cartridge together. |
Perhaps you might consider a preamp that includes a good phono stage.
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@mesch thanks. I am getting a tube pre by the same manufacturer and the phonostage will be as well. Things sound surprisingly good with the Schiit so I wondered if going with the phono now would be the way to go. |
@hifiman5 unfortunately, the tube pre I’m getting at some point doesn’t have that option. |
Well, since you have decided on the pre and phonostage then trying the phonostage with the SYS 1st might prove interesting. You may possibly decide to upgrade the TT/cartridge prior to the linestage pre. Not sure about phonostage compatibility with passive pre however. I own a SYS, most to play around with in secondary systems. Only driven by DACs with high output. |
A budget would be helpful.
Many stand-alone phono stages are not really all that well suited for driving the power amp directly, although it can work. The advantage of the line section is that it can make sure you have enough gain, and reduce the effects of the interconnect cable that feeds the amplifier.
If the phono section is integrated into the preamp, the connectivity issues (coloration due to an interconnect cable and impedance issues) are reduced.
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@mesch My Loungle is going right into the SYS and it works good. I don't have anything to compare it to other than I have to run it louder than my digital source (loud is 12 o'clock vs 10 o'clock on my digital source).
As I said, I know what components I'm getting, I'm just not sure in what order, as these will be bought individually. Like, I'm afraid that upgrading the table and cart wouldn't yield a bunch of difference until the new phonostage comes in, conversely having a good phonostage and the 2M Blue might be a drawback. |
if your looking at both why not get a good preamp with a good phono stage built in. many out there. I'd go tube pre if it was me but we all have different sound tastes. |
@glennewdick I already have the preamp and phonostage picked out. The preamp will be a tube preamp, the phono is solid state.
My question is order of purchase, not what to purchase. |
Any particular reason you're not divulging what components you've picked? The specifics about the phono stage in particular, e.g., gain, output impedance, etc., and the amplifier can give some clues as what order you should go....
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Oops, I thought I did. My bad.
tube preamp: Odyssey Candela
phonostage: Odyssey Suspiro
current amp: Odyssey Khartago with a few upgrades.
current phono: Lounge LCR MKIII
current table: PROJECT DC + 2M Blue |
Since the SYS/Lounge seem to play well into your amplifier, I believe an upgrade in TT/Tonearm/cartridge will make a significant improvement in your overall experience. The source sets the limit on what can be derived from a system. Maybe you should consider working from the source back toward the amplifier. That said, one could easily spend as much on a vinyl front end as on electronics (amp/preamp/phonostage) and have a balanced system. I imagine your amp ran ~$1200, the basic Candela lists at $1600, and the basic Suspiro lists at $1200. The Suspiro phonostage seems to be very flexible in terms of gain and loading options. More so than the Lounge. It should mate well with a number of cartridges.
In a vinyl system, the two transducers, speaker and cartridge, contribute the most to the character of a system. Which begs the question: What speakers are you using?
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@mesch thank you. Yes. Other than some (~25%) records having “shouty” upper mids, the sound is good. Already a big step up from the Marantz integrated I’m upgrading from.
‘Table wise I’m looking at used VPI Scouts and those will be the most I’ve spent on any single piece most likely. I’m considering a couple other tables (Polytable, Marantz T51) but as this is my endgame system I don’t want to regret any purchases because I’m impatient. I have no experience with any table other than my PDC but the Scouts turn me on and will be a deep pool to dive into.
This had been my thinking lately too so your words ring true for me. I think the table will be next. |
@mesch currently running Focal 807v’s. I like them but agree with the Stereophile review where he noted the tweeter can get trashy. If there was a beryllium tweeter upgrade I might pursue that.
The speakers I have been saving for last as, after next year, I’ll be continuously downsizing to a studio apt and possibly a tiny house. So I wanted to have a good idea what I wanted to get and then see where I land to make sure it’s something that will fit.
Odyssey has the Kismet Monitors which I’d love to hear but at $3700 I’m not sure I want to spend that much. But who knows. |
I do like the VPI turntables. If I was looking for one I would be looking for a used VPI Classic 1. They originally sold for ~$2500, sans cartridge. Given you have a system in play now you can afford to take your time and 'get it right'. You are wise to purchase speakers after move. So many great monitors that play well into smaller spaces available today.
I took ~3years putting together my 1st high end system which I kept for 25 years. Spent about the same putting together both systems I now own. My main system consists of a tube line level preamp driving a solid state amplifier. Speakers are 2-way monitors. I went with digital as primary source, though i still have my turntable from my first system (purchased in 1983).
I came close to buying a Odyssey Khartago amplifier, however happened on to a used BEL 1001 MK5. Most of my components were purchased used. |
@mesch thanks. Yeah that’s why I went separates so that I could buy individually and (try to) take my time and do it right. Most tables will be a good step up from the PDC but it’s been
rock solid for me.
As for the Khartago, it’s fantastic and exceeded all my expectations. I have the stereo version and can see possibly sending back to have more upgrades done and then be done with it.
Somehow, in spite of myself, I’ve actually done well on my planning and research. |
Great thread, I’ve enjoyed reading it.
FYI, getting your Khartago fully upgraded will be well worth it, but Klaus is so backlogged he recently told me to keep my Khartago monos as “they would just sit on a shelf” if I sent them in.
Following your reasoning, I bought the Candela and Suspiro. (without external power supply) it’s been a couple weeks, my money is on it taking 6 to 8 weeks to receive them.
I dont want to hijack your thread - if you are interested in my experiences and results with this purchase let me know.
Your TT discussion is very interesting as we appear to have about the same price range for our quest. Has anyone looked at the Pro-ject 9.2 ? It can be found at times for under $2K. |
