I am in the cartridge - phono stage camp, for now. But it vastly depends on the entire chain, with low-end bookshelf speakers, I wouldn't invest in a phono stage.
And clean those LPs, that makes a huge difference!
Relative Importance of Analog Components
We see people struggling with what to upgrade next, or where to direct their attention if everything seems to be working fairly well. I'm probably a bit more inclined to give more importance to sources and less to speakers than most people, but in general I like to look at which component is the 'rate-limiting factor' which one holds back the rest and then concentrate on improving that.
But to look specifically at vinyl reproduction, I have the strong impression that out of the four main components, they can be ordered in importance of potential effect on sound like this:
Cartridge
Phono stage
Tonearm
Turntable
I'm sure other people would list those four in a different order. How would you rank them and why?
Showing 7 responses by grislybutter
@pindac wow, haven't felt this confused in years (and I wake up confused) |