Sound from my turntable is veiled (like behind a curtain)


Hi everyone, my first post here.

I want to improve the sound of my turntable (Technics SL-1200 MK2, with Ortofon MC1 Turbo). My guess is that I need a better phono stage for it, right now I use the phono input of an old Toshiba SY-C15 pre-amp (https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/toshiba/sy-c15.shtml), connected to my Hegel H100 integrated amp. It is mainly the voice that sounds veiled (excuse my French, I am not sure if I use the right word). When I compare a same song from a digital source, through my DAC (Hegel HD-20), the voice and other high pitch sound are not present when played from the phono. I noticed this problem lately, when I changed my Rega Naos speakers for Amphion Argon 7LS.

What would be a good phono stage for this setup, and would this makes my analog source sounds better than the digital, as I expect it. I have a budget of around $1500 for this, used is fine.

Thank you!
ggagnon

Showing 2 responses by hifiman5

Did you set up your table, arm, cartridge by yourself or did you have it done by an expert?

I ask this because when I replaced my Dynavector MC with a new updated version and had it set up by a guy with diagnostic equipment who could truly optimize it the improvement in all areas of sound quality have been remarkable.
There are a bunch of folks here who can probably give you good recommendations.  Beware, however, as I tried a $895 Sutherland KC Vibe (his newest and most modest unit) and the music just dribbled out of the speakers.  I went with him due to his fine long term history of issuing great sounding phono stages. Just went too low in the line!