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Substantial Upgrade

Longtime lurker, first-time poster:  My wife and I got into vinyl about five years ago and have been steadily collecting records ever since.  We love spinning records, and listen to a lot of jazz, pop, and classical music.  We started modestly with an AT LP120, and are lucky to have a friend who just happened to have a pair of Totem Rainmakers sitting in his garage collecting dust, which he gave to us, along with a TSC sub and all cables.  We have decided it is time to invest in our own system.

I've done a lot of research and read numerous threads on this topic here and elsewhere, and we've narrowed our choices down to two tables: the Rega P6 (in the $1500 price range) or the Feickert Volare (in the $3500 bracket).  Either table I'll be getting the Hana ML.  For phonostage, we've narrowed down to the MoFi UltraPhono or the Sutherland KC Vibe mk ii.  I'm hoping I can solicit opinions here on these choices and, in particular, whether the Feickert is going to make a difference for our use case.  Finally, I recognize that the speakers might be outclassed by these upgrades, but we are separately planning to move in the next year and I want to wait and see where our new listening room is going to be before investing in new speakers.    

Thanks in advance. 
bruinuclafan

Showing 2 responses by sandthemall

sandthemall
544 posts
 
Sounds like you may need to do a little more research and auditioning. No need to hurry as hearing improvement in stages is really fun.

Someone else mentioned this...but I will repeat.
Put a VM740ml cartridge on your current TT first. I had this cart on my Technics 1200G. It will give you a really good improvement right off the bat.

Then upgrade to a stellar Phono stage. Something that you can grow with...go big here.

Then try a new TT. You will notice the improvement but it will not be as vast as you think and you will be able to quantify the level of each improvement.

As for turntables, the Technics 1200GR is my recommendation. Made in Japan and built to outlast most premium TTs out there. 


sandthemall
544 posts
 
@bruinuclafan,
I wrote "stellar" meaning 'a really good one' of your own choosing. I did not state a brand. That's up to you to decide. 

I use a Project RS phono stage with an outboard power supply I got from eBay. It is dual mono and very good. I can recommend It...but it's also $1000 with a wall wart. The wall wart is noisy but Project offers a battery power supply. It was too pricey for me so took a chance on an $175 18v power supply on eBay and couldn't be happier.

Project has other power supplies at different price points. My advice to you is to stay away from wall warts...and get something that allows you to contour to a wide variety of carts...so it will grow with you. So spend a bit more than you might here. 
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