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Your choice - TT, Arm, Stage, Cartridge - $5000 budget

So imagine you were just given ~$5000 and told to buy your ideal analog setup within that budget.

What would be your choice for turntable, arm, phono stage, and cartridge be? Any other accessories to consider?

How would you spend it?


Obviously I’m looking to upgrade my analog setup and am focusing on the essential components at this time. Curious how you would spend my money haha.

My current gear:
Amp - Primaluna Dialogue HP integrated w/ KT150 power tubes, Mullard and Cifte preamp tubes.
Loudspeakers - Tekton Design Double Impact

For sound,I like the idea of a balanced overall sound, and a big soundstage. But what I really enjoy most is the idea of exposing the holographic image in a recording.




whacky

Showing 1 response by nordicnorm

nordicnorm
313 posts
 
I’ll go against the grain here and suggest you look for a solid state phono stage.

You already have plenty of tubes in your chain, and $1,000 - $1,200 will go a LOT farther on a used S/S phono stage than a tubed one. It is much more expensive to make a quiet tubed phono stage than a s/s one.

There a lots of contenders to choose from: Rega Aria, Blue Circle, Whest, Ayre, Lehmann, Graham Slee, etc. Just look for the best deal you can find.

Edit: Oops! I just noticed you bought a Whest phono stage. Good call! ;^)

In terms of carts, have you considered a moving iron, like the London Decca Super Gold? They are super detailed and behave like an MM.
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