Phono Stage Upgrade
I have been reading through most of the threads and discussions related to phono stages and was struck by a comment on how one’s phono stage investment should be approximately equal to the spend on one’s turntable.
I currently have the Sutherland Little Loco, which has been not given me any issues at all. However, with my current setup of a Palmer 2.5i and the Audio Orgami arm plus a Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum cartridge, I am wondering if I am missing out on the potential of this combination?
I am definitely intrigued by the ARC 3SE and PH9, but am unsure of the interplay between these phono stages and my current cartridge and tonearn. I am not interested in having to recable anything and also read something about a quirky approach to power mains with ARC. I am running all of my gear using LFD mains and am quite happy with them.
Finally, it is not entirely obvious where to actually purchase this gear as there is no one local to me and my two usual dealers (Gene Rubin and Fidelis) don’t carry ARC. I would love a recommendation as to a dealer I might contact. I will also keep my eyes open for a reputable used option.
Thanks in advance for your help.
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Reference 3SE does fantastic with your RSP (I have both of these in my collection), so no issues there. It does great with the built-in JFET MC stage (High Gain), and also does great in Low Gain mode coupled with your SUT of choice (~20x being optimal for your RSP). It uses a PC with a 20A connector on the amp side, so that can be annoying in that you can't transfer over an aftermarket cord from your old phono stage. But the stock cord is good quality and fine. |
@mulveling -- your experience with your Koetsu is very helpful and so thank you. I see that there are two different outputs, the typical RCA and XLR, the latter I have not encountered previously. I assume I am good with the RCA, but am interested in the difference.
At this point I am going to find a dealer on the East Coast to talk a bit more and would love any recommendations based on past experience.
Thanks as always. |
