brockwired
Responses from brockwired
| DIY Amp Try Transcendent Sound or Elekit. +1 on Audio Note kits | |
| Birthday DAC No experience with them but definitely on my list to try out: Audio Note kits. How "tubey" do you want your R2R DAC? They have tube rectification and output. You can also get a prebuilt unit. | |
| Need advice for upgrading my analog setup I have a SOTA Sapphire with an Origin Live Silver tonearm and SoundSmith The Voice cartridge. Love it. The Silver is one step down in the lineup from the Zephyr tonearm. I need to upgrade my phono preamp. | |
| DecWare 300B amp I got to hear their 300b amp last October. It is worth the wait. I also like their SE34i.6 too. | |
| End Game Turntable suggestions @musicmatters1206 I have a SOTA Sapphire with an Origin Live Silver tonearm. I love it. I don't need to buy another table. If I need something better just upgrade to a a Kuzma 4 point 9. As it sits now it will take any cartridge I can throw at it... | |
| DAC recommendations The sound you are looking for in a DAC sounds like a Schiit Gungnir ($1200). Alternately the Bifrost 2/64 could be a less costly alternative. Worth a try. | |
| What is the best tonearm for a SOTA Nova turntable? Having your Nova refurbished for $3k plus a tonearm for around $2500(just throwing a number at it) would be a steal. A new Nova with the same tonearm would be $7.5k. To meet or beat your "renewed" turntable you would have to spend $7k to $$9k. Th... | |
| What is the best tonearm for a SOTA Nova turntable? I bought a refurbished SOTA Saphire two years ago from SOTA. I had it set up with an Origin Live Silver tonearm and an Ortofon 2M Red(as a placeholder) Donna told me as I was loading it up that my setup could handle any cartridge up to $3k. A fe... | |
| Turntable advice @waroftheants +1 on the SOTA recommendation. Regardless of which turntable you decide on for best long term results spend your money on the table and tonearm. Don't get too wrapped up in the cartridge and preamp because you may make a few ch... | |
| High end cartridge @mijostyn I thought SoundSmith mostly makes MI (moving iron) cartridges not MM (moving magnet). +1 on SoundSmith. I have The Voice cartridge and wouldn't have any other. Moving iron cartridges have a lot of the benefits of moving coil (MC) ca... | |
| Why exotic stylus not used on MM? @lewm If you're looking for an mmc1 contact SoundSmith. I know they rebuild them and may even make new ones. | |
| New cartridge If you are stretching for a 2M Black what about a SoundSmith Carmen? A little more than the Black, but only $200 for the rebuild. I think you may be able to order it as high output. The Otello may be a medium output cartridge. https://sound-smith... | |
| Sota Sapphire VI Turntables with Origin Live tonearm I have a SOTA Sapphire VI(ish). I bought it refurbished from SOTA in 2020. I ordered it with an Origin Live Silver tonearm and an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Their customer service is top notch. Donna Bodinet (the owner)handled my order. I order... | |
| What a pile of Schiit I have never used the Jotunheim as a headphone amp. I bought it as a preamp. It is a great deal at $499 with the phono card. I am using it in my main system. My next major purchase will be a Decware tubed phono stage, but I can live with this one... | |
| What a pile of Schiit @corelli I had the same problem with Schiit that you did. Same runaround too. That's Okay. I showed them. I bought the Jotunheim instead. It makes a great quick and dirty preamp that is very versatile. You get a preamp that has a phono input,... |