designtaylor
Responses from designtaylor
| Tube MC phono stage recommendation Hey chakster, yes, I have fun both ss (integrated and standalone) and tube phonos and my ear seems to prefer the results I get from tubes. Not always easy to live with but I enjoy the process of researching, sourcing, and swapping tubes. I'll prob... | |
| Tube MC phono stage recommendation Very cool idea, I will look into that. And my interconnects are super short ;) | |
| Tube MC phono stage recommendation That's fair. Most of the carts I would likely start with would be in the 0.5mV - 1.0mV range. Sonic Frontiers was not on my radar, will take a look for sure. Thanks! | |
| Tube MC phono stage recommendation yeah, I think I've seen Kevin at Upscale Audio singing their praises | |
| Tube MC phono stage recommendation Oh, one more item if it helps to inform your recommendations... while the phono is typically used for playback over speakers I'm planning to do more headphone listening in the future. | |
| What I’ve learned, so far Solid advice and couldn't agree more. You can throw money at it or research the heck out of it and find those pieces that work for you. | |
| What I’ve learned, so far People say to build your system around the speakers and that makes some sense to me. Others say work outward from your source which also adds up. I've even heard some folks advocate for letting your power amp define the system and working up and d... | |
| Vinyl System Upgrade Path Recommendations @stringreen - I've been really enjoying my Hifiman HE400i with Schiit Jotunheim amp. The sound is strong, acurate, and exciting. But I still enjoy listening to speakers a little more. | |
| Vinyl System Upgrade Path Recommendations @kahlenz - I've been looking at th4 Mani. I'm very happy with the headphone amp I have from Schiit and the reviews on the Mani are outstanding. At $130, gotta be worth a try. @nkonor - Thanks for the info on possible events to attend. I will get t... | |
| Vinyl System Upgrade Path Recommendations Thanks @nkonor & @rockrider for more solid advice. Cleaning and maintaining my "source" was a consistent theme. I'll look into building or buying a good cleaning solution. I appreciate the note about avoiding too many lateral moves in favor of... | |
| Vinyl System Upgrade Path Recommendations Thanks @stevecham the Nagaoka will be high on my list. At that price point it and with all the positive reviews I've read it seems like a nobrainer. | |
| Vinyl System Upgrade Path Recommendations @jrpnde - thanks for the notes! That's awesome that you've owned your PL350 since new! I did see some notes about the weak tonearm before picking mine up so I checked and it's all good. The table was serviced by a local shop (Austin Stereo) before... | |
| Vinyl System Upgrade Path Recommendations @noromance @stereo5 @kommanderkurt - thanks for the advice guys! I'll take a look at the Ortofon and Nagaoka stuff. Does anyone else have experience with the Apt Holman Preamp? The improvement I got from the built-in photo stage over the one in my... | |
| Vinyl System Upgrade Path Recommendations @noromance - by *Front End* I'm guessing you mean the TT as a whole? Or is the phono stage included in that? I don't want to throw good money after bad buying fancy carts for a problematic TT, but I'm also not sure I'm ready to upgrade it (which I... | |
| Vinyl System Upgrade Path Recommendations @glennewdick - Great feedback! Really appreciate the guidance and prioritization. The dollars per result tradeoffs are tricky (and I'm sure personal taste factors in), but your points are well taken. I'll probably start with cart, seems like one o... |