Integrated amp recommendation around 3k (I need more power!)

Thank to everyone for the recommendations.  It appears that some of the problem (or perhaps all of it) is due to the cartridge.  Out of curiosity, I installed an older cart I have (Shelter 201), and the soundstage came to live.  It has an output of 4.0mV and the cart I'm using has a 3.6mV output.  It doesn't seem like that should make too much difference, but apparently with all the other factors in the chain (low sensitivity speakers, lower powered amp) the .4mV difference is significant.  Of course, the entry-level Shelter doesn't sound nearly as good as the Clearaudio Maestro V2, but at least I have direction to go.  Will be posting additional questions for cart recommendations on the analog forum.  Thanks again for all your input.  Best, Scott

Hi Scott,

Interesting finding. One thing that can significantly affect the tonal balance of a moving magnet cartridge in the treble region, and thereby affect soundstaging and perceived dynamics, is the load capacitance that is applied to the cartridge. And I see that the Clearaudio Maestro V2 has a recommended load capacitance of 100 pf, which is too low for many setups to even come close to achieving. (The load capacitance seen by the cartridge is the sum of the input capacitance of the phono stage and the capacitances of the phono cable, tonearm wiring, and connectors).

I couldn’t find an input capacitance spec for your phono stage, or a load capacitance recommendation for the Shelter 201, and of course I don’t know what the capacitance of your phono cable and tonearm wiring would be. But if you want to change to a different moving magnet cartridge, I would suggest avoiding any having a recommended load capacitance of less than around 200 pf, or an even higher number if your phono cable is longer than say 4 or 5 feet.

Also, I doubt that the difference between 3.6 mv and 4.0 mv has any significance, that being a difference of less than 1 db. However there are two different test records/standards upon which cartridge output specs can be based, which I believe can result in the outputs of cartridges having identical output specs often differing by 3 db.  Which in terms of mv means that a 3.6 mv cartridge under the standard that produces a higher number would be only 3.6 x 0.707 = 2.5 mv under the other standard. So that conceivably could be a contributing factor.

Good luck. Best regards,
-- Al

Buy an LSA Signature integrated amp. Best I have heard and owned under $5000 and I have pretty much owned or heard everything under $5000.

Can't get a better $3000  integrated than Belles soloist 1 from Power Modules. 125w into 8 ohms of clean dynamic power with a wide deep soundstage. and has a 2000 damping factor. Beneficial for your speakers. I own one in my second system with Acoustic Zen Adagios. The Amp plays like any $5000 amp I've ever  heard. David belles is going on 80 years old and has been a legend in the business for a loooooong time. Nothing touches this amp at this price.

65wpc ? Actually, thats more than enough power to drive the P3sr