2. analog
  3. 1015463060

19th Nervous Breakdown...


Here I sit on the fence again, trying to decide whether it's worth it to shatter my budget one more time, wondering if the sonic differences between the following gear justifies the sacrifices necessary to pay the toll.

Should I live on beanie weanies and cheap beer for a good while and spring for a Basis 1400 or 2001 table with a decent arm, cartridge and phono stage for about $3K, or do I "settle" for one of the Regas, a P3 or P25, or one of the Music Halls for less than half that, upgrade my diet, and buy a few albums to boot?

I realize that this is in some ways a hopeless and hedonistic calculus, and that there may be no "right" answer. But I suppose what I am looking for are the opinions of those who have traveled the upgrade path and already paid the price. Was it worth it? How would you describe the sonic differences in moving up to that next level?

If you were starting over and COULD manage to stretch your budget to $3K or even $3.5K, what would YOU buy (entire rig, including phono stage, and, of course, buying used)? Or would you go for one of the "entry' level, non-upgradable units and be happy with it?

I have a good collection of albums from my mid-fi days, and I have a pretty good system (First Sound/Bel Canto EVO 200.2 monos/Vienna Acoustics Beethovens), so I do have an interest in more than 'dabbling'.

I have already received a LOT of help on this site and I appreciate every bit of it. There are many friendly and helpful folks around here. I am very happy with the system I have built so far.

Now if I can settle this analog business, I can relax for awhile and just enjoy the music. So what will it be, oh audio gurus, a VPI, Basis, or Oracle table, or a Rega, Music Hall, or Thorens table? Which arm? Which cartridge? Which phono stage?

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. I wish I were in a position to audition this gear, but I'm not.

thank you all...

128x128waltersalas
ljgj
955 posts
 
VPI has a new table out that resembles the Aries which I own - it is a bit smaller but looks really nice and retails new with the new JMW 9.5 tonearm for 1500. I saw it debuting in the latest MusicDirect brochure. It is called the Scout.
gregm
3,021 posts
 
New: a big Pro-ject w/arm + Benz Glider or similar, OR, VPI scout (as ljgj above), OR, small Clearaudio w/arm. Used: many choices, Oracle (as per Jeff above), smaller VPI's, big Thorens w/ SME arm... ...many choices out there, at least these should cost less than 3k. Other cartridges to consider (new)are the cheaper Clearaudio, Ortofon and a superbe Denon (can't remember the number -- but it's a very popular model). Cheers
alfagil
5 posts
 
With a $3000 budget I would consider the Teres or Redpoint kit. Those two seem to offer genuinely high returns for your hard earned dollar, and that is something seldom offered nowadays.
ezmeralda11
303 posts
 
If it was me I'd buy the better turntable. Food isn't that big of a deal. And with audio to me, alot of the better/best stuff is only the standard to just keep me listening, not even necessarily thrill me. When I had to buy a tuner, just because I didn't have one and wanted to listen to the radio, I knew anything less than a grand probably wasn't going to do it for me. I wasn't going to go for the top-of-the-line Magnum Dynalab, or a Day Sequerra, or the Linn Kremlin (although there was one up for bid at a *very* attractive price), partly because I knew I couldn't give it an antenna to do it justice, so the Fanfare was the only option (it seemed better than the comparable Magnums). I wouldn't've liked the cheaper tuner though, I don't think. That's just me though.
gboren
143 posts
 
For $3500 on the used market you should be able to buy a great rig. Whatever you buy, consider that the table itself will have the greatest impact on sound quality, then the arm and last, the cartridge. It has been my philosophy to put most of the money there and worry about upgrading the arm and cartridge later (and tweaks, gimmicks etc, later yet).

A few other tips:
1. be careful with used cartridges.
2. where the phono stage goes in the pecking order is difficult to say. I bought a nice phono stage to use with a low output mc cartridge. But my integrated amp has a mm phono stage and, in retrospect, I would have done better to use that with a decent mm or high output mc cartridge and put the money into the table. Oh well. Others may disagree, but I believe that the pecking order should be: table, arm, phono stage, cartridge.
3. Tweaks: don't waste money on expensive alignment tools - you can sometimes get them free on the web. Demagnetizers, clamps, etc can wait. But a good test record (Cardas makes one) is very useful.

good luck!
More to discover