New Analog system. where to start?

Gumby- I have had a couple of Audible Illusions M3A pre-amps (an early version made in 95 w/standard phono section and a '99 w/"Gold" board) and neither had the tubes soldered in. Maybe some of the older M3's (not "A" versions) or the older L1's had soldered tubes- I don't know about those.

Anyway, the "gold" phono section is a substantial improvement over the standard phono section, but is only for low-output cartridges while the standard phono section handles cartridges w/ outputs >.9 mV. Both type phono sections are tubed.

The great thing about either is that you get a world class pre-amp along with a great (gold) phono section or very good (standard) phono section. And it is equally at home with most SS or tube amps. Excellent value.

Regards
Jim

"FINALLY!!!! Psychic, you've finally expressed yourself in a mostly positive, thoughtful manner in your post to Seantaylor above. "

Are you mad? All he did was go in to his self-congradulatory dribble again. Why are you 'listening' to him now? Has the credibility, in your eyes, stood up well? His retarded antics are funny if not sad. But definately old and confusing to some. I would urge the poor guy who started this thread to ignore it in its entirety. More intelligent answers can come from a magic eight-ball.

Ohlala- His post was mostly positive, he refered to how he found his set-up to sound to him and he didn't make any un-informed comment about another turntable or person. This is a first.

Do I agree with what he said? No. But I obviously listen differently than he does. The table he has does have a very minor following and it's not unreasonably retailed at $400. If it works for some, bully for them.

Has his credibility stood up? With the exception of his last post, no. But he seemed to have started to turn a page with the last post with and I didn't want to discourage that. At least he wasn't implying that people who don't agree with everything he says are stupid & racist and that everything other than what he has is junk.

Yes, he has severly damaged his credibility and his crusade over the past year but, with the last post, has begun to make his opinions known in a way that might at least gain him a small measure of respect regardless of whether anyone agrees with him.

Regards
Jim

Hey Jimbo: Sonce I am unwilling to do "research...." WHat is the rest of your system?
I am interested in what you run down the line from those little dual-mono pre's.
Also, what about your deck for vinyl? (Your favorite one anyway.)
TWL, a A-gon member is trying out a homebuilt table that I am eager to hear results from.
The SOTA got pulled from its perch and was found to be touching the bottom plate. The belt is totally toast, and the vac-platter-clamp-thingy is a bit "gummy" or........is it "pokey" hehehe......................
I intend to play later in the year when the boats are not calling. Speaking of boats, I think I will go out and play with that boat right now and listen to some MP3's on my houseboat through my state of the art Klipsch KG2's and rockin, awesome, beyond question, radio shack 17 WPC CD player powering them. Ahh, such lucid highs and soundstage.
As long as you are the kind of guy who likes pillows in front of your tweeters...these should sound great to you.
For me, the sound of passing open piped big-blocks makes it all come together.
I wonder if they make tweaks for boat ex. pipes to improve bass?
Or maybe a Tice alternator stabilizer for better control in mid-bass?
I am thinking of raising the whole thing off the water a bit with sorbethane discs, to see if that will give me better results. :>) The water calls :>)

A personal note to Gumby- It's called "research", dammitGumby- if you'd "research" my other posts and the scientific journals, you'd "know" what my other components are. (HeHeHe! Can you believe this stuff?)

OK- here is is- AI M3A (unmodded), Counterpoint SA-20 (unmodded), Maggie 12.1's (unmodded), active x-over (unmodded)to a Pinnacle powered sub (unmodded), Well-Tempered Turntable w/the Classic platter upgrade (unmodded), Benz-Micro LO.4 (unmodded), CAL Icon w/Power Boss option (unmodded), Soundstream DAC (unmodded).

The WT table works very well- the upgraded platter makes a significant contribution and the overall design, while a little "funky", seems to work very well. For the $2500 or so a new one would cost I would think there are some others that might do better, but I couldn't be happier with the $750 I paid for this one.

Clearly though, if I had done some **research** in the scientific journals, I'd probably find that I'm quite unhappy with my system. I'm starting to research your MP3/KG2/RatShack system and am getting the feeling that I missed the boat. Do you think if I sell my system, I could take the funds and buy that stuff and still have enough left to do the mods?? (Ooops, there I go asking a question publicly.... Sorry.)

BTW- Have you considered other mods to the houseboat? Maybe some hydrofoils? (See if those open pipe big-blocks pass you then!) How about turbo bow thrusters? For another $30,000 and several weekends of work, you could add a couple hundred dollars of value- listen to the Jimbo!!

Cheers- and happy boating
Jim