Titan, Transfiguration Orpheus or Air Tight PC1??

PC-1 was loaded at 500 ohms ultimately. For me the Titan I was better. Not night & day but still clearly better. I have owned both the Skala & Titan I. The description above is accurate but fails to address where the Skala's performance excels beyond the Titan I. It has excellent low resolution detail and a superior sense of space. This is at the expense of bass impact| dynamic contrast & body. Hard to pick a cartridge that does it all. That is until you try a Colibri that is optimized for your system. Yet the Titan I is preferred from time to time. It is more forgiving on many recordings & conveys a nice alternative balance of body & detail. Still for me a Colibri is an 80% of the time cartridge.

Jfrech

There were only the two Spiral Groove decks in that room in 2008. I could only say a word about the whole setup, which I found very detailed and dynamic.
I could detect the sonic signature of Triplanar in the sound, and also the Skala's sonic signature in this high-resolution setup. I also had the Skala in my system at home for some time, but despite its high resolution I dislike it for its sound.
Look here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/shows/munich08b_e.html

But in 2007, I could listen to an early prototype of the Spiral Groove in the same room, where a Raven One was playing the day before, using same Schroeder tonearm and Lyra cartridge. It was with big Magnepan speakers and Rowland amps. I found this early model a bit on the detailed, analytical side compared to the more integrated presentation of the Raven One. Coming to personal preference, I liked the Raven more. I discussed this with others at the show, and some disagreed.
Look here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/shows/munich07a_e.html

Sorry that I cannot really answer your question. You have to go out and listen for yourself. At this gear level all the analogue setup qualities are quite hit-or-miss the synergy and perceptions are very subjective. Then, judging the sound quality of gear at a show is difficult and dangerous, both.

best regards, Hartmut

The Lyra Erodian that raises the gain by 26dB got a great review in Hifi+ together with the Skala and Titan I and a tube phono stage, maybe this can help with the Nagra in tube mode.

Hartmut, thanks for the post above, and maybe I am getting a little to far off topic from sunnyboy's (sorry) original post.

One more question, did you get to compare the 2 Spiral Groove tables? From your pics, looks like they were side by side, curious if you can comment on the sound difference re: the SG 1 and SG 2 tables?

Thanks

Jfrech
Yes, I am using the VFS plus footers with the VPS and you are absolutely correct that it does make for a more coherent presentation. Did try the tube only output on the VPS and contrary to my initial misgivings it works with the numeric setting on my preamp( CJ CT5) at around 85 to 90. Max reading 99. While the highs and midrange are much cleaner with the tube only out put, there is IMHO a tad less bass and a wee bit higher noise.Overall I guess the tube only out put is superior.
Have lined up a demo later this month at the Adelphi( in Singapore) with 2 dealers;one of the dealers will demo the Titan i mounted on a Continuum Criterion TT and the other a Transfiguration Orpheus mounted on a Triplanar. Not sure if this is a level playing field as the Continuum is a 40k plus TT. Should be fun though. The PC 1 is out of reckoning.
Many thanks for all the tips/advice. Shall report once the deal is done.
Happy Listening