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Need Help with System

This is my first post in the Analog forum so have patience. Looking to get back into Analog sometime this year or early next so I am looking for ideas from you seasoned analog junkies out there. I have a "beginners" rig from AudioAdvisor - HW19 Jr with RB300 and a now defunct Blue Point Special cartridge. The phono pre is/was the “VAC in the Box” with the upgraded power supply. This was going into a Golden Tube SEP preamp. After extensive upgrades the front end is now all dCS gear (digital inputs only). I will be most likely be getting the Grieg (an upgrade to the Purcell with phono and analog inputs) from dCS when it comes out later this year. So for now the analog rig sits idle. I have about 350 albums in storage and would like to listen to them again. My budget for the entire analog rig (up to the Grieg) would be about 2-3 K total – new or used.

PS – No - I am not going to sell the dCS gear so don’t ask…. :-)

Cheers, Dan
dan2112
caterham1700
271 posts
 
Hi Dan,
As I see it, the weakest link in your vinyl playback is currently the Bluepoint Spl.I'd be looking into a more refined,better balanced and expressive unit like the Dynavector 10x4II first.
dan2112 OP
144 posts
 
Caterham, I have to replace the Blue Point Special anyway as it got damaged in a recent move. Thanks for the suggestion about the Dynavector.
jfrech's avatar
jfrech
1,816 posts
 
Michael Fremer in Stereophile just recently talked about the Origin mod the your Rega 300 arm. He loved it. You can also add a new counterweight that helps. I'm using a Rega 25, rb600 arm and Lyra Lydian cartridge all about 2k in a top of the line bat system. The records are pretty damn good considering they were recorded 20+ years ago and I'm comparing a 2k analog system to a 5 digital front end...

The Dynavector cartrige is good above, others to consider are my Lyra Lydian (1K), Grado's for a different sound...
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
4,163 posts
 
If I understand your system, you will be digitizing the analog output from the phono stage. If this is the case, then I'm not sure it makes much sense to substantially upgrade your turntable. I would recommend not spending more than $400-500 on a new cartridge (Grado, Audio-Technica, Shure, etc.) and paying alot of attention to cartridge setup and turntable isolation. Exacting setup and superior isolation can reap big time sonic benefits at a relatively low cost. Long-term I recommend you upgrade te phono preamp (or get a preamp w/ a good phono section). They can be had used for less than $1,500.
dan2112 OP
144 posts
 
Onhwy, Well yes and no... At the risk of offending all the analog lovers here look at http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/News/ces2001.htm The Grieg will convert the phono input directly to a 24/192 digital signal and then feed it to my Delius. Or as you suggest I can use a Phono pre and then go into the analog inputs as the Grieg has both phono and analog. I have not heard this but I am sure it will be of very good quality given dCS’s professional D/A and A/D products. I will of course audition this at home when it comes out later this year. But I do not want to focus on the dCS gear. I would like opinions about obtaining the best possible sound near my budget.
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