advertisement


Which phono stage?

Its pointless suggesting the Whest RDT 30se, superb as they are when they are after a budget phono stage, eventually perhaps they could aspire to that but loads of money does not help some one suffering skintness.
 
Sgt pepper said:
Oh dear, another HiFi snob appears out of the woodwork.
Click to expand...

For the price the OP paid for a new but basic TT/arm he could have bought into much better kit buying s/h. For example an LP12 that included a simple arm would have been within budget and perform way ahead of what he now has.

Its been a long time so I may misquote but I thought that the major aim of pfm (after Tony's livelihood) was "to get the best sounding HiFi for the lowest outlay". Thats why many on pfm go the s/h and often classic route. In my own case everything I have except the speakers (and that was a special case) was bought s/h. The dealer gave me a better price for my old speakers than I would have got from selling them myself so in a way those new speakers were heavily discounted.

Cheers,

DV
 
Darth Vader said:
For the price the OP paid for a new but basic TT/arm he could have bought into much better kit buying s/h. For example an LP12 that included a simple arm would have been within budget and perform way ahead of what he now has.

Its been a long time so I may misquote but I thought that the major aim of pfm (after Tony's livelihood) was "to get the best sounding HiFi for the lowest outlay". Thats why many on pfm go the s/h and often classic route. In my own case everything I have except the speakers (and that was a special case) was bought s/h. The dealer gave me a better price for my old speakers than I would have got from selling them myself so in a way those new speakers were heavily discounted.

Cheers,

DV
Click to expand...
Apologies, i misunderstood, you came across in your initail post as being a tad snobbish. I now see where you are coming from as all of my kit is SH, bigger bang for buck.
 
Sgt pepper said:
Apologies, i misunderstood, you came across in your initail post as being a tad snobbish. I now see where you are coming from as all of my kit is SH, bigger bang for buck.
Click to expand...

I agree and that has been my philosophy. Although I have owned new cars they were always company cars. I have never bought a new car for myself as its just pouring money down the drain. My last car that I kept for 14 years was an XJS V12 6L. I bought it s/h at 3 years old for a third of list price and it only had showroom mileage as it was only used during the fine weather by the previous owner (the MD of a brewery!). It felt like a brand new car until I put an extra 50K miles on it and then it started to loosen up a bit and more relaxing to drive. Oh I did give it the XJS plus torque treatment and boy did it go. I had to let it go when my license was not renewed at 70 due to poor eyesight.

Cheers,

DV
 
Darth Vader said:
I agree and that has been my philosophy. Although I have owned new cars they were always company cars. I have never bought a new car for myself as its just pouring money down the drain. My last car that I kept for 14 years was an XJS V12 6L. I bought it s/h at 3 years old for a third of list price and it only had showroom mileage as it was only used during the fine weather by the previous owner (the MD of a brewery!). It felt like a brand new car until I put an extra 50K miles on it and then it started to loosen up a bit and more relaxing to drive. Oh I did give it the XJS plus torque treatment and boy did it go. I had to let it go when my license was not renewed at 70 due to poor eyesight.

Cheers,

DV
Click to expand...

One of the most in-congruent car and owners combinations I ever saw was a slightly tatty and well used Daimler V12 and its driver at a service station in the west country about 20 years ago. The car pulled up and the driver, a down home and hippyish lady and a couple of hand knitted kids climbed out and sauntered off. There was something so uncaring and casual about it that it became the reverse of what it could have been; it was just incredibly cool.
 
If £200 is the budget, by far the best option is “preloved”

The best mm phono stages I have heard are Lenjonklou. The Gaio is about £500 new but are rare on the used market.

The other great sounding phono stages are the Rothwell models. The Rialto is £400 new and they do come up for sale s/h occasionally.

The other good sounding phono stages for little money are the NVA ones - which can be bought direct via eBay. (Just don’t get involved in any of the politics that are associated with the owner of the company !)
 
My preferred phono stage for last 7 years cost me less than the OPs budget, with a service & update from the manufacturer and with a free quality pre-amp thrown in too - look for an old Croft Micro pre and send it to Glenn for a service - it is the best MM phono stage I have heard, as is the line stage pre-amp. Matches nicely with McKinnie headamp I use for running MCs too. I've tried many other pre-amps and phono stages, but keep coming back to this one.

I'm also interested in OPs view of the Angle Audio stage when he gets it.

Richard
 
PerF said:
When they're working mind you

Must be around three decades old by now, I remember them as Ivors first attempt breaking with JV
Click to expand...

So long as you keep on top of battery replacements the only issues are replacing the front panel LED's and the occasional voltage regulating transistor.

The poor reputation for sound quality came from the truly terrible interconnect that was originally bundled with the LK1/2.

Some simple case earthing mods (these were incorporated into later revisions) and some decent Mogami Neglex cable and it really is a wonderful preamp.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top