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£300 to improve my system

I'm pretty sure the new Nagaoka styli will fit the old bodies - a new stylus on an old Stilton body could work wonders. I have an MP11 too and it's a wonderful thing but the rubber suspension is very , very old now. The rest I'd spend on records, unless you can find a pair of Epos ES11 for the right money.
 
It’s a bit dull but if you’ve a lot of vinyl and a bit of spare time I think a record cleaning machine - one of the hoovers in a box type - is a very good idea. And some Nagaoka inners if you don’t have them already.
 
Thanks all. It seems like I need to up my budget to get a decent improvement on my current system. I think I will go the wine/records/weed direction for the moment while keeping an eye out for a Rega arm to mod and a pair of Epos ES11 as an alternative to the RS1 just to scratch the upgrade itch - I’m sure I could always move these on if they didn’t work on my system. I’ll leave the next proper upgrade until I have more funds!
 
If you go the rega arm route, and it's a good one, bear in mind you will need a new arm board as it's longer than the Thorens, iirc.
I think a 160 is a better deck than a 1990s rega P3, I've had both.
 
There was a pair of scruffy ES12s in the classifieds for a steal inc delivery - maybe worth a punt on those for a cheap weekend runaround? Assuming they're still available.
 
James Evans said:
There was a pair of scruffy ES12s in the classifieds for a steal inc delivery - maybe worth a punt on those for a cheap weekend runaround? Assuming they're still available.
Click to expand...

Hmm, thanks for the heads up but i couldnt see any Epos ES in there that weren;'t already sold. No matter - i will post a wanted ad shortly.
 
There are some ES14s now too...

You see, we are not done spending your money.

Good idea to wait though until you can make a big change to one component or another. Worth experimenting with mats in the meantime? Can be done for next to nothing.
 
Your speakers are fine for your needs, ie, close to wall, they are excellent stand mounts that you will find hard to replace for the money you wish to spend, I feel you may miss the dynamics & vivacity of these little wonders.

Personally, I would shift the amp, it's ok, a little laid back, get a Naim Nait 5i mk2 or Nait 3, this will certainly give your set up a kick up the backside, both would work well with the rest of your set up too.
 
Seanm said:
There are some ES14s now too...

You see, we are not done spending your money.

Good idea to wait though until you can make a big change to one component or another. Worth experimenting with mats in the meantime? Can be done for next to nothing.
Click to expand...

Haha, thanks. I think the ES14s are a little big for the room unfoirtunately. I might give an achromat a try if i can find one on a forum so i can move it on with little or no loss if it doesnt make a noticable difference.
 
Buy a Quad 306 and a passive-pre? Would have enough oomph for a later speaker upgrade and it’s definitely a step up from a Brio. Alternatively as the Brio is going, you could buy a nice 34/306 combo, that’s got a very good phono stage in it, I think it may need a bit of tweaking, but I often hear Tony’s 34 and it does a fabulous job in his system.
 
The only obvious 'weak' component in your system is the Thorens arm. To be honest, just about any other arm will be better, I know, because I had a TD160 and replacing the arm with an Audiocraft AC300 was a revelation. If you can do a bit of DIY a piece of acrylic, a bit bigger than the Thorens plastic armboard will de an excellent job. The MP11 is quite a good cartridge, so a new stylus would be a worthwhile investment.
Speakers and cartridges are 'transducers' so have a large influence on the 'tonality' of your system, so you would really need to do some comparisons before parting with your cash, and although the RS1 isn't an expensive speaker, they sound really nice and I've heard them sound pretty amazing on the end of a much more expensive (and probably better) system than yours so I'd be reluctant to go down the speaker route. A record cleaning machine is a boring 'necessity' though I don't use mine much as it's a noisy thing to use (It's a Moth).
 
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