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Vinyl Upgrade

S

SomeGuy

pfm Member
Morning all,

Just seeking some opinions/advice with regards to my system & where to go next, if anywhere.

I’m all Rega (Brio-R, RS1, RP6/Exact), barring an AEX, & whilst I’m hardly touching the realms of hi-end audio, I’m actually rather delighted with how good it all sounds & how unfussy it is, but I have been wondering whether there was a way to get ‘more’ of what I have on the vinyl side of things.

The Exact tends to get a hammering but I rather like it (fast, detailed, dynamic) however it can, at times, sound a little ‘closed in’ so I’m pondering whether a phono stage change might help here.

Any thoughts/experience on Brio-R, Fono MM & Aria improvements with an Exact?

It really would be splendid if Rega brought in another MM cart to move up from the Exact, but they seem pretty focussed on the MC lines.

I can’t escape the thought that a Fono (MKII or MK III) probably isn’t much of a jump from the Brio stage, although I’m happy to be corrected on this as its markedly cheaper than the Ania!

Would the outlay on an Ania for MM duties knock this up a notch or two? It leaves me an MC option for a future date, I guess, if I decide to trundle off into that particular realm.

It’s worth mentioning that I’ll be getting the arm (RB303) rewired by AO as a further means of improvement.

Apologies for the ramble & many thanks in advance for any thoughts/assistance.
 
My thoughts are you would be better off choosing Rega's cheapest moving coil - the Ania - and opting for the Fono MC, instead of shelling out £800 for the Aria. Haven't heard an Ania but it is, by all accounts, excellent and a good match for the Fono. I think an Ania/Fono MC combination would outperform an Exact/Aria by some margin.
 
You wish to get more of what you allready have..

I'd stay within Rega
If a larger room maybe Elex/R amp and floorstand speakers, RS3 are larger version of RS1
Change RP6 to RP8/P8
I'd not bother the mentioned cable fix.

Note Rega do launch new products next month, perhaps worth a wait.
 
Thanks PerF.

Room isn’t all that big so the Brio/RS1’s don’t have any difficulty filling it.

RP8 is a potential option, depending on price, but would the Brio phono stage be holding an 8 back?

I will probably hold off until they launch their new products in Feb, just in case, but nice to get a broader insight into options available.
 
SomeGuy said:
The Exact tends to get a hammering but I rather like it (fast, detailed, dynamic) however it can, at times, sound a little ‘closed in’ so I’m pondering whether a phono stage change might help here.
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I had an RP6/Exact with an Aria and it still sounded very much as you describe: much better than with a cheaper phono stage but still that little bit closed in, I think it's part of the essential character of that deck/cart combination. As above, an MC cart might open things out a bit. Wouldn't necessarily stick with Rega though, the Ania has some competition at the price.
 
I would suggest something like the fono MC and an AT 33tpg, they will let the RP6 really sing. Very different to the exact though. You may get lucky and find something like an edwards audio Mc2 and psu on the used market
 
Controversial opinion but,

If you are delighted with the way it sounds, why not leave it alone?

You buy a better cartridge and it sounds better in some ways but is not quite right so...
Maybe a phono stage is what it needs so...
The new phono stage is now showing up the shortcomings of the cart so...

A hi-fi system that you are actually perfectly happy with is a rare and beautiful thing. I'd think very carefully before you change a damn thing.
 
Mr Pig said:
A hi-fi system that you are actually perfectly happy with is a rare and beautiful thing. I'd think very carefully before you change a damn thing.
Click to expand...

Not controversial at all, in fact, it’s a very valid point!

I’ll certainly have to consider whether an upgrade will give me what I want or, as you’ve suggested, send me off in circles for further matching/improvements.

Many thanks for your thoughts.
 
Mr Pig said:
What exactly is it that you'd like?
Click to expand...

I think I was just wondering about whether I could maintain the current sound(ish), but ‘more/better’?

Fast, detailed, dynamic, great tracking I have, but if I were to move up to, say, an Ania, would this maintain the above but build on it in terms of detail, spaciousness?

Or would I end up with a more ‘brightly lit’ top end, thin bass but more detail & possibly greater fatigue?

A range of stuff gets played on the TT, but a lot of it benefits from midrange clarity & dynamic/fast bass. It is rare that I will sit & listen to classical, acoustic/vocal driven stuff, if that helps at all?
 
Cheapest alternative is to buy some inferior components, use them for six months and switch back to your current setup and be happy again.
Or mod the components you have, shourt out DC blocking elcos, replace old elcos with new and better ones. Check what caps you have in the signal path and replace for better types...
 
Moving on from an RP6/Exact I found that there are gains to be made, at a price, but that to get to a point where things are better across the board took some time and experimentation. It doesn't really do much wrong, while everything I've had since, until now, has done some things better but also some things worse.

In the OP's position I'd look for a second hand Aria: you'll hear a big, immediate improvement with no downsides at all, it will get the most out of any changes you make further down the line (I still have mine), and it's not a consumable. If I spent £500 on a cart that was going to be done in a couple of years I'd resent the fact that I wouldn't be getting the value of it through the Brio's phono stage.
 
Seanm said:
I'd look for a second hand Aria: you'll hear a big, immediate improvement with no downsides at all..
Click to expand...

It is true that even with a MM cart there is a big difference between a built in phono stage and a good external one. I too have an Aria and I'm keeping it.

It's the same as changing any other component though. Phono stages sound different and you may or may not like the way it goes.
 
Zombie said:
Cheapest alternative is to buy some inferior components, use them for six months and switch back to your current setup and be happy again.
Click to expand...
This is inspired. I’m amazed I hadn’t thought of it: plug in that crap you stuck in a cupboard and then after a fortnight ‘upgrade’ to what you started with. It’s brilliant.
 
Thanks again everyone for your contributions, most helpful indeed.

I suspect either ‘leave it be’ or see what an Aria does for/to the Exact & wider system, as I’d like to avoid a scenario where I need to change/upgrade everything to align with the Aria.
 
It's been mentioned before but I'd certainly consider changing your speakers from your RS1's to RS3's. I went from R1's to R3's a few years back, which immediately give me the kind of 'same but more so' improvement I'd been after - and, like you, I have a fairly small listening area. RS3's can be had for very reasonable money these days too.
 
The RP6 is a fine deck with a great tonearm for the price. The biggest leaps forward I've had in terms of your stated sonic priorities of fast, detailed, dynamic sound, have been in terms of swapping out my similarly-priced MM cartridge for a MC (Clearaudio Aurum Beta -> Dynavector 20X2L) and changing my phono preamp (Simaudio Moon LP3 -> Pass Labs Aleph Ono). The cartridge swap was really key in terms of speed and dynamics. The preamp swap really put a lot more meat on the bones of the overall sound. In my experience, you really hit diminishing returns within the realm of MM upgrades much sooner than you do with MCs.
 
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