Newbee couldn't agree more. The SP-8 and SP-10 are decades old products and in it's day the SP-10 was considered SOTA. The SP-10 had an awesome phono stage in it, much better then the SP-8, whose phono stage was almost identical to the SP-6 series consisting of 2 12AX7's and a 12AX7 cathode follower (buffer). BTW that was the same circuit as the Marantz 7 and the McIntosh C-22. The SP-10's line stage was good but nothing special. When it was designed, the focus of the SP-10 was it's phono stage. It also had plenty of gain, and could be very quiet provided it's supplied with low noise tubes. Dampers were a must due to the gain of the circuit.
ARC SP8 as Phono Stage
Thanks to an A'gon transaction, an LS17 should be arriving in the near future to replace my SP8. So one simple question, and one subjective one:
The easy question (really looking for confirmation): I would like to use my SP8 as a phono stage, while letting the bank account rebuild, and then watch A'gon to see if an ARC PH5 appears. I believe that if I connect the line-outs from my SP8 to the phono-ins on the LS17, that will effectively use the SP8 as a phono stage, correct?
Subjective: Would anyone venture what level phono stage I would need to better the SP8-as-phono set-up? In other words, would virtually any dedicated phono stage be better, or would I need a $1K stage to better the SP8, etc. (if I don't go the PH5 route)?
The easy question (really looking for confirmation): I would like to use my SP8 as a phono stage, while letting the bank account rebuild, and then watch A'gon to see if an ARC PH5 appears. I believe that if I connect the line-outs from my SP8 to the phono-ins on the LS17, that will effectively use the SP8 as a phono stage, correct?
Subjective: Would anyone venture what level phono stage I would need to better the SP8-as-phono set-up? In other words, would virtually any dedicated phono stage be better, or would I need a $1K stage to better the SP8, etc. (if I don't go the PH5 route)?