Rushton---thanks for your response, I wouldn't miss not having easy VTA adjustment, I don't miss it now and frankly I have no desire to adjust VTA for different LPs, that's way too anal retentive for me! By the way, I forgot to mention my musical preferences are 60's and 70's psych and progressive rock, soul and funk, jazz, afrobeat, latin, etc. I'm sure this would have an influence on my choice of cartridge. |
Syntax---back off, I love my Heed Quasar!! ;) No, seriously, I think it's a great little phono pre, but I have been looking into upgrading that part of my system as well, now that you mention it. It's funny what you said about the 17D3/Heed combo---the reason I bought the Heed is because somebody recommended it to me as a great match for the 17D3! And I do think they've worked well together, I'm just looking for more of what I'm already getting (neutrality, detail, dynamics, presence, excitement, all that stuff), you know how it is. |
Great responses everybody, I really appreciate all the input! I'm leaning toward agreeing with those who feel that the XV-1S would indeed be overkill in my system. The best approach seems to be to upgrade in a smaller increment, and to do it more evenly throughout the system---for example, I could upgrade both the phono pre and the cartridge at the same time, with the same amount of money. Now I'm thinking about a Dynavector XX-2 MKII with a better phono preamp, but that's the start of a whole other thread---any phono preamp suggestions? Solid state or tube? Believe me, in the last few weeks I've been researching phono preamps like crazy, and very few seem ideal to me, when I factor in features (gain, loading), sonic characteristics, price, availability, you name it. For example, I love the idea of getting a tube phono pre, but I'm afraid of having a higher noise floor, and losing the low frequency extension and "slam" I need when I listen to Funk, for example. |
Okay, how does this sound---Dynavector XX-2 MKII with a JLTi phono pre---opinions? |
Thanks for all the phono preamp recommendations! Only problem is, I've researched (or owned) all of these, and every one of them has a caveat or two that make them less than ideal:
Dynavector p75---had it for a while, to my ears it was unremarkable, and it was way too noisy in enhanced mode.
Sutherland 20/20---I liked what I read about it, and it sounded very promising, until I read in the Absolute Sound review that it may not be ideal (too smooth) for Rock aficionados (I listen to *alot* of Rock).
Parasound JC-3---no loading options, which makes me uncomfortable because I run my 17D3 at 470 ohm (sounded dead at 100 ohm). |
UPDATE---last week I bought a used Simaudio Moon 310LP phono pre (with power supply) here on Audiogon to upgrade from my Heed Quasar, and I've been gathering up as much info as I can about the Dynavector XX2 mkII and Lyra Delos cartridges, to replace my 17D3. For various reasons these 2 interest me the most, out of all the myriad possibilities, and at this point I'm leaning more in the direction of getting the Lyra for my VPI Classic. I'm going to live with the Simaudio (with the 17D3) awhile before I pull the trigger on the Lyra. Once again, thank you everyone for your input, it was very helpful. |
Adamay---the thing is, I don't know if the Simaudio 310LP will be an improvement on the Heed, but I'm willing to take a chance to find out. Like you, I love my Heed Quasar, it's the best phono stage I've ever had in my system---BUT, my experience with other high quality phono stages has been very limited, so I wanted to broaden my horizons a bit and try something else, so I can put the Heed in perspective and understand what it's strengths and weaknesses are. Someone referred to the Heed as a "good budget phono pre" (the implication being that it's not in the same class as something like the Simaudio, I assume), so I want to find out if that's true. The Simaudio seems like a good choice---good loading and gain options (will work with the Dyna 17D3 and the Lyra Delos if I get one), Stereophile Class B recommended (for what that's worth), and I purchased it used---so how can I go wrong? |
Ah, so my subject thread is still alive...well, sorry to say this to the last person who posted, but I just ordered a...
LYRA DELOS from Music Direct. So we'll see how it goes.
Gotta admit, I'm a little nervous about it, I'm so used to listening to my Dynavector 17D3 for the past 3 years. |
Manitunc---I'm curious, what gain and load settings are you using for your Lyra Delos on the Simaudio? I'm using a Simaudio 310LP phono pre, which I'm really enjoying by the way. |
Lanetim---I'm surprised that you felt that the Lyra Delos lacked excitement compared to the Dynavector 20X2 H, the Delos being a higher resolution cartridge, which would give you more detail, air and presence and a more transparent window to hear the music through. To my mind those qualities would have the effect of raising up the "excitement" level, but we all have different ears, different systems and rooms, and listen for different things. Are you saying perhaps that your 20X2 H basically had more dynamics and "slam"? |
