How will you split $3000 between phono and cart ?


A jittery situation:
I am looking to buy a phonostage cartridge combination. Budget is $3k for both. I can buy preowned phonostage but cartridge has to be new. TT is a Nouvelle Platine Verdier and tonearm is SME 3012 S2.

Now, I can either go ahead and buy a very good phonostage and a entry-mid level MC cartridge or I buy a very good cartridge and a decent entry-mid level phono. I have listed the possible options:

Option 1:
Choose any of these phonostages:
1. Naim Superline - $2300
2. ZYX Artisan - $2000 (used)
3. 47 labs phonocube - $2500 (used)

Choose any of these cartridges:
1. Ortofon Rondo Red
2. Ortofon 2M Black
3. ZYX R50 Bloom
4. Sumiko Blue point Evo III

Option 2:
Choose any of these phonostages:
1. Lehmann Audio Black Cube SE ($1100)
2. Trigon Advance ($1300)
3. Ray Samuels Nighthawk ($1000)
4. PS Audio GCPH ($1200)

Choose any of these cartridges:
1. ZYX R100 Yatra
2. Ortofon Cadenza Red
3. 47 Labs McBee

You may suggest a combination that is not in this list. I would be happy to research it further. The situation is I have to compromise somewhere, but where ? My TT experience is very limited so is my exposure to analog gears so please help with your experience and suggest what would you pick if you were me.
pani

Showing 6 responses by pani

Lyra was not on my mind, I was thinking of ZYX or Ortofon. But now too many recommendations for Lyra makes me look into it. Has anyone compared Lyra to a ZYX or Ortofon ?
The rest of my equipment is:

Naim CD5X CD player
Naim Flatcap2X power supply for CDP
Naim Nait 5i2 amplifier
Tannoy Turnberry SE speakers

While I listen to a wide variety of music I am a lot into Classic Rock (Fleetwood mac types), Swing Jazz and Blues.
Tone and Timing are the first two things I look for in a system, followed by Dynamics and then resolution. Other audiophile attributes like soundstage, extreme transparency, focus etc are not something I look for, if it is there it is a bonus. If you are familiar with the Naims or the Tannoy prestige line, you can see what I mean better.

$300 for a Denon 103r, and the remainder on a Parasound JC3 phono pre... That's the way I would go.

I currently use a Denon 103Pro, I dont find the resolution good enough. My CD player beats it.
There seems to be multiple recommendations of Parasound JC3 phonostage. I never thought about that phonostage it is hardly discussed.
But photon46 isnt the RCM much more expensive (somewhere around $3k) ? I have heard the RCM in an Avid + ZYX setup and liked it quite a lot. I am considering it pretty seriously now. It has great drive and timing, very airy and clean as well. Tonally it could have been a touch warmer but I am not sure, the rest of the setup also contributes to the tone so who knows. Have you heard the Naim Superline by any chance ?

Regarding the cartridge, will a ZYX R50 bloom be an upgrade over Denon 103pro ?
Photon46, I contacted Mehran for the RCM phonostage. He indeed has one demo set for sale. But he is reluctant to sell it to me because he says there is already an RCM dealer in Singapore so I should buy from him. I would like to talk to you over email regarding this, please write to me at [email protected] and we can discuss a little more on this.
Update: I bought the RCM Sensor Prelude phonostage.
Now for the cartridge, oscillating between ZYX R50 Bloom and Ortofon Kontrapunkt H.
I have ordered a XYX RS30 cart. Once it is set I will be able to write a more accurate review of this phonostage.

Briefly speaking it has the resolution, speed and drive of phonostages costing $10k and above combined with very low noise floor.