If you had $12k / £10k to upgrade your analogue front-end...

Thanks Grislybutter. I have FyneAudio F501SP floorstanders. I will also have an Arendal 1961 1S subwoofer. I currently have a Moon Ace All-in-one but will be upgrading that with a Moon 303a Power Amp and Moon 390. I don't know much about AVID. But I thought a Rega Planar 10 + Apheta cart + Rega Aura phono stage could be a good combo.

And thanks Ghdpretence. I'll look at Audio Research and CJ too. 

Vonhelmholtz. Do you have a Pam G2? That blows my budget. 

Others have recommended the Technics 1200G but I'd anticipated having a belt drive. But open to all options.

Thanks @jerryg123 ​​​​​​. I don't yet have the 390 but I will test the phono in that..I live in London but there is a place called Analogue Seduction about 2 hours away. Perhaps I'll go and spend a day or two up there.

And thanks @lalitk I'll check out TW-Acustic. I'll head up to Analogue Seduction and do some listening to as many combos as I can.

@antigrunge2 This is off the beaten track. Amazing. Thanks. That's certainly a rabbit hole to explore and will keep me busy.

So many amazing suggestions in here. Thank you all. I've got lots of new turntables, carts and phono stages to research and lots of potential directions I can go in. I think I will likely go down the new rather than used route. But apart from that, all is currently open.

@dekay I'm currently running a Clearaudio Concept with Performance V2 MM cart into the MM phono stage of the Moon Ace All-in-one. It sounds a bit flat. I'm keen to move to MC. The current Moon I have doesn't support this. So I either upgrade my analogue front-end first and buy a separate phono stage or I upgrade my Moon to the 330a + 390 next and then upgrade my TT etc... afterwards and can trial the 390 MC phono stage.

@whart Thanks for your detailed response. Would you recommend I update the tonearm and cart on my current Clearaudio table then? 

@rossb Have you tried the upgraded Planar 8 and Planar 10. I think the P8 and P10 are discontinued now?

@petg60 Will check out the Bauer Audio DPS 3. I am in the UK yes. Thanks!

@k600r Fantastic. Thanks. I am in the UK though so I think SOTA might difficult for me to get.

@overthemoon Do you rate the 390 phono stage? No desire to upgrade to a separate phono stage?

@bigkidz Have you listened to the Rega Aura MC? Would you rate that as a phono stage?

@liamowen Pass Labs XP17 added to the list. I'm reading an article in The Absolute Sound as we speak. I'll find somewhere to go and listen to it.

@tablejockey Would yo say the Aphelion is worth the extra cash over the Apheta 3?

@dekay Upgrading the tonearm and cart on my Clearaudio is a compelling option. However, if I don't upgrade my Moon Ace or buy a 390, I am stuck with MM carts. I'm a little afraid of upgrading the tonearm and cart on the Clearaudio and then doing another upgrade later down the line to MC. I might see if I can do a home trial of a cart/tonearm but I'm not sure that's possible.

@tablejockey @liamowen Loud and clear regarding the Aphelion.

@terry9 The Dais looks very cool: 

@tjnindc Thanks for your advice. Out of interest, why do you swap out cartridges often? Do you have particular cartridges for specific genres of music? I'll add the Project to my list.

@dekay Gotcha. This makes perfect sense and could actually be a really good interim solution. Any advice on a cart I should look at that would go with my table, tonearm and the Moon Ace?

@terry9 DIY terrifies the life out of me. I wouldn't have a clue where to start!

@dctom Thanks for the advice. The Technics seems to be very popular. I'm going to listen to it side-by-side with the Rega Planar 10, The Linn plus others.

@dekay the mat is an interesting take I hadn't even considered. I'm also looking into the step-up TF

@plinko Great to know. Thanks. 

@mambacfa That's a bargain. I'll need to find somewhere I can get decent used gear in UK.

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Has anyone used a Moon 310LP or a Channel D Lino C 2.0?

I'm considering these along with the Rega Aura, the Nottingham Analogue Dais and the Pass Labs XP-17.

@overthemoon Have you got any experience with the 310LP? My dealer tells me it is a step up from the phono stage in the 390. But if the 390 has a phono stage based on the 810LP, you’d presume that wouldn’t be true. Any thoughts?

Boulder also added to the mix. Thanks :)

@grislybutter Thank you! Very helpful.

Sorry for my slow response @grislybutter . We had a burglary on Monday night whilst we were all asleep upstairs. They stole £10k worth of stuff so I guess there goes my analogue front end for a while. I'll need to save that back up.

Really interesting re: the AVID price list. I was thinking a 1/3 Turntable 1/3 cart 1/3 phono stage split. I definitely won't be buying a $250000 pair of speakers!!

@grislybutter we're currently renovating our house so staying in a rental. We thought the landlord had insurance but informed us on Tuesday he does not. So we're 10k down unfortunately. At least the kids are safe. That's the main thing.

@arcticdeth I like your style!

@verdantaudio Excellent. Added to the list. Thanks. The Sugden masterclass and Unison look good.