On the fence about Vinyl need a good phono stage for A/B testing

Oh yeah, it sounds stodgy and thick out of the box, very opaque. It will loosen up at about 100 hours and start to sing around 250 hours. I know many folks exaggerate about components being run-in after like 20-50 hours. I don’t usually have that experience with the gear I buy, it takes time. This goes fast once you pass about 100 hours as it’s more listenable and you are enjoying the component as its becoming better sounding.

Geek101:

Not silly at all, it is in the top three or four that I’ve ever heard, and I have listened to more than I can count with some of them costing FAR FAR more than the Luxman. It is quiet, flowing and has excellent timing which is important, a good number of stages completely foul up the timing. The stage is highly transparent with just a hint of lushness/beauty making itself known (you can control this with the rectifier choice as well as the signal tubes). It is not 300B lush by any stretch but it is the polar opposite of the Pass XP25, in a good way (IMHO).

I don’t want to get into the fuse thing but if one thinks about it, all the power coming into the unit is rectified and stored in caps and then released and modulated to the musical/electrical signal generated by the stylus, this is what you are listening to, the power supply. If the first choke point is a chintzy three cent fuse with a crap metal filament (slow blow, Tin, zinc or some alloy) passing the current, a signature is established. Garbage in garbage out. I can honestly tell you that changing the fuses brought about a HUGE increase in the units sonic capabilities.

Nearly all of my components have an AMR MK2 Gold or a Bees Wax Ultimate fuse installed.

Geek101:

I currently own 4 phono stages with a fifth soon on the way. The Luxman EQ 500 is one of them and it is simply one of the best I’ve heard. Change the fuses (a must) to something more ambitious than the cheap glass it comes stock with. I tried Synergistic Blue, hifi Tuning, etc. The best combination by far was one Audio Magic Ultimate Bees Wax and four AMR Mk2 Gold fuses. I also swapped out the JJ EZ81 rectifier for a NOS Mullard I purchased from Brent Jesse.

Absolutely stunning and the flexibity is right up there with the best. I usually listen to it everyday as it compliments my AMR PH 77 very well.

amg56:

That sounds awesome! I use an ART 1000, London Ref and Ana Mighty Sound 103.3 with the Luxman although the London belongs to the SPL Phonos :)

The ART 1000 and 103.3 sound absolutely stunning with the EQ500.

amg56:

Much appreciated.

Geek101:

Please don’t read this the wrong way. Perhaps you mentioned earlier in the thread that you are planning to eventually move to a higher end cartridge, not that there is anything at all wrong with the 2M Bronze. If you do plan to move up then ignore this post, if not, I would humbly suggest that the EQ 500 may be overkill. 

Geek101:

you wrote:
”Or what is "the" cartridge for Luxman EQ-500 to be worthy?.”

I am not the arbiter for such things :) I think my Ana Mighty Sound modified Denon 103r (103.3) sounds much better with it. The Audio Technica ART 1000 simply sounds sublime with the EQ 500 and they bring the best out of each other.

I can only write for myself; stating that fact, I’d probably not go for the EQ 500 unless I was looking at cartridges $5k and above. There are always exceptions :)

Now please note, I’m  writing about myself. If you have a cartridge you love and you feel like the EQ 500 or any stage would do it justice then by all means proceed. This is an individual journey and no one can tell you what you like, although I can think of a few on this forum who will attempt to tell you what you should like and why :)

Geeek101:

I think any any of the others you’ve named would be good choices including an iFi iPhono 2.

 Of course it’s your dime and you are free to run whatever cartridge you want with any stage you choose. I just think the EQ 500 will not yield it’s true potential with lesser cartridges therefore why spend the coin, unless you KNOW that at some time in the future you’re going to climb the cartridge ladder :)

Geek101:

My pleasure.

FYI, I had a BLab phono stage, about $9k, very nice indeed and better than a number of stages but the iPhono 2 was better to my ears. They were equal in all aspects except timing. The iPhono 2 simply had better PRAT. I was using a linear supply with the IPhono, I don’t allow SMPS anywhere near my three audio rigs.

I find Bat gear a little dark, I had a Rex pre years ago, didn’t keep it long at all. That could have changed as I haven’t listened to Bat gear in years.

The Luxman CL-38uC would probably give you all you need but again if you are just looking for a great stage don’t let the low price and diminutive look fool you, the iPhono 2 has embarrassed some very expensive pieces of gear and at Music Direct you have 60 days to love it or hate it :)

That’s my take on the subject matter. Whatever you decide I really hope you enjoy the end result.

Best

Or at least I try my best to keep SMPS’s away from my systems.

Geek101:

yes, that’s correct. They usually hurt the sound of systems, regardless of what the manufacturer claims. There are threads on this forum where this is discussed in great detail. I usually replace switching power supplies with linear power supplies.

With the iPhono 2 I used three different linear power supplies, the SBooster, a lab Pyramid regulated supply and the Uptone Audio linear supply (it has two outputs which can each be configured for different voltages and used simultaneously) which is like having two units in one. The Uptone costs about $975 but it is definitely the best. I use one now to power my music server which consists of a Mac mini with the SMPS gutted and an iFi iUSB 3.0.

I didn’t intend to change the topic of discussion but I did want to answer your query.

cjaronica:

If you don’t mind my asking, what is your $7k stage? Only asking to put your comments about the PH10 into some type of perspective.

Thanks

cjaronica:

Thank you.