2. analog
  3. 1291079501

Upgrade suggestions

Hi
I use my turntable as a source for less than five percent of my listening, but I am contemplating an upgrade and looking for advice.
I listen to classical music. I currently have been using a Rega P5 table with a PS Audio phono stage. I have had the table for 5 years and have never upgraded from the Rega mm cartridge that it came with.
the rest of my system is an Ayre preamplifier, Parasound Power amp, and some Digital sources (Marantz 803 SACD, NAd DVD-A player both fed into a PS Audio Digital Link DAC). Speakers are B&W 803-D.
budget up to $3000.
richardfinegold

Showing 2 responses by rdavwhitaker

rdavwhitaker
173 posts
 
Over the years I have owned a lot of turntables, cartridges and phono preamps, and based on my experience here's what I'd suggest -

First, you already have a very good turntable and arm. I wouldn't mess with replacing either if they still function properly. Instead, I would suggest doing the following - look for a good pre-owned phono preamp on audiogon - a good choice would be an EAR 834P. The 834P can handle most MM and MC cartridgesThen, I'd purchase a Nitty Gritty 1.5 record cleaner, which will do more to improve the sound of your records than any other tweak you can buy. Then I'd take the balance of the $3000, whatever is left, and buy a new cartridge fro Shelter, Clearaudio, or Grado -- you might call the good folks at Needledoctor, if you don't have a local dealer you like, and ask for suggestions.
rdavwhitaker
173 posts
 
One of the challenges when asking for advice on Audiogon is that you often get way more good advice than you can practically (or financially) act on. ;)

There are a couple themes that run through the suggestions that have been made here I'd highlight to you -- first, your turntable and arm are fine -- don't bother replacing them. Second, an important part of upgrading your sound is getting a couple essential accessories -- a good alignment protractor (as Macdadtexas suggests) and (I would still argue) a good record cleaning machine. To which I would add, on reflection, an Onzow Zerodust to clean the stylus on your cartridge.

There seems to be a consensus that your GCPH phono preamp is a good fit for the rest of your system (I had suggested a phono preamp upgrade, but bow to the collective wisdom of the other respondents).

Then, look for a good cartridge upgrade oppotrunity. I agree with those who suggest a used cartridge from Audiogon is a definite option, but second Coltrane1's word of caution -- purchase only from a seller with pretty hefty positive feedback -- a lot of used cartridges have been abused. The biggest challenge you face is that phono cartridges, like speakers, have real personalities and make performance/price trade-offs. So you may want to set your purchase price range to allow you to pick two or three, and purchase them one at a time, as Coltrane1 and Lak suggest.

Hope you have fun with your upgrading.
More to discover