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Vinyl NOOB questions

Before I start down the path on vinyl gear,I have a few questions of the knowledgeable people that have experience in this area.

1. Is the same value MC cartridge better performance than MM?

2. To get into vinyl would be an upgrade path for me, starting out lower end to begin with. Is the Firestone Audio phono stage any good? My other initial current choice would be Mus.Fidelity-XLP. Please suggest a few others around the $500 range. *I would want something MM and MC capable unless the MC being clearly better then I'll just go that direction.

3. Is an MC stepup transformer better than a regular phono stage of the same value?

Thanks for your input, much appreciated!
audioknob

Showing 1 response by audioknob

audioknob OP
7 posts
 
Thanks all. I should have been a little more clear on my post. I still have about 500 albums, mostly in good condition. These have been sitting for years, back when I had a Dual 1229/mm and a Rotel integrated with AR3 speakers, so now you can guess my age d.!.b
I never had any experience with MC nor outboard phono preamps so I was trying to get an idea which direction to go. I am not going to spend a lot to dip my toe back in the vinyl water to begin with to see if I still have the desire after a month or 2. If I do, then perhaps a better cartridge and phono amp.
I guess my next step is to try to find places where I can hear some of these phono stages, preferably at the same store so I can compare.
Thanks for all your help and suggestions.
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