Phono Stage upgrade to complement Dohmann Helix One Mk 2

@lewm , I heard Hyperions on big Wilsons in comparison with Boulder 2150s. I preferred the Boulders. The two most popular amps with SoundLabs users are Atma-Sphere MA 2s and  JC 1s for whatever it is worth.

@drbond I have never heard or seen a Lamm amp so I can not comment but you are very wrong about the JC 1+. John Curl's point with the JC 1 was that he can make a top amp for much more reasonable money. I wish I could send you a pair. There is much more involved in the pricing of audio gear than the quality of the parts and engineering.  What is left has nothing to do with the sound quality of the equipment. John Curl has a record that is hard to ignor. People do not want to hear that an $18,000 amp is better engineered than their $90,000 amp. So be it. My personal goal is to get Atma-Shere MA 2's a $45,000 amp which due to their design are a perfect mate for Soundlabs speakers. I would love to get MA 3s but at $145,000 I would never get them by my wife. On the other hand with the price of propane we could use the extra heat next Winter:-)

@rauliruegas , my feelings exactly. I am going with whatever produces the best results. You should look into Channel D's Pure Vinyl program. It is a lot of fun. You can compare different versions of a recording and different equipment in the analog chain, cartridges and tonearms. Very enlightening.

Dear @drbond : " However, the data can only reveal what we currently measure. I think it’s important to consider that we don’t know enough about sound to know everything to measure or how to measure it fully. "

Yes, data is what we measure. What’s wrong with that? and yes till today does not exist measurement proccess that can tell us how an amp can sound but this fact does not means that today we can diminish measures like in the past like the corrupted AHEE teached to us.

J.Atkinson is not a simple mesurement gentleman he was an analog lover till 10-15 years ago when he learned about and left it, it’s a very well regarded reviewer and it’s one with a lot more honesty than other reviewers ( he can’t recomend the Hyperions when MF did it. What a difference ! ! ! ) and it’s a recording engineer.

It’s ovbious that any gentleman that spends 90K+ in an audio item be at defensive attitude against facts with not very good quality design in that audio item.

But this is not only about measurements but about common sense. Ypsilon likes transformers and almost all is transformer coupled and that fact means that the audio signal travel for those " hundreds " of meters of transformers wires that certainly damage that audio signal and I said common sense because almost a rule is that we connect the tonearm to the phono stage input with the shorter IC cable to let at minimum degradation signal issues and here we are speaking of 1m. now imagine if the audio signal must travel over " hundred " of wire meters. Higher distortions that you like and is fine with me.

Common sense tells not spend high K $$$ to achieve top quality level in the cartridge signal only for that valuable cartridge signal be destroyed in the next system links. That’s all and is up to you because in this thread all gentlemans already gave you a lot of choices many of them with out that " common sense ".

Btw, FR on the Hyperion against load speaker impedance . This is a fact not imagination or subjective:

Anyway, enough.

R.

Fremer is listening without measuring. Atkinson is measuring without critical listening. Thus they offer two entirely different perspectives. The reader needs to make up his own mind based on the total information.

This sidebar has nothing to do with phono stages.

This is not the only example where a reviewer speaks wonders on an audio item and measurements says NO it’s not true.

I remember that years ago that same magazyne and same gentlemans made the review/measurements of the over 60K Vitus phono stage and the reviewer said that the unit had really good and tigth low bass but that unit ( if I remmeber ) design use the IEC RIAA eq. that makes that from around 50hz the bass goes very quich down/fall. There are more examples/facts.

Measures can tell us a lot of things on any audio electronics items IF we are willing to accept it. That IF is the big problem for we audiophiles/MUSIC lovers.

R.