I'm in same boat with digital so much better no longer listen to vinyl, and this with well over 3500 albums. I estimate I'd have to spend upwards of $10K on phono pre and cartridge to get back to something like level playing field. Not sure I'm going to ever do this as digital sound quality entirely pleasurable and now hooked on new type listening session, what with ease of selecting music via streaming.
Phono Preamplifier Redux .. Damn This is Getting Expensive
I posted previously in search of a phono preamplifier, but as I put together a system I refined what I was looking for.
My current Analog food chain consists of Technics 1200G turntable, Hana ML cartridge, unknown phono preamplifier, McIntosh MA12000 integrated, Sabrina X, pair of REL S/812 subs. Also, Shunyata Everest 8000 power conditioner and a mix of Alpha V2 NR and Venom V10NR power cables. Other cables: AQ Earth balanced interconnects, William Tell full range speaker cables. Also, had to make some room acoustic modifications.
So, here is the problem. I just got a Holo May DAC DTE and have been streaming by Roon, mostly purchased and ripped files on a Synology NAS. The problem is that my digital side sounds much more musical than my analog. Part of the remedy is on the way with 3" Tiger Maple equipment rack, but digital and analog are not close. My Sutherland 20/20 LPT is going back. It has limited front/back sound stage and the upper mids and treble are a bit shrill. I say this because the Holo is just beautifully musical throughout.
Music Direct will be taking Sutherland back and has suggested the Esoteric E-02 Balanced as a solution. So this post I'm raising my budget to 9-10K new, or used and prefer balanced out. Looking for detail, dynamics and silent background. I just can't have the digital so much more enjoyable... of course there is always selling all analog and staying digital, but that doesn't feel right.
So, where do I go for balanced out and more musical, but retaining micro detail and dynamics?
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Agree that the 1200G or the Hana is not the issue. I have a stock 1200G with the humble AT33PTGII and it edges out my digital: Audiolab 8200CD with dual differential 24 bit DAC. I have a Hagerman Trumpet MC and I like it a lot. I would say that it's equivalent to a $2k+ phono preamp. You need to spend in that neighborhood or well upwards to not get the upgrade bug a few months down the road. My digital sounds great but even my old Project Phono Box RS ($1000) did better with MM. It's definitely the phono stage. Very careful cartridge setup helps too. I use a very thick TT mat to get the tonearm parallel. |
There is a lot of good advice in this thread. However, before you end up spending thousands more on a turntable (which I don’t think is the issue), process of elimination is called for. If it’s even a possibility your vinyl rig is susceptible to vibration or EMI, fix that first. I love the Parasound J3+ and you can easily dial in your cart settings without dip switches, and it’s balanced although that output adds (6db) of gain. |
Based on my personal experience, and as another mentioned above, you probably need to spend 20k in analog to get SQ like 10k in digital, but from what I’ve read 60-80k in analog is better than 120k in digital. So, at lower prices, it’s hard to beat digital, and at higher prices it’s hard to beat analog. |
+1 @urbie Townsend speaker Bars were a game changer for me. Will not resolve your analog woes, but helps define your bass and isolate your speakers from the floor. Can’t say enough about them. Podiums would have been my preference, but I would have had to have them custom made for my speakers, so the bars were a more economical solution. E |
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