Requesting upgrade advice


Hi All,

I work from home and listen to LPs 100% of the time ~ 8 hours per day. Keeps me from sitting in my chair to long getting up to change records.

Ready for an upgrade and was thinking to upgrade to Audio Research Ref 6 preamp.

Wanted to hear from others about my next steps for upgrade. 

System below;

Audio Research LS26

Audio Research PH8

Cary CAD 211M driving Tyler Acoustics D10s with transparent music wave Ultra cables

Lamm M1.1 driving Wilson Sophia with Harmonic Tech pro-9 cables

Snake River Audio interconnects and power cables

Dedicated AC line  10 AWG

Rega P8 with Apheta 3 cartridge

Rothwell MCX trans

Monster power HTS5100 for convenience and some surge protection

Thanks for any advice 

agrogon

Would you consider something different to keep in rotation?  Maybe a CJ preamp?

How is the turntable isolated- a HRS platform was really impactful in my space. 

erik_squires I would consider a CJ preamp.  Probably be warmer but would it have the detail of the ACR?  I would need to try in my system.   I do see how the Audio Research REF 6 would sound similar to what I have.  

What CJ preamp do you recommend?  

Overthemoon I will look at a HRS platform, used maybe worth a try and if not can resell.  

My Tyler speakers are the older model D10s (6'2" tall and 200lbs with 4 10' woofers each)

thanks for the replies.  

If you listen to vinyl 100% of the time, you might want to consider upgrading the phonostage. The ARC Reference Series phonostages have balanced (XLR) output which makes a significant difference.

@agrogon

tough call between going to ref10 phono stage vs the ref 6 linestage

hard to know which will make more of a difference, though just a guess, knowing the arc stuff pretty well, the ls26 to ref 6 move may yield more of a step change (more transparency, snap and speed) ... i think it really depends how well your ph8 is mating with your current cartridge

good luck, your system is already quite excellent, as others have already noted