I am considering an upgrade to my VPI HW19 mkIII. I am looking at the SAMA for sure and a seller at A-gon has the PLC for sale too. Is the SDS that much better than the PLC? I can get the PLC for $250 vs 3-4 times that for the SDS.
I use the SDS. Had considered the PLC (but never tried one) until I read that the SDS is significantly more effective, & also that the PLC radiates large amounts of interfering EMI into any nearby active componentry.
I have both. As Bob mentioned, the PLC is electrically noisy and must be located carefully away from your signal path. The SDS doesn't have this problem. The PLC is a more primitive design with analog control knobs, while the SDS has push buttons and a digital read out. Having said all this, I haven't heard a big difference in sound quality, although the SDS has been praised by the magazine reviewers (better ears than mine, I guess). Good luck.
Get the SDS. There's no comparison. I had the PLC and later used the PS Audio P300 to feed my TNT turntable. I pcked up a used SDS for $650 on Audiogon and now wish I had done this earlier. It's a terrific piece of gear.
Have any of you used the Walker audio controller? It was recommended by my local dealer who said it's significantly better than the VPI SDS. Of course, it also costs $500 more!
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