Advice needed please.

Firstly, hello,
I've been lurking for a short while and I thought I would request some advice from your collective knowledge on all things audio.
I'm a bit of a vinyl fan and between me and the wife, we have about 15 feet of records. Mostly Soul and electronica with growing sections of jazz, classical and experimental.
I've had a pair of 1210's for a decade now but no longer partake of the wiki wiki wah wah.
The rest of my kit is....
Old Marantz amp (needs to be repaired or to retire)
Tannoy 8" DMT II near fields (I love these)
BOSE noise reduction headphones
Vestex mixer (I'm going to retire this as it's not used).

I heard about The Graham Slee stuff through a friend and the Gram 2 amp looks right for my needs and budget.
What I would like to ask is what power amp should I pair this with?
The power amps that have caught my attention are Quad 606, Crimson, DNM, Creek but I'm not entirely sure why other than they seem to be well made in the uk on the most part.And should I get a pre amp for CD's etc?
I'd also like to upgrade my cart on th 1210. I saw that you use a Stanton 890 FS MP4. I need something that's hard wearing as the wife tends to drop the stylus onto records and I'm guessing some stylus don't like being dragged across Kent reprints of Wigan Casnio floor shakers.
I can't see myself using record weights or external psu's for the 1210 but would an arm upgrade be worth it? I hear audio technica and jelco go well with the technics.
What I'm really after is a better hi-fi experience at all volumes and I'm not really interested in the audiophile merry go round of constant upgrades so any advice is much appreciated.

My final question (for now) is...
Is the portable headphone amp suitable for the Bose noise canceling headphones?
Thanks in advance.


Jamie.

Budget wise, about £400 for a power amp so second hand probably. I'm not sure if I would appreciate a cartridge over £200 so it might not be worth changing the arm. Don't really know enough about them if I'm honest

BGJ wrote: I saw that you use a Stanton 890 FS MP4. I need something that's hard wearing as the wife tends to drop the stylus onto records and I'm guessing some stylus don't like being dragged across Kent reprints of Wigan Casnio floor shakers. I can't see myself using record weights or external psu's for the 1210 but would an arm upgrade be worth it? I hear audio technica and jelco go well with the technics. What I'm really after is a better hi-fi experience at all volumes and I'm not really interested in the audiophile merry go round of constant upgrades so any advice is much appreciated. My final question (for now) is... Is the portable headphone amp suitable for the Bose noise canceling headphones? Thanks in advance. Jamie.

Jamie,

Stanton 890 FS MP4 - a great cartridge! Just how they make such a high inductance cartridge (960mH) sound so good into a 47k input I really don't know. My guess is it isn't. Tip! Use the eliptical stylus. By the way, you get two of everything: two cartridges - two sets of styli - even two headshells - plus a "sandwich box"!!! Excellent value for money!

My other choice being the AT95E.

Both moving magnet so no loading issues.

tg's suggestion is also worth pursuing.

BTW, my DJ days were before Wiki Wiki Wah Wah - not anywhere near possible with Garrard SP25 mk3... we just had to work F. hard and get people on the floor and dancing using? Yes! Music!

Which leads me neatly on to the Audiophilea disease: it's spread by paper, a glossy type - the sort that's printed with graven images...

The Technics arm is good enough for me. It was good enough in 1979 (right into the 80's) to launch Rega into the millionaire class! The difference being the Technics mounting base allows dead-easy adjustments - so it's my number one! And that's why my face doesn't fit in audiophile circles....

Americans tell me the Bose cans are great! I cannot comment, but where background noise is a problem I guess they'll be good.