Which Phono Stage

Hello again. I am not sure whether you have had a bad experience but cannot believe his should be an issue, never anything I have considered for the years.

So for as the loading I use an elevator and on my M/coil currently use 1,000 ohm I don't normally touch it but have changed over the years as system has developed to tweak the sound a little. Can impact on the balance, dynamics, solidity in my experience, but if you didn't have it I suspect with most cartridges you wouldn't miss it really.

Richard

I used to own an Arcam A85/P85 and assuming a similar house sound, I can see no reason it wouldn't work well. Mine didn't have the phono stage module, so I've no direct experience of them, but I'd be prepared to bet that any GSP phono stage would outperform it by a considerable margin.

Built in phono stages do seem to making a reappearance here & there, due no doubt to the current resurgence in vinyl popularity, but I tend to view them as an "added feature" a nod to the current fashion.  My current amp does have a MM stage which got pressed into service once when I was doing some fault finding - and true to expectation it's not in the same ball park.

No doubt there's one lurking in an amp somewhere that'll make me eat my words .

Seems to me you have the makings of a very capable front end, I heard the same deck sounding really good last year in a dealers, though it wasn't a proper audition as such. The arm is noticably a big improvement on the one in my old RPM9. Very nice indeed and fully deserving of a really good phono stage.

Assuming you are sticking with MC & price isn't too prohibitive - and you do seem to be inclined towards the higher end of Grahams range (actually cost effective in the long run I've found). I'd say Audition a Reflex C, get to know it & then maybe try an Accession/EXP to see if you think the the cost hike is worth it.

Could easily be that the one box is all you need. .. unless you start thinking in terms of a much more expensive cart, followed by cables, amps, speakers... you know the drill. The slippery path to financial ruin



Edited by DaveG - 20 Feb 2016 at 3:10pm

Ok - thanks Bob, that explains it.  Not something I'm likely to use tbh.
Rgds
Phil

Thanks Richard, it is good to know you are pleased with the results and it is definitely worth me trying that as an option.

There are lots of options as you say but the advice I have been given here has proved very helpful.  In the end it will come down to what I prefer in my own system so I may need to try several options before finding the right one.

Phil