Nagra HD phono prototype

[Rotatoubib]

I mainly use 65-75 gain but have gone as low as 30, for example on Norah Jones’ Come Away with Me, which is well known for having excess sibilance in the recording. It’s audible on “exotic” stylus shapes. At 30 the distortion is essentially gone.
Rene said to try Loading between 30-80.
You have the gain set at the midpoint?

Do you have the 4 or 6 ohms cartridge ? I use the 200 load with the 6

 

[Zeotrope]

At least for the Fitz Gyger stylus profile, the need to make small changes to VTA depending on the album thickness is crucial. You think it sounds great but then you adjust VTA slightly and are blown away by the change.

 

[Zeotrope]

Do you have the 4 or 6 ohms cartridge ? I use the 200 load with the 6

I am using the 4 ohm cartridge.

 

[Zeotrope]

Watched Fremer’s visit to Nagra again and learned some new things about the HD Phono: the digital display and controls have no electrical connection to the amplifier- the connection is optical! This explains why there is no sonic degradation from the display, and why dimming it completely doesn’t make a difference to the SQ. This is not the case with some other high end phono stages (eg, the CH P10j). Interesting!

 

[Zeotrope]

Listening to the album below and the imaging improvement (vs the DarTZeel 18NS) is spectacular! I was never quite sure how many musicians were playing when listening before; I found myself checking the album notes every time I listened. With the HD Phono, each instrument is precisely located, yet they all sound cohesive. Impressive!

@jfrech - do you engage the Mono mode when playing a mono disc? I don’t think it makes a difference, and I noticed it says “mono cartridge” so I haven’t touched it, as I don’t have a mono cartridge. Whenever I toggle mono on the DarTZeel, I hear no difference. I think the Mono mode is useful if you have a channel imbalance.

 

[jfrech]

@Zeotrope my HD phono is just sounding amazing. Every record I am hearing new things, whether it's resolution, or soundstaging or just the naturalness of the presentation. My digital is definitely wondering what happened to me

I just tried the mono switch. Quite clearly summed the L+R into a mono signal. I'll try a few mono lp's soon....

 

[Zeotrope]

@Zeotrope my HD phono is just sounding amazing. Every record I am hearing new things, whether it's resolution, or soundstaging or just the naturalness of the presentation. My digital is definitely wondering what happened to me

I just tried the mono switch. Quite clearly summed the L+R into a mono signal. I'll try a few mono lp's soon....

Same here
As great as my digital sounds (with the amazing Taiko Extreme), it just doesn’t compare to how vinyl sounds. A friend who has listened to many systems summed it up as “with digital it’s as if they musicians are just going through the motions. They are hitting all the right notes, but there‘s no passion or emotion”.

(BTW: I just turned off my DS Audio ES-001 static remover and the sound actually improved slightly. I have to thank another forum member, which I will do in the “Smear” thread. Just mentioning in case you have one.)

 

[Zeotrope]

More on the comparison to the CH Precision:
This site, which has very thorough and detailed reviews, scored the Nagra Classic Phono higher than the CH Precision P1 (and he loved the P1):

TOP 5 – AVMAG

Ranking de testes da Áudio Vídeo Magazine Apresentamos aqui o ranking atualizado dos produtos selecionados que foram analisados por nossa metodologia nos últimos anos, ordenados pelas […]

clubedoaudio.com.br

Teste 1: NAGRA CLASSIC PHONO

Fernando Andrettefernando@clubedoaudio.com.br Minha filha tinha apenas cinco anos quando um dia entrou na cozinha, me viu cozinhando, e perguntou: “Como deve ser o cheiro da Lua?”. […]

clubedoaudio.com.br

Teste 1: PRÉ DE PHONO CH PRECISION P1

Fernando Andrettefernando@clubedoaudio.com.br Ainda que a Pandemia tenha virado o mundo de cabeça para baixo, este foi o ano em que recebemos e testamos a maior quantidade […]

clubedoaudio.com.br

No reviews of the HD Phono or the P10 yet, but the trend will likely be the same.

 

[Zeotrope]

@jfrech how do you set Load? I usually start at 75 and then go down if I hear too much treble or if the sound is “thin”. Interestingly, sibilance or distortion can also be fixed by lowering the load. With the previous phono stage, I guess it was distorting, and it had nothing to do with the setup of the table.

 

[jfrech]

@jfrech how do you set Load? I usually start at 75 and then go down if I hear too much treble or if the sound is “thin”. Interestingly, sibilance or distortion can also be fixed by lowering the load. With the previous phono stage, I guess it was distorting, and it had nothing to do with the setup of the table.

Ditto, I land a lot around 55. But as hi as 75 low about 45. I hear what you're hearing ...

 

[Zeotrope]

Great, good to know. It's amazing how even a small change (5-10 ohms) is audible.