The fun never ends!

[AMR / iFi audio]

I'm using an EAT E-Glo Petit, which is one of the great bargains in audio (along with all the vintage MM and MI cartridges I use. I'm basically a bargain-hunter at heart. Or I'm just stingy). Its flexibility is astounding, and I really like being able to try different loading on my MM cartridges. Turns out that many of them sound much better at a higher loading than 47kH. It has only one set of inputs (RCA) but I don't mind getting behind the equipment when I change arms.

Eventually I'd like to get a couple of Dave Slagle's masterpieces, but at the moment my tastes are way beyond my wallet.

And many MC cartridges sound very good with 47kOhm loading. This is why our own phono stage iPhono 3 Black Label has so many settings including correction type. But it doesn't have multiple inputs, so maybe we should do something about that... As the title says, the fun never ends.

Bargain-hunter at heart is my new favourite! Love it. What would make a phono stage a bargain besides amazing sound in its class?

 

[Robert Young]

And many MC cartridges sound very good with 47kOhm loading. This is why our own phono stage iPhono 3 Black Label has so many settings including correction type. But it doesn't have multiple inputs, so maybe we should do something about that... As the title says, the fun never ends.

Bargain-hunter at heart is my new favourite! Love it. What would make a phono stage a bargain besides amazing sound in its class?

Multiple inputs!!

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Multiple inputs!!

How about balanced inputs for MC cartridges? Maybe tubes?

 

[Robert Young]

Did you mean bargain or just killer phono?

for me, balanced would be nice, but not essential, so they would jack up the price without providing a benedfit. But i could see where others’ set-ups would be greatly served by having balnced outs… tubes are lovely, but it’s all about the circuit.

a great bargain for me would be to get my Nagra PL-P back from the guy i sold it to for less than he paid, but with the cartridge loading adjustments done by a selector on the front panel…

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Did you mean bargain or just killer phono?

for me, balanced would be nice, but not essential, so they would jack up the price without providing a benedfit. But i could see where others’ set-ups would be greatly served by having balnced outs… tubes are lovely, but it’s all about the circuit.

a great bargain for me would be to get my Nagra PL-P back from the guy i sold it to for less than he paid, but with the cartridge loading adjustments done by a selector on the front panel…

We like to think, that our Zen Phono hits the bargain phono category

I thinking of a PRO series phono stage. We don't have one yet...

 

[Robert Young]

There’s no question in my mind that you guys make superb products at remarkably low prices! Totally honestly, and fully cognizant that as taste is personal, it isn’t really a debatable topic (de gustibus non est disputandem), i don’t love the shape of the units. As an architect, that matters to me probably a lot more than it should! But I would probably have more than a couple iFi units in the chain!

so a great brief (just for me and my profound lack of sppreciation of the gorgeous shape!):

a simpler form factor; multiple inputs, switchable from mm to mc (back panel control), balanced and rca; a tubed circuit like the originsl Nagra phono; front panel adjustment of loading (i like many of my mm carts at 88k instead of 47k) and gain; subsonic filter; options for RIAA or other curves for pre-RIAA recordings; no wall wart - a real power supply. Now i’d be happy to test this out for you!!

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

There’s no question in my mind that you guys make superb products at remarkably low prices! Totally honestly, and fully cognizant that as taste is personal, it isn’t really a debatable topic (de gustibus non est disputandem), i don’t love the shape of the units. As an architect, that matters to me probably a lot more than it should! But I would probably have more than a couple iFi units in the chain!

so a great brief (just for me and my profound lack of sppreciation of the gorgeous shape!):

a simpler form factor; multiple inputs, switchable from mm to mc (back panel control), balanced and rca; a tubed circuit like the originsl Nagra phono; front panel adjustment of loading (i like many of my mm carts at 88k instead of 47k) and gain; subsonic filter; options for RIAA or other curves for pre-RIAA recordings; no wall wart - a real power supply. Now i’d be happy to test this out for you!!

And I would love to deliver you a product like that! Thank you for your feedback, it has been sent to RnD. Maybe, they will come up with something like that in the future

 

[Robert Young]

I think the EAT is actually a good model to look at. There’s also a pro-ject that is similar. The price points are excellent for those who are looking for excellent value/low cost/strong performance. I will eventually go with a Dave Slagle SUT, but right now i enjoy the flexibility to experiment.

back in the day when i was single (which means no extra expenses!), i had a Nagra PL-P feeding Nagra VPAs to Sonus faber Amati Homage. The sources were a Teres 340/Schroeder Reference/Allaerts, and a Sony SCD-1. It was a great system, but cost a small fortune (amazingly to me less than half the cost of a number of turntables on this forum!). Sold most of the system when the kid came along. Now I’m much more conscious of expense, so i hunt bargains: hence my adventures with vintage gear. I imagine i’m more in the mainstream than Mike Lavigne…love reading about what he’s done and how he did it, but that won’t ever be me…at least i can live vicariously through his posts! I don’t search for perfect sound, i seach for pleasure…and a good deal means pleasure!

 

[Fishfood]

This has been a great read! Thank you! I also had a 124 that Greg refurbished. I'm now waiting for him to complete my Garrard 401.

Curious which of your vintage cartridges you listen to the most, or do you spend the most time with your reference? I have a Schröder CB and a now Bokrand on the way. Wish I had gone with a two arm plinth!

 

[Robert Young]

Gosh, love that system of yours! Lamm is just sublime...

I'm hoping to get a 301 from Greg at some point. He is such a great person doing such beautiful work...

So my cartridge obsession is in full-force, though I am currently offloading a few of my favorites that don't get much playing time over on 'gon...

The current rotation includes the Allaerts, which is my reference; a Sonus Blue Gold; A Shure V15 iii with SAS/S; a Micro-Acoustics 3002 with sapphire cantilever and fritz geiger diamond (really awesom cartridge!); an M-A 2002e with the same stylus configuration, thanks to Joseph Long; several B&O SP 12s; a B&O mmc-2; a SUpex 900 super; a Zu Denon DL103r; a Shure M7d (on a Grado Wood arm); a GE RPX on a Gray 108; several Empire 880p (I really love these things. They sound much much better than they should); a Signet TK10ml (awesome on a SIgnet XK50 arm); an ESE Maya-1, which is a modded AT V95e with carbon fiber outriggers on the cantilever; I may have 5 or 6 variations on teh AT V95e, with different bodies and cut-down styluses, etc; a Pickering XSV 3000 with original D3000 stylus (one of the best MMs ever made); a couple of Stanton 881s; an Ortofon M20FL super; and a darkhorse: a Shure Premier Black (basically the M75ED Type 2) with a Jico SAS stylus. It's amazing. The SPU is on the market, as I want to move up the line. I do like teh SPU/Bokrand combination. The fun part has been trying the cartridges on various arms and with various headshells to find the right synergy. I love it, but I was driving my wife nutz playing the same reference recordings over and over, until I got some cheap but nice ESS Heil headphones... I think I listen to the M-A 3002 the most. It amazes me every day with its speed and neutrality. I think I may actually prefer it to the Allaerts, which I really don't have a proper SUT for. Dave Slagle is in my future though!

 

[Fishfood]

I want all those cartridges! I've been circling an MA 3002 in original condition for a while. Yours sounds like an upgrade from that. Maybe it's better to buy a trashed one and have Joseph or Steve at VAS rebuild in that configuration you have?

You may want to put that 301 at the head of the line... I think Greg may be retiring (again) soon. What a life, working on these gems on a beautiful piece of land on a desolate part of Tennessee.

 

[Fishfood]

Gosh, love that system of yours! Lamm is just sublime...

I'm hoping to get a 301 from Greg at some point. He is such a great person doing such beautiful work...

So my cartridge obsession is in full-force, though I am currently offloading a few of my favorites that don't get much playing time over on 'gon...

The current rotation includes the Allaerts, which is my reference; a Sonus Blue Gold; A Shure V15 iii with SAS/S; a Micro-Acoustics 3002 with sapphire cantilever and fritz geiger diamond (really awesom cartridge!); an M-A 2002e with the same stylus configuration, thanks to Joseph Long; several B&O SP 12s; a B&O mmc-2; a SUpex 900 super; a Zu Denon DL103r; a Shure M7d (on a Grado Wood arm); a GE RPX on a Gray 108; several Empire 880p (I really love these things. They sound much much better than they should); a Signet TK10ml (awesome on a SIgnet XK50 arm); an ESE Maya-1, which is a modded AT V95e with carbon fiber outriggers on the cantilever; I may have 5 or 6 variations on teh AT V95e, with different bodies and cut-down styluses, etc; a Pickering XSV 3000 with original D3000 stylus (one of the best MMs ever made); a couple of Stanton 881s; an Ortofon M20FL super; and a darkhorse: a Shure Premier Black (basically the M75ED Type 2) with a Jico SAS stylus. It's amazing. The SPU is on the market, as I want to move up the line. I do like teh SPU/Bokrand combination. The fun part has been trying the cartridges on various arms and with various headshells to find the right synergy. I love it, but I was driving my wife nutz playing the same reference recordings over and over, until I got some cheap but nice ESS Heil headphones... I think I listen to the M-A 3002 the most. It amazes me every day with its speed and neutrality. I think I may actually prefer it to the Allaerts, which I really don't have a proper SUT for. Dave Slagle is in my future though!

I did grab that 3002! I'm going to listen for a bit before I send it off to Joseph but I'm really excited. Thank you Robert!

This forum is great!!!!

 

[Solypsa]

think I may actually prefer it to the Allaerts, which I really don't have a proper SUT for. Dave Slagle is in my future though!

What SUT configuration does the Allaerts want?

 

[Robert Young]

What SUT configuration does the Allaerts want?

According to Allaerts himself, 15:1…

 

[Robert Young]

I did grab that 3002! I'm going to listen for a bit before I send it off to Joseph but I'm really excited. Thank you Robert!

This forum is great!!!!

Joseph's sapphire cantilever plus Fritz Geiger is a remarkable upgrade to an already excellent cartridge. I am stunned daily by how good it is! I'll be trying out a Tedeska soon, so most likely will have a new reference against which to judge the M-A (and the Allaerts). I do wish I had a couple of extra cartridge plates for the Schroeder Reference (which would make it a bit easier to switch out cartridges), as I think that will be the arm for all three, though I will also give them all a run on the Bokrand (the split counterweight allows the Bokrand to perform rather well with a light high compliance cart like the M-A, which it really shouldn't. But that's just how fantastic that 12" arm is). Next to Maggies and the EAT E-Glo petit, a hyper-bargain in this price-insane passion!

 

[Fishfood]

What's your A'gon name so I can look at what you are selling....

Joseph's sapphire cantilever plus Fritz Geiger is a remarkable upgrade to an already excellent cartridge. I am stunned daily by how good it is! I'll be trying out a Tedeska soon, so most likely will have a new reference against which to judge the M-A (and the Allaerts). I do wish I had a couple of extra cartridge plates for the Schroeder Reference (which would make it a bit easier to switch out cartridges), as I think that will be the arm for all three, though I will also give them all a run on the Bokrand (the split counterweight allows the Bokrand to perform rather well with a light high compliance cart like the M-A, which it really shouldn't. But that's just how fantastic that 12" arm is). Next to Maggies and the EAT E-Glo petit, a hyper-bargain in this price-insane passion!

 

[Robert Young]

I post under ryoung...

 

[Fishfood]

I still haven't heard my Schrøder CB yet. I've had it for months after trading it for a 4Point that wasn't fitting on my old table. Now I've dumped that table and I'm still a month out on the replacement. Really excited to hear it with the M-A and my AnaMighty DL103R.

 

[Fishfood]

I post under ryoung...

I've been looking at that Pickering, hoping that if I reread the ad enough it will magically come with an original stylus

 

[Fishfood]

I've been looking at that Pickering, hoping that if I reread the ad enough it will magically come with an original stylus

There's an NOS one on eBay at $695 but I think that's just too much.