catman Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 G'day all, for those who buy their phono stages, a question please. As the price goes up for a given phono stage, what gets 'better' as far as sound quality is concerned? I really wonder about that. Regards, Felix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hensa Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Well for me it's not always as price goes up as the LCR phono is certainly better to my ears than several more expensive stages with which I've spent time. In terms of where they get better, it seems to be a combination of soundstage width, depth and height, level of detail retrieval, and the realism of the tone. Having recently had the chance to have a significantly more expensive phono in my system on loan, the scale of the soundstage and the realism of the tone were the most striking improvements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrews_melb Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 What about surface noise? I know most of that should be sorted by cart but if i remember correctly when i swapped my old CA 551 for a Grahame Slee reflex M, the background noise was quieter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjay Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 I think carts play more of a role with surface noise along with how clean the LP surfaces are..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABG Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 21 minutes ago, Hensa said: Well for me it's not always as price goes up as the LCR phono is certainly better to my ears than several more expensive stages with which I've spent time. In terms of where they get better, it seems to be a combination of soundstage width, depth and height, level of detail retrieval, and the realism of the tone. Having recently had the chance to have a significantly more expensive phono in my system on loan, the scale of the soundstage and the realism of the tone were the most striking improvements. Sums it up perfectly for me. The weird thing I've noticed is that something that sounds great in one system might not sound so brilliant in another. It's not always about what's 'better' but what works better with particular equipment. And there's only one way I've found to ascertain that - using your ears. Something that pairs well theoretically doesn't always practically. I''l let the boffins explain why. I just know what my ears tell me. @catman see if you can borrow a phono stage or two from nearby SNA'ers and see how they work in your system. Then come back and tell us what a better phono stage does for you (assuming you can borrow one that actually brings about an improvement). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman Posted October 7, 2017 Author Share Posted October 7, 2017 G'day all. ABG: actually as is often the case this thread was 'inspired' by one of the phono stages that I have but rarely use, for some reason, the ANT Kora 3T SE. It is the most expensive phono stage that I have and also has a very unique/individual sound that to be honest I didn't overly like initially, mainly because it was so different to the sound of your 'typical' phono stage. However with passing time, its dark/beguiling/romantic sound has become so appealing to me. It is an all FET design, an unusual design but also one that sounds so wonderful. It's definitely worth every dollar! Regards, Felix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 5 hours ago, catman said: G'day all, for those who buy their phono stages, a question please. As the price goes up for a given phono stage, what gets 'better' as far as sound quality is concerned? I really wonder about that. Regards, Felix. See Greg's response below, Felix. 4 hours ago, Hensa said: In terms of where they get better, it seems to be a combination of soundstage width, depth and height, level of detail retrieval, and the realism of the tone. I would add: and its intrinsic noise level and its head room (which affects how it delivers transients but also how it treats LP surface noise). 4 hours ago, sjay said: I think carts play more of a role with surface noise along with how clean the LP surfaces are..... For the same cart playing the same LP, IME the phono stage with the lower headroom (which is influenced by its gain and DC rail voltage(s) ) will display more surface noise than the phono stage with the greater headroom. 3 hours ago, catman said: G'day all. ABG: actually as is often the case this thread was 'inspired' by one of the phono stages that I have but rarely use, for some reason, the ANT Kora 3T SE. It is the most expensive phono stage that I have and also has a very unique/individual sound that to be honest I didn't overly like initially, mainly because it was so different to the sound of your 'typical' phono stage. However with passing time, its dark/beguiling/romantic sound has become so appealing to me. It is an all FET design, an unusual design but also one that sounds so wonderful. It's definitely worth every dollar! Regards, Felix. It's about time you got to work fixing your 'Phantom Audio' phono stage, Felix! Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman Posted October 7, 2017 Author Share Posted October 7, 2017 G'day mate, that's the next project on the cards. Regards, Felix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyr Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 4 minutes ago, catman said: G'day mate, that's the next project on the cards. Regards, Felix. Excellent! Good to hear, Felix. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 Given what little amount of stuff is in most phono stages, I would think that what increases the most (disproportionately to the increase in sound quality) is the profit margin. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gijo1977 Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 So, something I noticed for the first time the other night with my Graham Slee Accession M, the ticks/pops etc now seem to have a place in the soundstage rather than being a blot on the whole thing...... It made listening to the rest of the music much easier and way more enjoyable I can 100% recommend the loaner program as a way to do some comparison work and satiate your need for knowledge! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyW Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 (edited) On 07/10/2017 at 11:05 AM, Hensa said: Well for me it's not always as price goes up as the LCR phono is certainly better to my ears than several more expensive stages with which I've spent time. In terms of where they get better, it seems to be a combination of soundstage width, depth and height, level of detail retrieval, and the realism of the tone. Having recently had the chance to have a significantly more expensive phono in my system on loan, the scale of the soundstage and the realism of the tone were the most striking improvements. That's been my experience also. I'm in full agreement. I've a Valab LCR-1 on the way also. Will be interesting to compare with my Sheer Audio MM-88. I've also been very impressed by an old Realistic 42-2109 phono stage recently. Outperforms the Douk Tube Phonobox and can be found for as little as $60 online. Edited October 12, 2017 by MattyW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts