@phill55 I think that your comparison between your old Linn and the new VPI is valid, BUT I also think that IF you had updated your Linn to a higher spec and replaced the Ittok, your findings would have swayed again to the Linn. Everything you describe in reference to the differences can be laid basically at the feet of the Ittok arm vs the VPI arm...IMHO.
audiophiles who are just getting the itch to upgrade
Hello, I am reaching out to the community of those audiophiles who are looking at this unprecedented time in our history to upgrade their components. Why? because we are now spending so much more time with our gear and looking for ways to improve it, because we can :-) My questions is this; if there was one component you could upgrade in my system, what would it be and why?
- Linn Sonedek LP 12 with Hercules board, Ittok II tonearm and Koetsu Black Cartridge
- Fritz Carbon 7 SE Speakers - http://www.fritzspeakers.com/DreamWeaverFritzCarbon7Mk2SpecPage.asp
- Audio Mirror Tubadour III NOS DAC with Miflex KPUC caps(courtesy of Don Sachs) and the Z foil resistors
- Cary Audio SL80- Signature 1 with VH audio Reference V-Cap CuTF output caps plus Cary volume IR upgrade and mains cap upgrades. Running Gold Lions KT88 matched tubes, Shuguang Treasure CV181Z - 6SN7 Pre-Driver/Phase Inverter tubes, Sovtek NOS 6922 Input Buffer Preamp tubes and WINGED "C" (SED) 5U4-G GREY PLATE tube
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Manley Labs Chinook phono pre-amp
- Cullen crossover series speaker cables and power cords
- ...
- 44 posts total
@phil55, Good to hear that you’re happy with the Carbon 7 se! I have a pair of the Carrera BE’s on loan right now and don’t feel they are forward at all, actually somewhat laid back in regards to the soundstage. Interesting that you had a different experience. The rest of your system looks great. I have Cullen Crossover Series pc’s with Analysis Plus Oval 8 speaker cables. I wonder if your silver plated speaker cables are accentuating the highs a bit; thats been my experience with silver speaker cables. I feel like the crossover series powercords do accentuate highs a little bit as well. I’m going to try to get ears on the Carbon 7’s here soon and hopefully some Rev 5 se’s as well. |
@snatex - after having played close to 20 albums comprised of Jazz, rock, blues, both simple and complex arrangements over the past week, theses are my immediate thoughts on the difference between my Linn LP12 and the VPI 3 Classic using the same Koestsu black cartridge. 1. I have a
FUNK FIRM - Achromat Platter Mat which came with the TT which may alter my review 2. The VPI is just quicker - the action of the cymbal is crisp and on time, the bass notes are clean and taught, the timing for the mid range appears to be much more in focus. Because of this quickness in the way the music is represented, my ears are able to sort out the different instruments in both simple and complex arrangements. The simple arrangements have a little more extra that is extracted from the voice or the sax - you can hear the resonance after the note. 3. There is a noticeable problem, well documented with the capacitor; when you go to turn the TT on or off, you have to either switch your input or turn down the volume - otherwise you will hear a very loud pop from your speakers. 4. The unipivot arm - it is not as easy to calibrate as other tonearms, people either love them or hate them - but I had mine set up for me with the cartridge and have had no problems. As for pricing - Linn TT in my condition with few upgrades is worth about $1700 - 1,900. You can find VPI Classic 3 in good shape for around $3,600-$4,000. So my net investment was around $2K - which was less than it would have cost me to upgrade my Linn TT with new sub chassis and Karousel bearings (around $3,500) not to include a potential additional Lingo 2 or higher power supply ($600-$1K extra). So I hope this helps
@snatex . Enjoy and keep on listening :-) |
- 44 posts total