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Best phono for a Merrill MS2/Triplaner/Ort. AC90 ?


Thanx in advance for any opinions/feedback.

I have a Merrill MS2 table with a TriPlaner 5 arm and an Ortofon AC90 cart. that I have been using back and for between my Lehmann Decade and Fosgate Sig. phonostages,
all through an MBL reference hardware and speaker setup with a Wireworld Plat. Eclipse rca cable to pre.
Both phono's are VERY admirable in their own right with the typical compromises between tube and SS.
I'd like to sell them both and take it to the next level.

Does anyone have any real experience with a table setup similar to this, or how to kick things up to the next level considering the MBL stuff is not always the friendliest gear to team up with other gear?

A friend of mine had allowed me to demo a JENS phono with a system extremely similar to mine and it was truly phenominal- really, but it is a rarely produced product and I am weary of long term issues with it.

Any feedback with phono's in the 8-15k retail range might offer a significant improvement? I'm not weary of a higher end tube phono assuming it can keep the bass somewhat under control.

Thanx,
Jackaroe
128x128jackaroe

Showing 1 response by grubscrew

grubscrew
8 posts
 
I would say the Whest PS.30RDT Special Edition OR MC REF V MK4 depending on budget.

They are both stunningly transparent, musical and highly detailed buit not analytical. They are extremely popular in Europe and Asia but not so in the USA because of their ex-distributor I expect, but things are changing.

I have tried loads including the H3000 which was not a patch on the Special Edition. I found the H3000 was good if you like tubes, sounded a tad tubey to me and that was confirmed when I compared it directly to the Special Edition.

But the question to what is best? If you like the tube sound then go tubes but if you want to hear what vinyl sounds like without the typical hum and hiss you get from many stages, look at Whest
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