2. analog
  3. 1386017368

Dialing in analog front end

I have put together a den system that consists of a Audio Refinement Complete integrated, Joseph Pulsar monitors, Sony X77ES transport, Krell dac. It sounds balanced and pleasing and I was so impressed that I purchased another VPI Traveler for vinyl. With no phono stage in the integrated I popped in my NAD 3i, a budget amp by any means. My problem is that the difference between the digital front end and the turntable is like night and day. The volume when playing turntable is half that of the digital and appears thin and veiled when compared.
Is this strictly a result of the NAD phono? and, if so, will moving up to a Jolida JD9 solve my problem.

I have had a Traveler in another system with a CJ-pv 10 along with the Sony X777ES transport/ Krell dac and analog was at least the equal on some and better on most music.

How do I get the Traveler to sing like it should with the AR Complete and the Joseph monitors?

zenblaster
kiddman
341 posts
 
What is the output of the cartridge you are using? Is it a lesser cartridge than that of your other system?
sbrownnw
693 posts
 
My guess is that while the CJ phono stage is better than the NAD 3i and assuming that both phono stages are operating correctly, it will mostly come down to the cartridge by considering:

- are the NAD 3i settings correct for the cartridge you are using
- brand of each cartridge on each Traveler
- cartridge setup differences (problems?) between each Traveler
sbrownnw
693 posts
 
Hit submit too soon, last thing to consider:

- something is defective on the new analog rig (cartridge, tonearm wiring, interconnects to AR, etc.)
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