Need a cartridge and phono preamp reccomendation

well Thanks a lot for the info this completly chages my approach, Pardon my ignoranvce but what brand is ARC?

will a CJ pv-10al be good enough of a preamp upgrade?

thanks again

ARC = Audio Research Corporation, one of the venerable names in high end audio.

The c-j PV10AL does not include a phono stage. In c-j speak any preamp with an "L" in the model # means line stage only. You'd want a PV10A or PV10B from that series to get a preamp with phono.

Note: the typical c-j phono stage has ~48db of gain vs. your Bellari's 30db. Less strain on the phono stage and it makes the line stage's and power amp's jobs easier too. It could even handle those HOMC's I dissed. ;-)

"Good enough?" FWIW the PV10 was a similar vintage to my PV11 but was priced at $995 vs. $1895 for the PV11 (1990 dollars). The circuits were similar (eg, zero feedback) but some PV10 components were less high end (eg, caps, resistors, connectors) to hit the price point. I haven't heard one so can't say how it'd compare to mine or yours.

You can see details of all c-j models, old and new, on their website.

When we bought our PV11 (in 1991) we A/B/C'd with an Adcom preamp and a Sonographe (entry level c-j, solid state). The Sonographe trounced the Adcom. The PV11 trounced the Sonographe. Of course my present preamp trounces the PV11 - it never ends!

There are other brands besides these two of course. It's not like they're gospel. Hopefully others will chime in, or you could start a thread on the preamp forum and get additional suggestions.

Totally agree with the PV11. It is the one component that I sold and regret doing so. Moved up the Premier 16 but for a second system...

Uru975,

I understand your regret. Our current preamp runs rings around a PV11, as it should for $12K, but that c-j made music we could always listen to. It just refused to do anything ugly. It's sitting on a shelf but we just can't bear to sell it. It was our first piece of high end gear. Sniff! ;-)

Heh. I slipped the PV11 into the system while my partner was at work, then spun up a familiar record while he was cooking dinner. He came flying out of the kitchen, "What did you do? That sounds incredible!" LOL.

The joke was on me though, I bought it for his birthday. :-)

Ok got a Conrad Johnson PV2A! (quick tests the kids were asleep)sounds very good!
I am seriously considering the AT-150MLX or the Nagaoka MP-50
Update! My dad Gave me a Monster cable Alpha 1 MC he had for a while I would need a steup transformer and would rather not go the MC route based on what I read, I might end up auctioning it off to offset the cost of my new cartridge

thanks again for pointing me to audio heaven, any additional advice is truly appreicated..