I have a Teres turntable, sorry i forgot to put it on the list above.
Also, i have the Stradavari Cartridge V2 cartridge now, i forgot that i upgraded that a few years ago. I shouldn’t start these threads from memory only lol.
Should I upgrade my phono linestage first or the tonearm for better results?
Hello all,
I am wondering if I would get more out of an upgrade to my current tonearm, the Graham 2.0, or should I switch out the phono stage AcousTech Ph1P? I am guessing about the same money either way, budget around $2500 for the upgrade. I would be looking to purchase used equipment on this.
Related components:
Clearaudio Virtuoso 2 cartridge
BAT VK 31SE preamp
Krell KSA 250 amplifier
Aerial 10T speakers
Graham IC70 tonearm cable
Transparent reference interconnects
Transparent Ultra MM bi-wire speaker cables
Thank you in advance!!
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- 21 posts total
OK. Thanks. My opinion is that you should save your $ and wait until you can commit more money to a substantially major upgrade. The Teres can take whatever arm/cartridge combo you throw at it and $2.5K would not (in my opinion) get you a real upgrade from where you are now (assuming this is $2.5K net of the resale value of whatever you get rid of). If you could go to $4K for example there is a Durand Kairos available at present, in other words I’d be looking at $6-8K arms, and commensurate cartridges and phono stages. Anything short of that you are going sideways, assuming that is you like the kit you have at present. If you really feed the need to upgrade at present then I’d invest in super setup tools like the SMARTractor, you save the difference and you have something that will serve you going forward http://www.arche-headshell.de/alignment-tools/smartractor/ |
I was thinking of trading up to the Graham Phantom Supreme arm, probably cost me 2,500 extra after I sell the 2.0 arm.... The Ph1p phono stage is worth about 700, if I sell it and go to a 3,500 dollar price range for that would it make more sense than the arm swap? I have been told that the arm going from the 2.0 to the Phantom is a huge improvement, but maybe not as much as the phono stage upgrade? |
Ok so seems you like the Graham line in which case going to the Phantom is probably the way to go. I'd think that $3.5K on the phono side does not get you to the ARC PH8 or Tom Evans Audio Groove + (to quote two great choices on the 'Gon both in the $4.5K range) that would be where I'd like to be -- the choices at $3.5K seems rather "meh" to me and I suspect you'd feel the upgrade bug soon again (of course that's just my opinion, I use the two above as they're both stages I have heard and like, I have not heard all the rest) In other words I'd optimize from the front end forward, you have the table, you have a pretty nice cartridge now optimize the arm and keep moving forward from that (I've always been a source first guy). I've always believed in pushing as far as you can afford on any one piece and then working on having the rest of the system catch up. It may be that at this point in time upgrading your phono to $3.5K would yield a better improvement than the same on the arm but it could be a dead end whereas the arm upgrade could carry you forward to $10K+ cartridges. |
- 21 posts total