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question about ss or tubes

So right now the sound I'm getting is wonderfully enveloping and fills my little space up with the music.  The music has reasonable amount of depth it images beyond the edges of the speakers and sometimes sound comes from behind me or right next to me. However I know I'm missing some detail and it has me contemplating a phono stage and I'm just wondering would I lose what I have going to solid state in order to get detail or is it possible to keep this spacious floating sort of presentation with something like a Sutherland 20/20 for example. On a side note I'm getting some new power tubes for my amps so I think this should help with my detail but my question is still does solid state do this sort of presentation or is not a ss or tube question at all but a system room synergy thing that causes this.

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fourwnds's avatar
fourwnds OP
277 posts
 
Thank you for the compliment and I can't say I haven't thought about the cart myself. Out of curiosity I auditioned the Dyna 12d3 I think it was. It's the one that has the super short diamond cantilever. That went into one of Bobs devices. I had no expectations but I could not believe how badly it sounded. Like nails on a chalkboard, detailed yes, but noisy, brittle. I wasn't sure what to think. I set it up carefully. I'm a complete noob with mc. That was my first try. I was thinking that it might have been because my system is tuned around the Grado and maybe that's why.
 A 12au7 in the linestage went out recently and I'm currently running from the tape outs of the Quick and into a passive that has brought about a nice degree of refinement and detail. It is one of the reasons that has led me to really consider what a less long in the tooth more modern option might be able to wring out of the grooves without losing the essential character of what I love about the sound. If I did go for a cart change given some of the background, any ideas? The Grado is gonna need retipping or exchanging in the not too distant future. 
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,856 posts
 
Grados do fine with detail- just like any other cartridge, care and feeding is important (IOW they have to be set up properly).

When was the last time you got the tubes tested in your Quicksilver? Maybe they just need replacement?
marktomaras
544 posts
 
I experimented with tube rolling, but after some frustrations, I went back to the Audio Research chosen tubes.

bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 

However I know I'm missing some detail and it has me contemplating a phono stage and I'm just wondering would

I am just wondering how you know (& it seems you know for sure) that you are missing details in the music? "Details" in music is not necessarily a good thing - it could be distortion masquerading as details.

The loss in "details" could be due to any number of things such as distortion in your front-end components & distortion from your loudspeaker.  

 I'm just wondering would I lose what I have going to solid state in order to get detail or is it possible to keep this spacious floating sort of presentation with something like a Sutherland 20/20 for example

The other assumption I read here  is that it's your belief that only s.s. gear can give you details & that tubed equipment is incapable of doing so. It's a very wrong assumption.... Medium-priced tube gear is very capable of musical & satisfying playback. The key is to find the least distorting equipment at your price-point for every component in the signal chain. Tedious work, for sure, but the end result is worth it.... 

fourwnds's avatar
fourwnds OP
277 posts
 
Atmasphere, no I haven't. I don't have access to that type of equipment personally. I am just waiting to take the pre in to get looked at for something. It does seem to be using 12au7's too quickly. Last 2 years I've put 2 in. I could probably have this person check the rest of the tubes at that time. Thanks for your prompt on that. 

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