2. analog
  3. 135066-90127

Ugraditus is calling....again. Phono stage?

There is likely nothing wrong at all with present phono stage but you know how it is.

Present analog front end consists of.

Nottingham Analog Spacedeck with Spacearm.
Shelter 501 mk3 cartridge with maybe 250 hours on it, regularly treated with Lyra.
Dynavector P75 mk3 phono stage.
Feeds into Lyngdorf 2170 via Nordost Red Dawn RCA cables.

My thoughts were that possibly the Dynavector is the weakest link and would pay most dividend on an upgrade but.....

What do I perceive I am lacking right now?
Really hard to say as this is highest quality analog front end ever owned.
Possibly lacking a little in sheer scale and dynamics? Bass is very very good, instruments are well separated and defined.
Just as an overall presentation I feel it lacks that final wow factor as a whole.
Not sure if that makes any sense?
Please comment honestly especially if you feel it is another area that may reap larger benefits. Or if should just leave well alone....lol.

Oh btw I am fairly sure it is setup correctly in regards to vta etc, at least to the best of my abilities right now. And yes setting it up correctly from initial purchase did make considerable gains in sq.
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analogluvr
859 posts
 
 I agree Kevin and his products would be strong contenders in my mind. I personally purchased a heron phono stage years back and have never once again ever contemplated changing. Which is unusual for me. But if Al  says there may be matching issues then that is a strong consideration as well as Al always gives the most honest helpful answers out of everybody on the gon. 
 Keith Herron is also known for is honesty so you may do well to give him a call as he is very accessible.I have had an Allen Wright vacuum state product in the past,  his full function preamplifier the svp2 and while it was very good it was not in the league of the Herron. Perhaps not a fair comparison  as it was a full function preamplifier compared to a standalone phono stage but it is what it is 
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
Very happy with the gold note so far, may have gone with one of the earlier suggestions and possibly have been dissapointed if not for Al and his impedance matching observations.
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
@analogluvr, thank you kindly for the very nice words.

BTW, your comments about the Herron phono stage in past threads were prominent among those which led me to become yet another very happy owner of a VTPH-2 a couple of years ago.  Thanks for that as well!

Best regards,
-- Al
 
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
The Herron VTPH-2 certainly sounds like a great stage and along with Keith Herrons very honest upfront attitude even though it cost him a potential sale, if I ever changed my amp to something that had an impedance match I would consider the VTPH-2 very deeply.
Thank you all!
rsf507
2,347 posts
 
uberwaltz is there anything that you dont like about the goldnote? I'm waiting for my unit to ship.
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