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Help me pick a phono, pre and cart

Hi all,
My WF spending restraints are going away so I’m going to upgrade my system.
I primarily play CD, but also have an MMF-5 with Glass platter, Golding GX1022 cart going through a Clear Audio Nano to Ayre Ax-7e to Sig 2 Ce’s.

This year I’m going to Quatro CT’s and upgrading my vinyl pre and source side. Next year I’m upgrading my main pre and power amp.

I’m looking for help in picking a phono player pre and cart. My musical taste is pretty wide: female vocals, rock, blues, jazz; not much classical on vinyl. Think Amy Winehouse/Cold Specks/Pixies/Weezer/Jeff Beck/Johnny Winter/Winton Marsalis and Maynard Ferguson for you other old timers. LOL
My budget is about $8-10k

Right now my main thoughts are VPI Prime Scout or Prime with Grado Statement series cart, and an Ayre Px-5e pre.
In addition to specific item recommendations, I’m very interested in how to split the budget item wise. In other words more or less on player vs cart vs pre, I.e. Scout with Statement2 or Prime with Reference2 for example. Or go higher than 20-30% on the pre?
I lean towards spending the most on what’s least upgradeable - sorry if that’s too general or obvious.
Thanks much
Jim

jetson
bpoletti
1,556 posts
 
@rauliruegas I'll continue to enjoy the reproduction of phono I hear through the Herron Audio VTPH-2a.  I have heard too many ss designs that sound harsh.  I will leave you to listen to your favorite ss phono stage.  Good luck.  
exron
111 posts
 
Check out the Perreaux phono pre-amp, it sounds better than the parasound units that are made in china. I know because I heard them both & I'm now the pround owner of the Perreaux  Audiant VP3 phono stage.
professorsvsu
78 posts
 
I recently started a thread concerning the Herron VTPH-2A that I purchased and would like to interject  my two cents again . I use an AT-ART9 cart and Avid Diva II SP TT with an SME 309 arm. I've listened to vinyl for more than 50 years and have never heard vinyl playback as good as my current set-up can produce. The VTPH-2A pulled everything together in an unbelievable way. Does it have tubes and do tubes "color" sound? Yes and yes. But there's a reason some prefer the Mona Lisa over a photo from a smart phone. One represents soul and character while the other is an accurate digital representation. The Herron is designed and built by master artists with genius level expertise of what makes music a dynamic, emotional experience - it's soul. All too often solid state equipment can measure up with specifications, but can't quite get it when it comes to putting a smile on your face or a tear in your eye.
If you wanted to risk the VTPH-2A and a cart like the AT-ART9, I don't think you'd be disappointed and there would be enough left over in your budget for a good TT.
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atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,014 posts
 
boulder, Vitus, EAR, Lamm, Nagra, Parasound, Ayre, MBL, Music Reference/Berning, Air Tight, Atmasphere, Audio Research, C&J, Aesthetix, BAT, Audio Note, Levinson, Krell, SimsAudio, Pass, Sutherland, Halcro, Dartzeel, Einstein, Rogue, FM Acoustics, Manley, Cary, Classé, CAT , Doshi, Herron, Rowland, Crown, Mckintosh, Wavac, VTL, Chord, Linn, Moscode, Vac, YBA, Burmester, Threshold, Hovland, Denon, Luxman, Accuphase, Gryphon and many other that scape to my memory.
This statement is misleading. If Raul heard one of our preamps it certainly was not one made in the last ten years (and as you might expect, we've made improvements in that time, some of the most dramatic changes that affected the phono circuits only in the last three years). This causes me to put this list under suspicion as it strains credulity.

Tubes exist these days only for audio, and really for nothing else. That is what keeps the tube industry alive.
To make a tube preamp get the same sort of noise floor as solid state, you have to do similar things that solid state designers do- many use differential circuits as they are lower noise; tube circuits can be built that way with similar benefit.
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