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.
128x128uberwaltz
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@uberwalts the trick is that you don't have to pay VAT when the item exporting from EU to some other countries like USA for example. Shipping is 70 euro max. Italian shops are official re-sellers and they have warranty from the manufacturer. My rpice was 630 Euro + 70 for shipping.     

Best euro price I could find was €799.90 so by time added shipping and rate change not a massive saving for what would now amount to a "grey import".
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
@rsf507

Still expensive for a power supply upgrade but wanted the matching unit.

Normally a power supply is just an adapter, usually made in China and looks just like a cheap $20 black plastic box. When i replaced a power supply for my $500 Grado phono stage i paid $170 including shipping from USA (if i remember correct) just for a conventional power adapter, it wasn’t made in USA or Europe, it was made in China or Taiwan.

The Gold Note power supply looks exactly like the Phono Stage itself in a very expensive and nice looking metal cabinet. Made with top quality parts in Italy. Significant upgrade for the phono stage.

It’s not cheap, but i can’t remember any High-End components for cheap, especially power supplies.

Some power cables cost more than Gold Note Power Supply





uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
I did check Italian supplier Chakster and that is where I got the €799 price.
Definitely could not find the price you are referring to.

Do you remember the exact supplier?
rsf507
2,350 posts
 
www.soundsofsilence dot. com
robelvick's avatar
robelvick
619 posts
 
A member I know got a great deal on a lightly used ph10 and psu10 together.  They had owned just the ph10 previously so had some baseline to compare. Their thoughts were it helped a little but might not be worth an $1100 purchase as an upgrade.

Hey, I think that's me!!  I bought my PH-10 and PSU from Canada.  Corby's audio?, or something like that.

When I did the quick A/B with and without the PSU, I had about 75 hours on both units.  There was a difference, but it was not huge.  However, this was about a month ago, and have since put at least another 50 hours on them.

I did test it again this past weekend, but only to test noise:

 PH-10 setting was for MC, and without playing anything, I would turn the volume up on my PS Audio preamp, gradually until I was able to hear any audible hiss from my speakers at my listening position (7 feet away).

 PS Audio preamp (0 -100 volume is displayed) it took to 48 to hear hiss with the PSU, and only 31 without the PSU.  Nothing extraordinary technical about this test, but found it very interesting nonetheless.
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