Air Tight PC-1 Coda and more options to upgrade my analog setup

The Manhattan Phono is totally different. The Phono add on alone is nearly as expensive as the Brooklyn (which I also own and also find it a bit cold). I’m going to see if I can try out the Luxman and compare side by side next week. 

Just to make sure you understand what people are telling you -- the cartridges you are considering are not a proper match to your tonearm and they are overkill for your phono stage.

I suggest you simply move up the Rega scale.  Start with an Apheta 2 cartridge and try it with and Aria phono stage.

I understand the feedback here yes. I am going to wait to see what the new high end Rega tables are before moving on that. I highly doubt the Rega Phono stage will hold a candle to the Manhattan Phono stage. (Look it up if you haven’t). That said, this is why I am considering the Luxman. I don’t want to half ass the upgrades. The Luxman is a class A component that I can audition and I have access to high end cartridges to audition on the same setup. The main thing I am waiting on is the TT. This is intentional. For cartridges, I don’t want to upgrade another $1000 every 6 months. I do hear loud and clear the TT and cartridge may not be matched. This is why I posted. This is good feedback to do more research and listening. 

I probably should have researched the Manhattan phono first too ... Lol.

It does seem as it should be fairly capable of holding its own until you hit serious phono stages and may let a better cartridge shine.

It's a tough world out there and trying to make the right decision both system wise and financial can be hard.

Of course you are always going to get conflicting opinions and views, human nature.

Good luck with the journey.

I’d like to echo these opinions:

I wouldn’t put an $8500 cartridge on a Rega

the cartridges you are considering are not a proper match to your tonearm

Rega tonearms are not a great match with low compliance MC cartridges, and the lack of easy VTA adjustment makes it difficult to optimize the VTA, which is crucial to getting the best from your cartridge.

The Luxman EQ-500 phono preamp is a great sounding piece of equipment.

I’ve never heard the phono card, so can’t comment, but it’s basically impossible to build an add-in card which performs to the standard of a dedicated phono stage. Hence I think that auditioning some top flight phono stages is even more important than chasing a new cartridge.

Along with the EQ-500, which is superb, I’d suggest you listen to the EAR 324, Manley Steelhead, ASR Basis Exclusive High Voltage and Air Tight’s own ATE-2 + ATH-2/ATH-2 Reference step-up. Or, if money’s truly no object, Air Tight’s new ATE-3011 + step-up and the Allnic H-7000V.
I’ve not heard the last two, but the five former phono stages are the finest I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to.

From the PC family I’ve heard the PC-1 and PC-3, but none of the others. Fabulous cartridges and one thing that’s certain is that I would never put one on a Rega, be it an arm or a turntable. These cartridges really want a high mass design and a medium/heavy or heavy arm to shine at their brightest. High mass designs are generally also low fuss designs, so that shouldn’t be an issue. Personally I heard the PCs on a Nottingham Analogue Dais with a Kuzma 4Point, which to my ears was a match made in heaven.

There’s no shortage of high mass turntables, but my two favourites are the aforementioned Nottingham Analogue and Acoustic Solid. Obvious medium>heavy tonearms to partner them with for use with a PC-1 might be the Kuzma 4Point, Origin Live Enterprise or Agile, Helius Phaedra, Thomas Schick or the Dynavector DV-507 MkII.

Anyway, that’s my 7 or so ¢. All in my subjective opinion of course.