What to upgrade to?
I would like to thank everyone who has participated on my thread. There were alot of great suggestions. I was pleasantly surprised that there were a few who has heard my speakers and know of Dale's work. After listening last night I can reaffirm the the Intuitive Design speakers are extremely good. I have decided to upgrade my cartridge and see how that upgrade works before looking at anything else. Perhaps a serious cartridge upgrade will be all that's needed. |
@bobheinatz, FYI - Soundsmith has most of their upper line cartridges on sale 25% off, https://elusivedisc.com/search?search_query=Soundsmith. A nice benefit of Soundsmith is their ability to rebuild the cartridge to near new many times at a fraction of the new-cost, and the rebuild is a new stylus-cantilever-suspension. Makes those retirement $$$ go further, if the cartridge sound is to your liking. I heard a direct comparison between their top of line Hyperion vs a Lyra Etna - same turntable & arm (VPI HW-40) and all the same electronics (CAF-2018) playing a Louis Armstrong record. The Lyra made Louis Armstrong sound like he was playing Aspen, CO (crisp dry air) while the Hyperion sounded like he was playing in New Orleans (thick humid air). They both sounded great, but it all comes down to your taste. Otherwise, I own the Soundsmith Carmen and Paua, and these tend to be a bit sultry which is my preference, whereas the Sussurro and Hyperion is said to be more detailed. The web has review of just about all their cartridges. Good Luck, and remember, every change that you make to your system makes what is old new again, and when retired you should have more time to listen. So, maybe if you budget/stage your 'improvements' you can keep that journey going throughout your retirement for many years to come. |
Time for one of the fantastic new $10,000+ phono cartridges. With your system you could really unlock great sound with something like an Ortofon MC Anna Diamond. The other thing - it's sacrilegious - a great new streamer and DAC. Your budget would get you some great "analog sounding" digital gear. And with Tidal Masters or Qobuz Studio you'd have a chance to listen to everything new BEFORE buying it on vinyl. Which is the best way to do digital. |
