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Suggestions For Analog Upgrade - Tonearm or Phono Stage?

I'm thinking about planning my next upgrade looking for suggestions as to where to get the most improvement for my investment. With champagne taste and a beer budget, I'm definitely interested in used/demo gear.

Current analog setup:
Sota Nova VI table w/vacuum, Eclipse(Condor + Roadrunner) motor controller/tachometer & mag-lev bearing
Audiomods V tonearm with micrometer and silver wiring from clips to RCAs
Nagra BPS battery powered ss phono stage
Dynavector XX2 mk II cartridge

This feeds into:
BAT VK51SE linestage
Krell FBP-300 power amp
Soundlab A3 electrostatic speakers

I've been pretty happy with the Nagra and certainly appreciate their battery-powered implementation that gives me the advantage of being off the noisy power grid, while not suffering the limited dynamics that much battery gear has. But I've always been romanced by a quality tube phono stage. RFI interference in my former locations always led me back to SS phono to eliminate the noisy headache. Now I'm located where that may not be an issue.

One the tonearm side of things, I do have an option to seek an Audiomods upgrade to Series VI, which replaces the aluminum drilled armtube with a new carbon armtube. It also adds a new anti-skate methodology reportedly more stable and user friendly than the older style "fishing line & weight". This route would be low cost, but entail cross-continental shipping and the associated wait times. 

Any plan to replace either piece would be funded from sale proceeds plus a modest incremental investment. That translates to phono stages selling for used at $3K-$4K or tonearms selling used at ~$2K-$3K. Which component would you expect to make the bigger improvement in this system and what specific models that you've heard would you recommend? Cheers,

Spencer

128x128sbank
sbank's avatar
sbank OP
3,379 posts
 
Thanks for the responses. 

@markusthenaimnut, yeah I'd expect the Shelter 901 to be much better than a 17D3. I've owned a 501mkII in the past which was decent on a Nottingham Space Deck. But the XX2 is at a completely different level.

With the depreciation of cartridges, I'm more inclined to stick with mine until after moving up on both phono stage and tonearm. When I do, I'll be biased towards brands with trade-in options vs. the 3rd party re-tip route. I know that's a controversial subject, but IMHE, many re-tips lose some of the characteristics of the cart's original performance. Cheers,
Spencer
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
Here's what I would do.  Take $4k from the phone stage and $3k from the tonearm and get an Allnic H3000 used phono stage (tubed bliss) for probably 7 grand.  Then save your money and do the tone arm the next time you have some disposable income.  

sbank's avatar
sbank OP
3,379 posts
 
@mijostyn,

Yeah, the 4Point and the Schroeder CB both would be great if I could find the right deal. I've recently seen offerings for Schroeder Model 2, but I'm not quite as pumped for that model.

I'm rarely enthusiastic about newer brands and those with a smaller following. Over the years I've learned that many of those lead to big losses when reselling down the road. I'd be hesitant to pull the trigger on a Helius even if I knew it to sound great, which I don't. 

The SME V is a safe choice, holds it's value and is known to be a great match, but I'm not thrilled with the lack of adjustments relative to these other great arms. 

Are you of the opinion that updating the Audiomods to Series VI would yield only a modest enhancement, not worth the time and effort? 

On subs, no thanks. I've heard subs w/Soundlabs and as not wanting to derail the conversation, let's just leave it at pros/cons to doing so. A Swarm might be worthwhile sonically, but wouldn't work in my space.

Cheers,
Spencer


sbank's avatar
sbank OP
3,379 posts
 
@cerrot thanks for the suggestion, which I like, and sorry if I was unclear, but the Allnic would be about double my budget. Cheers,
Spencer
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
@sbank , yes, you are right. The Schroder Reference and Model 2 are interesting arms but not my cup of tea either. They are his earliest designs. I agree also on the Helius. Small companies have a habit of disappearing. However a well made arm should be essentially immortal. Value depends on what the mythologists do with it. The SME V does just fine without those adjustments. 

Updating the Audiomods arm will not change it's basic problems. You have to get the center of mass of the cartridge and the center of mass of the counterbalance in the same plane as the vertical bearing to achieve neutral balance. You can't get the vertical bearing down at record level without severely messing up your VTA. If you have not watched this yet please do.  It is a great primer on turntable and tonearm design. I only disagree with Villchur's  position on anti skating.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rgK0YMsJXM

Spencer, it takes a big leap of faith and you have to take a deep dive into digital territory but you can create an incredible system putting subs under Sound Labs. It is not a swarm system but it will require at least 4 individual subwoofers. If you are ever in the Boston area I'd be happy to demonstrate :-)
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