Recommendations for MM Phono ~ Tube or Solid State

Pindac, Please show me where to buy an Essential 3160 for $2500. I see that there was one on US Audiomart for $3K and sold.  I'd actually consider a second unit. They are quite rare, probably more rare than a Vendetta by John Curl.

@lewm I have been watching the market over a period of time wondering if one had been exported to the UK. During this time I have seen a few histories for the Essential 3160 being sold, where it has been with a price of US and Canadian Dollars, where it has been $3K and less.

Keep an eye on the Market as a upgrader to the 3180 might just dump the Phon' to get the deposit for the new item.

What caught me out is that certain US Brands in Phonostages and Amp's that are imports to the UK are discovered to be heavily discounted when ending up as sale items in the UK used market, using the US used pricing for the 3160, I suspected the same Phon' discovered in the UK as a used sale would not stretch a budget much more than £1200. Such a price to have access to such a Phon' would suit me just fine. I can then put a face to the name, and learn how much spoken about is actually backed up by the device performance.  I would be left with an interesting option, where I could pass the device on to a EE Friend who specialises in Phonostage designs, to see what could be done to modernise the Phon' and maybe eek from it an end sound more attractive to my wants. I could also ask the same individual to investigate a Valve Circuit to be inserted to see what can be achieved. I could also cut losses and happily sell on as a quick sale, most likely incurring a loss, if all was not with an attraction to my tastes, and use the remuneration of monies to get back on track with other very attractive SS Phon's known to me and proven attractive through mt already experiencing them in use.

Additionally, if a £1.2Kish purchase was enough to steer me away from considering my other options on attractive in use SS Phon's, then I would be better off financially by sticking with the Essential 3160 at an approx' £1.2K option, even though as a design it will be obsolete and superseded by the other designs available today.

 I have direct experiences of hearing Modwright and VAC equipment that are both Amp's and Phon's that were bought in the UK as a used item with a cost that was less than 50% of the used item Value it was seen to be selling for in the US.

@lalitk I picked up the Solo that I previously put 200 hours on for my dealer, so I know it well. I had my Zero installed at the same time, so I did a lot of A/Bing. I ran the Solo through a Supratek Cortese LCR high gain phono, and the Zero through the ETR- Mono SUT and Tektron mono MM phono, so it wasn’t a super controlled comparison, but did reveal enough for me to make the switch.

In a nutshell, the Zero sounds wonderful but, to my ears, the Solo edges it out with more detail and air at the upper end. I suspect two reasons for that… fine line stylus vs conical, and the low internal impedance design of the MSL cartridges.

What sealed the deal for me was dipping my toe in the SUT waters recently. My stereo phono had been high gain for a very long time, then I gave a Fonolab Pacto a go with my MSL Signature Platinum and was blown away. I remembered what I liked with Solo so I asked Jan at Fonolab if he could build a custom mono Pacto (1/2 Pacto) for the Solo. He loved the idea, so here I am.

"Modernize" the 3160?  The original is barely 10-15 years old. Not much has happened in audio electronics in those years.  In fact, the bipolar transistor that Raul et al use in the MC gain stage is out of production and was not replaced by anything as good or better for the purpose, probably because transistor evolution is not motivated by the design and build of phono stages. To tube-ify it would be an absurd notion. Let me know if you find one for sale in the UK for 1200 GBP.

@worksbau 

Thank you again for sharing your impressions of MSL and Fono Lab SUT. I do believe adding customized SUT’s would optimize performance of both carts. Your post has been most helpful and inspiring. I am few months away from everything coming together singing in perfect harmony.