$800 Cartridge Shootout and Upgrade Path

Raul,

I think I have already stated what you have now just posted. Yes, the cartridge is important. I am not sure that anyone here is disputing that. But the turntable and tonearm are also important too, just as you have said.

Here is what I said 15 days ago when this tread first began:

>>It may be a little strange that I have decided to start with the cartridge, but I believe it's the cartridge that has the biggest impact upon the sound of an analog front end. That is not to say the turntable, tonearm, and phono preamp have no influence because they certainly do. But I feel the cartridge and its requirements need to be considered first, like speakers, before the rest of the analog system can be chosen. For example, the choice of cartridge influences the choice of tonearm. The tonearm needs to have the proper mass to be compatible with the compliance requirements of the cartridge. Moreover, the arm has to match the turntable and work well with it too. So all these components have to be chosen carefully and balanced in order to get the best sound possible.<<

So you see you and I are not that far a part, and in fact I think we are saying very much the same thing.

Rushton and Dan_ed,

Thanks for the recommendation, but the Aesthetix Rhea is a little beyond my budget.

The Rhea is a great phono stage; there’s no doubt about that. How do you like yours? Do you notice any tube rush? How is the top secured to the chassis? The Stereophile review talked about heavy-duty Velcro being used instead of screws? Is this true? And then there are all those tubes, ten in all, right? Wow. I wonder how much that costs to retube the unit. I also noticed that the output impedance of the Rhea is a little on the high side, measuring 2K ohms across most of the audioband, according to Stereophile, and rising to about 3K ohms at 20Hz. My line stage has an input impedance of 25K ohms, which may create some compatibility issues, namely reduced bass output. Ideally there should be at least a 10-to-1 ratio between input impedance to output impedance. The 3K ohm rating is a little marginal for my Klyne.

Art needs to answer the question, too. It's not a trick question--and Raoul unknowingly starts answering it...

Artar, I'm pretty happy with the Rhea. When I was looking for a phono stage upgrade I had the Rhea and a BAT VK P10SE on the short list. Both are very good sounding units and I could be happy with either. Karma decided for me when a Rhea should up for sale that was within driving distance so that is what I ended up with. I'm an engineer so please forgive me if the following description of my impressions sounds a bit dry and this is also the first highend phono stage that I have had any long term experience with. The Rhea brought more of everything into my analog system. More highs, lows, dynamics. It was the bass improvement that I noticed first. The Rhea is also very quite. Some might find the sound a tad bright, but that will vary from person to person. It is a very good match for my VK 50SE which has 100Kohms of input impedance. BTW, that 10x thing is a rule of thumb, not a law of physics if you catch my meaning. The numbers for your system are close enough that only a listen in your system would allow you to know for sure. I do believe that as I continue to put better components in front of the Rhea that it will not get in the way and really allow differences to show.

Yes, the Rhea uses Velcro to fasten the top. This is actually a pretty good idea when you consider how much easier it is to roll tubes with a top that quickly lifts out of the way. The unit is a bit heavy so it would be a pain to lift it out of the rack and have to mess with screws to get the cover off. I haven't gotten to rolling in better tubes, which would probably help with the somewhat bright presentation. I want to get to know the sound with just the stock Sovteks. I do notice a rush when the needle is lifted as the circuits unload but I don't hear anything that interferes with my enjoyment of the music.

My previous phono stage was a fully modified EAR 834P, a very solid performer for the money and perhaps you could investigate that unit as a candidate. I recommend the basic unit without volume control. I had about $1000 into mine including the mods. I did have both phono stages in my system for a few weeks so I could really judge the difference. The EAR was noisier than the Rhea and sounded subdued and rolled off at both ends but the little guy made a good showing.

50% is on the record. It contains only vertical information, when it is stationary. The turntable provides all the time-domain information, as it spins the record under the stylus.

In addition to the time-domain issue, the turntable provides some other extremely important attributes, without the proper function thereof, the cartridge cannot work up to its capabilities. This would relate to the main bearing's ability to maintain stability in the lateral plane. If the main bearing allows movements to occur within it(from vibration or other sources), the platter can be moved microscopically laterally, and therefore influence the critical juncture of the record/stylus contact. The record information contains modulations on the order of angstrom measurement. If the main bearing allows the platter to move, even slightly laterally, this will cause some of the record information to pass under the stylus without deflecting it(therefore losing information), or cause the record information to pass under the stylus and deflecting it too much(therefore causing overmodulation). Both of these conditions cause our cartridge to not perform as intended, regardless of how great the cartridge is, or how perfectly it is matched to the arm. No turntable does this function perfectly, as yet. The better turntables will allow the cartridge/tonearm combination to perform at a better level, because they are presented with the record information from the groove in a more stable manner, both vertically, horizontally, and in the time domain. Without this proper stability of the record groove, no stylus/cartridge can work at its best, and therefore will perform at less than what was intended. To get the best information retrieval from any cartridge you select, the record groove must be passed under the stylus with the most stability possible, in all three planes: vertical, horizontal, and time-domain(speed). Then the tonearm and cartridge combination can begin to do their work properly. Without this, they will never even approach their potentials. And this is why the turntable must be considered primary in the order of importance in the analog chain. Notice I did not say that it is the only important thing. Simply that the foundation must be laid before the roof goes on.