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Need to re-discover analog - please help

Like the short-sighted, lazy, modern moron that I am, I threw away all my LPs and turntable when I got hooked on my first decent CDP, a Kinergetics Platinum KD-40, 15 years ago. Because it was easier to take care of CDs. Now, my mother who was a musician, and had a classical collection of about 200 really absolutely great recordings, collected from the 1940s til the 80s, has left me her collection. They just have to be preserved, played and savored. I need an analog set-up that will a) do them justice and b) not sound noticeably "worse" compared to the digital set-up I am now used to. My analog set-up that I discarded (I know, I know.........please dont rub it in, what's done is done.) was a Denon 103D and Sony PS-800 linear tracking TT and also a Kenwood marble platter with SME tone-arm and also Denon 103 D cartridge and circa 1980 PS Audio MC phono stage.
The present system, to which must now obligatorily be added a turntable: EMM DCC2/CDSD; Atma-Sphere Line-stage MP-1 MkII, Atma-Sphere MA 2.2 modified (27 tubes each); Kharma 3.2; Indra Stealth i/cs; PAD Dominus i/cs and S/Cs (Rev C & B).

I tried MM cartridges before - Dynavector,Ortofon,Shure V15 iv - but only liked the MC Denon 103D - so would prefer that MC "sound".

I have not kept up with the analog market, nor new equipment, and am totally ignorant about the components but would greatly appreciate input as to what TT, tone-arm, cartridge and phono preamp to get that would neither bankrupt me nor do the wonderful collection my mother left me a disservice, nor my ear that is now spoiled by the pretty "good" digital, ancillary set-up I have. Nor, obviously, sound "inferior" to the CDs:)

What sort of a budget am I looking at to keep the system within the overall quality of the associated equipment that I have, without going crazy, since i will still mostly be listening to CDs (unless i get totally hooked and go bonkers..........)?

I listen to classical 90% of the time and 95% of her collection is classical.

As always, I appreciate your advice.
springbok10
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
Lugnut -- I may not have been clear: I wasn't referring to necessarily less noise/hum in the phono preamp itself. (My single ended unit is as "quiet as a chair.") I was referring to the noise/hum picked up by single ended interconnects vs. balanced interconnects. Particularly the run between the tonearm and the phono preamp; which is where most such problems begin.

Of course, having balanced inputs generally results in a better signal-to-noise ratio within the component as well.

.
lugnut
1,190 posts
 
Nsgarch,

The extent of what you say has not been lost on me. And, I do find this to be very interesting. I am not questioning that things can get better because repeatedly through my life in this hobby the performance bar has been raised in regard to state of the art. What really amazes me about this is the amount of information held within the grooves of old recordings. I can only afford to be a "trailing edge" kind of audiophile, buying gear later than the "cutting edge" audiophiles. With each improvement in my own gear I rediscover Louis, Ella, Duke and The Count. Just as I've experienced the positive effect of using a supertweeter (which makes little sense to me since I cannot actually hear what it's doing) and accept it in spite of my minds reluctance to do so, similar benefits of which you write are the only area I can imagine progress being made. I cannot hear any hum or noise in the single ended designs being used in SOTA analog today. Like I said "how black can black get?" My sense, based on high frequencies beyond what we can hear increasing the presentation in the supertweeter example, is similar gains may be had by employing true balanced design as you've described. I find it very interesting and hope that someday I'll be able to experience it. Good point, indeed.
springbok10 OP
711 posts
 
Thank you all for your input. I have decided to start "modestly" with my vinyl system, since I will only have 200 or so LPs of questionable condition (havent been played for 20 years, some of them)to start with, dont know if I will really get into vinyl again as I have with Digital, and being realistic, will have to spend $15K to match the quality of my main rig and CD source - no question. That's too many $$$ for an experiment.
But I have 2 smaller rigs, in my office, and my den at home, so sorry to bore you, but will have to ask again for recommendations, since the question is now easier, as I will plug the analog system into either (or each in turn) of these systems and see how it goes before possibly graduating into the big-leagues in the main rig. I also agree with the sage who said that no audio-nut will be content with a weak link in a good system. Office system: Denon APL 3910, Jadis orchestra Reference int amp, Merlin TSM-Mx speakers; Den system: Cairn Fog V2 with upsampler, Bel canto SETi 40, Proac S1 speakers.
Thinking of used Linn/Ittok arm/valhalla (on A'gon for $1290 with Denon 103 - waiting to hear which) and Phenomena/EAR 834P/or similar quality phono stage used which should all come to about $2-$2.5K, which is about what I wish to spend on this "experiment" with the above 2 rigs.
Any further suggestions/comments would be most welcome. I have saved all the suggestions in the event I do get into vinyl again and start collecting and listening big-time. But who knows, the above systems may just sound great, right?
lohanimal
659 posts
 
I have read a few of the responses, and have to agree in particular with Flyingrad. I haven't hear a teres in the UK, so I can't give an opinion.

With your budget You really have the pick of decks. I myself had a £7000 budget and bought an Amazon model one and am delighted - you can upgrade this to reference standard.

I must say though that hifi is like a car. However good it is you can get bored of the very things that you liked.

When I auditioned I listened to several decks: SME model 20/2a and model 10, the Platine verdier, the Clearlight recovery basic, the michell orbe, the nottingham analodue hyperspace, the Avid Acutus and the Volvere sequel, the dps, Rega P9, and VPI.

What I suggest is that you call some dealers, tell them your sytem, and ask them to loan a deck to you. If they say no, don't buy their product - simple as that. $15 big ones should buy good service in my view, and that's part of the deal.

I have heard that John RAskins the needle doctor is a big dealer in the states, and you should try him.

I must say that I envy your task, because it is great fun checking a lot of kit out!
flyingred
139 posts
 
I have now heard the Teres 200 series and the 360 (with Schroeder Reference/Koetsu Urushi) plus the Galibier Quattro Supreme with Schroeder Ref/Lyra Parnassus, Schroeder Ref/Denon DL-103R and Micro Seiki MX-282/DL-103R.

The Teres 265 is good, but on rock cuts the bass guitar leading edge was missing, giving the perception that the song was playing slow. The 360 had phenomenal spacial precision and detail recovery however I found the overall presentation somewhat bland and lacking pace.

The Galibier was simply stunning. It had amazing life and energy, deep extended bass, great timing, better information retrieval than the Teres - I honestly have never heard a better turntable.

My favourite combination was the Micro-Seiki/DL-103R which had tighter, better-controlled bass than the Schroeder, although I was assured that the Schroeder Reference excels on acoustic and small ensemble music. The DL-103R was in no way shown to be wanting by the Urushi.

As the MX-282 is hard to find these days, contemporary equivalents would be the Triplanar and Ikeda (built by the founder of Fidelity Research).
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