Cartridge and step up / riaa for TW Acustic Raven

OH, in your opinion, well that makes all the difference. Don't forget as you get older in life your hearing starts to decline, for some more, rapidly than others.
The total price of the Shilabe is less than half the EXTRA mark up on the ZYX Omega, that you carry and sell in North America. That is to name just one of the overpriced phono cartridges you carry.

Hi Toffeng,

I have heard the Aesthetix Io and an older version of the Rhea as well as various Naim phonostages. The Aesthetix Io, in its various iterations, are very nice sounding phonostages, though they can be a bit noisy, particularly if asked to work with very low output cartridges. The Rhea I heard (in a dealer's system I was very familiar with) was a quite different sounding unit. To me, in the particular system I heard it in, it sounded a touch brittle and more like solid state electronics than tube.

I've heard both the cheaper and the top of the line Naim phonostages in a friends system. I don't like the lower end phonostage because it has a somewhat "dry" sound (it is hard for me to describe the sound, it is more a personal response to certain solid state gear), and has an edginess to the attack of the note that makes everything sound a touch mechanical and artificial. But, the top of the line phonostage is an entirely different matter. It has far less of the kind of unpleasant qualities of some solid state, delivered all the harmonics of complex music correctly, and delivered the kind of dynamics and punch that Naim fans like while minimizing the "mechanical" qualities of the Naim sound. I heard it attached to one of the better Naim power supplies, so, in that configuration, it is quite an expensive phonostage.

Among the not so high priced cartridges, I have heard, and liked, the Transfiguration Phoenix and the Ortofon PW. Both are not as warm and rich sounding as the Koetsu cartridges, but, I suspect they will be a nice match for your system.

Hi!

Thanks! Have any of you listened to PS Audio GCPH Phono Preamplifier? It has received very good reviews and the price in Norway is not bad at all. And its versatile too.

Cheeers, ToffenG

Toffeng,
yes I had a GCPH a while ago for some two odd years when I sold it again --- and it is good value for money no doubt.
You will have to spend quite a bit more $$$ (in my estimate as some others have it) in order to get better, --- and as always there is of course.
Also, as you say it is a rather convenient unit.
The "B" rating by Stereophile goes fine in my experience.
Axel

Toffeng,

No I have not heard the GCPH. I should add another comment about the Aesthetix Rhea. The dealer who had the unit in did not do any swapping of tubes, so I probably did not hear the Rhea at its best. I don't know of a single piece of tube gear that did not require some experimentation with tube choice to match a particular system and to otherwise be at its absolute best. It is impractical for a manufacturer to use anything but current production tubes (availability and ease of supplying replacements), and it does not make sense to supply expensive tubes when the particular system needs of each customer will vary significantly. This is the inherent nature of tube gear.

I am sorry if I gave too negative an opinion about the Rhea. I should know better after hearing so many tube stages that dramatically improved with a different set of tubes (e.g., the Tron phonostage, Hovland phono stage built into their linestage). My own phonostage (Viva Fono) sounds very different too, depending on tube selection.

Of the solid state stages I've heard that are not way up there in price, I would suggest looking into the Tom Evans stage. I only heard it briefly, but it sounded pretty good. I've heard the not too expensive top of the line Sutherland phonostage. It sounded reasonably smooth and musical, but, I thought it was a touch dynamically polite with a cartridge which is far from that (Lyra Titan).