Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

displayname said:
Sorry, I shouldn't have opened the political topic.

Just steer us back to normal things - I feel like I'm the only person in the world that doesn't instantly love the Hana ML. I'm trying to ride out the breakin period, and play with settings, but it feels a little sterile to me so far and is only rewording on the absolute best pressings and recordings.
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The ML had a longer break-in period for me than the SL. On a couple of my decks, the ML never did shine more brightly than the SL. I did find much better synergy with the ML on the Luxman knife-edge tonearm.

I still think the SL Mk 1 was the sweet spot for me. I'm not sure if the Mk 2 version will move it more closely to the ML's characteristics.
 
So, recently got a shockingly good deal on a pair of trade-in Verity Audio Fidelio. They're amazing, absolute endgame speakers for my wife and I. Hooboy, are they revealing, though. Exposed our amp's shortcomings, and I get the feeling they'll provide much more with a nicer cart than our aging Grado Sonata Mk. 1. Anyone have suggestions for cartridges that would match the Grado's musicality but provide more in the way of detail and refinement? CAD 1500 or less and not from an American producer (sorry, Grado), if you please. I've read some very positive reviews of the Charisma Audio Eco and heard that Benz Micro carts are quite musical. Otherwise, I am a bit directionless at the moment.
 
ZiggsMBK said:
So, recently got a shockingly good deal on a pair of trade-in Verity Audio Fidelio. They're amazing, absolute endgame speakers for my wife and I. Hooboy, are they revealing, though. Exposed our amp's shortcomings, and I get the feeling they'll provide much more with a nicer cart than our aging Grado Sonata Mk. 1. Anyone have suggestions for cartridges that would match the Grado's musicality but provide more in the way of detail and refinement? CAD 1500 or less and not from an American producer (sorry, Grado), if you please. I've read some very positive reviews of the Charisma Audio Eco and heard that Benz Micro carts are quite musical. Otherwise, I am a bit directionless at the moment.
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I was able to buy a really low hour Benz Zebra L for $1,100 USD. Great cart. Just save a search on Higi shark and allow them to notify when there’s a listing.

Congrats on your new speakers.
 
Any experience here with the VPI Prime Scout? TMR has one with a Hana SL. Both have about 200 hours on them. It seems like an absolute killer deal and they are hooking me up due to some shipping damage on the face of one of the speakers I just got. Top notch company right there. Made me a fan for life.
I'm 95% on that VPI. It seems pretty end game for me, unless I somehow come into a much higher budget for this stuff.
 
SMeekWoodworks said:
Any experience here with the VPI Prime Scout? TMR has one with a Hana SL. Both have about 200 hours on them. It seems like an absolute killer deal and they are hooking me up due to some shipping damage on the face of one of the speakers I just got. Top notch company right there. Made me a fan for life.
I'm 95% on that VPI. It seems pretty end game for me, unless I somehow come into a much higher budget for this stuff.
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If you can swing that and a decent phono in your budget then it seems an absolute no brainer! That’s endgame level stuff right there.
 
Ok guys, opinion time. My buddy is looking to upgrade his table from a base model Fluance. He's looking at the Rega Planar 3 RS vs the new Pro-ject XA B. I know that Planar 3 RS has some really nice upgrades that are taken from the higher model tables, and it's got the nice burly outboard power supply and a great great cart included and it's gotten exceptional reviews. It's my pick, but he likes the acrylic design of the XA B. Anyone have any opinions? I know @Ed Selley loved the RS, Ed any chance you've heard the XA B?

For the record in pretty firmly in the Planar 3 RS camp on this one in terms of quality. All except for the look of it which isn't really my thing...
 
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The Project has decent reviews, but I believe it will require scrupulous care to maintain it’s look. That level of care would be okay maybe for the first 6 months, but likely would become a burden beyond that. It also may not be able to accept normal “unbalanced” MM carts, which limits cart options. The Pick It PRO stylus has a unique style; I imagine it will be harder to find than a typical 2M stylus and I don’t know if it’s compatible with the red or blue styli.

The Rega is proven to have superior performance over many tables in this range while retaining great resale value.

Edit: The Pick It PRO has a bonded elliptical stylus. It’s likely the same as the 2M Silver with Project branding.
 
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Angsty said:
The Project has decent reviews, but I believe it will require scrupulous care to maintain it’s look. That level of care would be okay maybe for the first 6 months, but likely would become a burden beyond that. It also may not be able to accept normal “unbalanced” MM carts, which limits cart options. The Pick It PRO stylus has a unique style; I imagine it will be harder to find than a typical 2M stylus and I don’t know if it’s compatible with the red or blue styli.

The Rega is proven to have superior performance over many tables in this range while retaining great resale value.

Edit: The Pick It PRO has a bonded elliptical stylus. It’s likely the same as the 2M Silver with Project branding.
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Yeah the unbalanced mm cart question is the big one. I cannot imagine that's the case because if so you literally can't buy any MM carts for this table. I don't see them limiting it to only their one balanced MM cart, the only one that like exists on planet eart-...

GENIUS!
 
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