Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

HiFi Guy said:
It’s my understanding that they operate at a loss, made up by federal funding.

The industry standard in this situation would be to pay the carrier $150 or so and the carrier finds another load. The USPS is the only shipper I know that pays the carrier the full agreed upon rate to haul “sailboat fuel”.
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Yup
 
displayname said:
VC-S2 ALU.
I was between that and the VPI 16.5. Based on all reports, the VPI may have a stronger motor, and be a little faster as a result. But the platter-less design sold me on the Project.
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You know what's funny, the full platter is what sold me on the VPI...........I always had this vision of scrubbing and or pushing down on the LP too hard on the platter-less design and cracking an album.
 
I could use some pointers from this camp.

I’d like to take my plunge into the MC world sometime in the future and have been looking at the Hana SL and know I’d need a SUT based on what I currently have.

I do have my Lounge LCR (upgraded to Gold) and have no real qualms with it so I was thinking I could get the Copla step up and be on my way. My other thought was whether it may be more beneficial to upgrade my phonostage and make the jump into MC land. I’d like to stay around the $2k budget if going the new phono route and open to buying used as well. I’ve been eyeing Parasound JC3+, Sutherland 20/20, Luxman e-250, Lehman Decade, and Black Ice F159. Part of what my question would be is if any might be overkill based on my current setup. Open to exploring other options as well - both SS or tubes, from what I’ve seen all things Sutherland are highly regarded here.
 
AnthonyI said:
You know what's funny, the full platter is what sold me on the VPI...........I always had this vision of scrubbing and or pushing down on the LP too hard on the platter-less design and cracking an album.
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I get that. I mean logically scrubbing that hard with or without a platter might be causing other issues, but I get it. Especially with a Mofi style brush. But using the other style brushes it seems like it would be difficult to cause that issue with any normal force.
 
DoubleM said:
I could use some pointers from this camp.

I’d like to take my plunge into the MC world sometime in the future and have been looking at the Hana SL and know I’d need a SUT based on what I currently have.

I do have my Lounge LCR (upgraded to Gold) and have no real qualms with it so I was thinking I could get the Copla step up and be on my way. My other thought was whether it may be more beneficial to upgrade my phonostage and make the jump into MC land. I’d like to stay around the $2k budget if going the new phono route and open to buying used as well. I’ve been eyeing Parasound JC3+, Sutherland 20/20, Luxman e-250, Lehman Decade, and Black Ice F159. Part of what my question would be is if any might be overkill based on my current setup. Open to exploring other options as well - both SS or tubes, from what I’ve seen all things Sutherland are highly regarded here.
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The advantage of the Copla is that the gain can be adjusted to whatever MC cartridge you end up with. Usually when you have a step up transformer (SUT) you match that to the cartridge. Change cartridges and you might need a different SUT as well.

There’s one dud on your list- the Luxman. I’ve owned one and it’s a dog. Also, it’s the least configurable on your list when used with MC cartridges.

I don’t see any of the others as overkill. Any will scale with your system as it evolves over the years.
 
DoubleM said:
I could use some pointers from this camp.

I’d like to take my plunge into the MC world sometime in the future and have been looking at the Hana SL and know I’d need a SUT based on what I currently have.

I do have my Lounge LCR (upgraded to Gold) and have no real qualms with it so I was thinking I could get the Copla step up and be on my way. My other thought was whether it may be more beneficial to upgrade my phonostage and make the jump into MC land. I’d like to stay around the $2k budget if going the new phono route and open to buying used as well. I’ve been eyeing Parasound JC3+, Sutherland 20/20, Luxman e-250, Lehman Decade, and Black Ice F159. Part of what my question would be is if any might be overkill based on my current setup. Open to exploring other options as well - both SS or tubes, from what I’ve seen all things Sutherland are highly regarded here.
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tmraudio.com

Sutherland 20/20 MM / MC Phono Preamplifier; Silver

Buy, sell, and trade thousands of pre-owned audio gear. All tested, certified, and backed by our 100% Happiness Guarantee, with expert HiFi guides to help you at every step.
tmraudio.com tmraudio.com
 
HiFi Guy said:
The advantage of the Copla is that the gain can be adjusted to whatever MC cartridge you end up with. Usually when you have a step up transformer (SUT) you match that to the cartridge. Change cartridges and you might need a different SUT as well.

There’s one dud on your list- the Luxman. I’ve owned one and it’s a dog. Also, it’s the least configurable on your list when used with MC cartridges.

I don’t see any of the others as overkill. Any will scale with your system as it evolves over the years.
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That makes a whole lot of sense to me. Ultimately I’m still very happy with my Lounge Gold and have had nothing but good dealings with them in my upgrades. The fact that they’re only about a half hour drive from me is big too.

While it is fun to chase and research some other gear I don’t feel like it’s a necessity at this point to fully dive in there just yet on a pricier phonostage and then potentially still need to get a SUT. It seems like the Copla might be my best move forward.

Interesting on the Luxman though. I’m still intrigued a bit on Black Ice f159 with the two other Jolida/Black Ice components that I have now.
 
DoubleM said:
That makes a whole lot of sense to me. Ultimately I’m still very happy with my Lounge Gold and have had nothing but good dealings with them in my upgrades. The fact that they’re only about a half hour drive from me is big too.

While it is fun to chase and research some other gear I don’t feel like it’s a necessity at this point to fully dive in there just yet on a pricier phonostage and then potentially still need to get a SUT. It seems like the Copla might be my best move forward.

Interesting on the Luxman though. I’m still intrigued a bit on Black Ice f159 with the two other Jolida/Black Ice components that I have now.
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The F159 looks interesting indeed when you factor in the azimuth adjustment function.
 
DoubleM said:
That makes a whole lot of sense to me. Ultimately I’m still very happy with my Lounge Gold and have had nothing but good dealings with them in my upgrades. The fact that they’re only about a half hour drive from me is big too.
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If you ever end up upgrading and wanna let that go, gimme a shout! ;)
 
DoubleM said:
That makes a whole lot of sense to me. Ultimately I’m still very happy with my Lounge Gold and have had nothing but good dealings with them in my upgrades. The fact that they’re only about a half hour drive from me is big too.

While it is fun to chase and research some other gear I don’t feel like it’s a necessity at this point to fully dive in there just yet on a pricier phonostage and then potentially still need to get a SUT. It seems like the Copla might be my best move forward.

Interesting on the Luxman though. I’m still intrigued a bit on Black Ice f159 with the two other Jolida/Black Ice components that I have now.
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I have the Gold Note PH-10, which provides a lot of options (multiple gain and impedance settings, and even a choice between multiple
EQ curves). May not meet your needs (have to admit I haven’t necessarily read all of the relevant posts), but thought I’d throw it out as another option for consideration.
www.goldnote.it

PH-10 | Gold Note

PH-10 is an ultra versatile phono preamplifier with unique features, including EQ curve, load and gain adjustment: a fully analog design crafted with the best components to recreate the musical event in the most natural way possible.
www.goldnote.it www.goldnote.it
 
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