Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

I would not recommend the Parasound Zphono at $229. It's not a *bad* unit, but I do think there are better choices at the $300 price point. I used a Zphono USB for a couple of years as my first external phono but was not feeling great about it (or vinyl). I was much happier when I was able to find a favorably discounted Sutherland Insight. I'd choose the Cambridge Audio, MoFi, Graham Slee or Musical Fidelity over the Parasound. If you have aspirations to test out MC cartridges, the Hagerman looks quite interesting.
 
dbarila said:
Ok. Seems my Mani is on the fritz so I'm on the hunt for a new preamp. What's my best option in the $300 range? Mofi Studio? Darlington MM-6? Other?

I did audition the MM-6 on the tour. It was impressive but I feel like it was weak on the bass compared to the Mani.
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I have the LX2 LPS. Really like it, and it was a big jump over the internal pre in my Onkyo. If you get a better power supply you can get it to run in an EPS mode (enhanced power supply) that makes it sound even better.
 
Ghost said:
My favorite part is where he says "There is no noticeable difference between this and the Fluance RT85 when using onboard pre-amps", just $800 or so. Thoe RT85's have bang for the buck!
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They really do. And they haven't raised their price. Can't think of something else at that price I'd recommend over it. Hell, even a lot of the more decked out Orbits are over $500 now, aren't they?
 
Has anyone ever had experience with both the Cambridge Audio Duo and the LX2-LPS. The duo appears on almost every "best preamp" list (take they for what you will) and it's at the bottom end of my budget. But people sure when to love their Music Fidelity too.
 
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dbarila said:
Has anyone ever had experience with both the Cambridge Audio Duo and the LX2-LPS. The duo appears on almost every "best preamp" list (take they for what you will) and it's at the bottom end of my budget. But people sure when to live their Music Fidelity too.
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#2 on both lists here
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Best phono preamps 2024: budget to high-end, tried and tested

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Best Phono Preamps of 2023 | The Master Switch

See our guide to the best phono preamps of 2023, with reviews of top preamp stages from Chord, Pro-Ject, PS Audio, Schiit and more.
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dbarila said:
Has anyone ever had experience with both the Cambridge Audio Duo and the LX2-LPS. The duo appears on almost every "best preamp" list (take they for what you will) and it's at the bottom end of my budget. But people sure when to love their Music Fidelity too.
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If you trust @HiFi Guy , then you should probably avoid lower end Cambridge Audio gear
HiFi Guy said:
I wouldn’t touch another CA product with a ten foot pole. And @ZiggsMBK said the one he auditioned didn’t sound good either. The phono stage I had did sound good (for what it was- a $200 phono stage) until it self destructed. So there’s two customer data points for you.

But @displayname likes his CA music server. To be fair, it’s a much more expensive piece and a lot of digital gear sounds very similar- the difference in much of it is cosmetics and the user interface.
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HiFi Guy said:
I’m the same as @Angsty. I also am very picky about azimuth.
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...which in turn opens up the "level your turntable" part of the formula. And hear me out here, if you check your azimuth with a bubble level and your table isn't level, your azimuth is off compared to the platter.

While leveling your table would be the best course of action, using a tool like this at any point will give you an accurate azimuth against the playing surface...............put the tool on the platter, not the record ;)
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AnthonyI said:
...which in turn opens up the "level your turntable" part of the formula. And hear me out here, if you check your azimuth with a bubble level and your table isn't level, your azimuth is off compared to the platter.

While leveling your table would be the best course of action, using a tool like this at any point will give you an accurate azimuth against the playing surface...............put the tool on the platter, not the record ;)
View attachment 128931
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You are measuring VTA there. See the blocks in the middle of the gauge? Put that section in front of the cartridge to check azimuth (left/right tilt) and make sure it’s level.

You can have your platter perfectly level and still have azimuth off. In fact, I’ve never seen a table come out of the box that had perfect azimuth.
 
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