Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Musical Fidelity - LX-LPS MM/MC Phono Preamplifier CRYO (Black)
www.musicdirect.com
Don’t both of those only have one output though?
Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice
- Thread starter Joe Mac
- Start date
Don’t both of those only have one output though?
I knew this was gonna be the answer.
At 50% off? Yep. It’s the answer!
You can get Y cables. I can’t think of any quality phono stage with two pairs of outputs at this price range.
AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
At the risk of losing a possible sale, lol, I'll say this. The MoFi is rock solid, you wouldn't be disappointed at all.....but the Musical Fidelity is paring quite nicely with my NAD, I gotta be honest. So if you want to save $100 to put towards something else, the MoFi will fit the bill, otherwise go with the MF
I want to add this as well, and I had this conversation with @HiFi Guy last night, both units are great, I'm liking the sound signature from the MF a little more, but I'm one who likes a warmer sound.
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Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
At the risk of losing a possible sale, lol, I'll say this. The MoFi is rock solid, you wouldn't be disappointed at all.....but the Musical Fidelity is paring quite nicely with my NAD, I gotta be honest. So if you want to save $100 to put towards something else, the MoFi will fit the bill, otherwise go with the MF
I want to add this as well, and I had this conversation with @HiFi Guy last night, both units are great, I'm liking the sound signature from the MF a little more, but I'm one who likes a warmer sound.
Those musical fidelity are great phono stages, I love mine and from what I’ve read that one is built using the same principles/designs but with features pulled out to reach the lower price point. I’ve been reading that swapping the wall wart for a linear on mine raises the performance again so I’m eying an SBooster which I shouldn’t buy, because budgets but...
AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
I'm a fan
I just always want to be careful recommending things, because we all don't use the same "universal ears", price points aside, there is no denying what sounds great to one person, can sound awful to someone else. I have one little.........ok, big, problem, lol. I like hearing things for myself, reviews and opinions are fantastic, especially from someone you trust, but hearing is believing when it comes to audio gear.
I'm fortunate that @HiFi Guy seems to have the same taste in "sound signatures" as I do and I've also heard his system, so when he says "This would work nicely" I take note, lol. That $300-500 price point has some real hidden gems in my opinion, it's just a question of trying them........both of these particular opportunities are just great at the "offered" price point right now
.................the multi-pronged, USB wall wart did throw me off on the MF, lol.
dropsonde
Well-Known Member
Appreciate the recommendations.
Newbie question but I’m assuming I’m Ok plugging in the RCAs from the outboard stage to the phono input on my amp with the built-in phono stage? Or do I need to go through a different input so they’re not daisy chained?
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
That is the only one to not plug it into! Basically a tt puts out a low level output and the phono stage applies an amplification curve to the signal so it’s at a level for an amplifier to use. If you plug a phono stage into a phono input you are applying that twice and it will cause a horrible distorted sound. You plug it into any other RCA input on your amplifier.
dropsonde
Well-Known Member
Ah yes, makes sense. Thanks.
Bummer that this won’t leave any spare inputs on my small amp.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Does it have any digital inputs? The Sonos has digital outputs for streaming. Btw the connect has been discontinued, a replacement product called the port has come out. A CD player should also be able to be connected using digital inputs.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
So your amp does have digital in. It has one coax and one toslink. You can connect the coax out on the Sonos port to the coax in on your NAD amp using a coax digital cable. If you select coax on your amp it will act as a Sonos zone. That leaves the toslink digital input free for the future if you ever want to connect a tele or CD player etc using an optical cable.
dropsonde
Well-Known Member
Great solution. Looks like the Port only has one input so there wouldn’t be a usable input there if I use it for the phono stage. (I like the aesthetics of the Port a lot more than the Connect!) So your solution makes a lot of sense. I’m really only looking to connect a CD player — my A/V setup is in a different room. Any other digital sources could go through the Port.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Yeah the port is basically a streamer for a hifi. It’s designed to allow you to allow the Sonos eco system to an existing hifi. As a bonus it has the input to allow you to connect a tt to it to steam to the rest of the house so it would never have had more than 1 input. The connect was the same. What you want is a y splitter out of the back of the phono stage with one set of cables going to the port’s input and the other going to the NAD.
I must say I quite liked the connect’s looks when it came out as the zone player but it’s nearly 10 years old now and the port is defo a more current design!
displayname
Well-Known Member
I haven't owned either, but I've seen and demoed both in a shop. In my opinion, yes, the G is worth the upgrade. Literally every element of G looks and feels more premium. It's very hard to tell in photos, but side by side in person the G looks heavier, feels better built by just the cue level and the ton arm. You can tell the entire thing is more premium before you even spin a record. From a technical standpoint, I think the arm alone may be worth a big chunk of the price difference.
AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
I thought you had given these a test run when you were looking for your TT
displayname
Well-Known Member
I think I should point out as well that I think the G customer is a different customer than the GR customer. I think the price separation is far enough that very few people land in the middle so to speak.
I know you mentioned the Soundsmith in your initial post, which is the right approach in my opinion. I think if you're getting into the G, it's plan should be to live in a higher end system. Maybe you're there now, maybe not. But if you're going G, you're likely going higher end carts, higher end phonostages, higher end amps and speakers.
Sure the GR could live in a system with a $20K+ amp/speaker combo. Or the G could live in a system with a $5K amp/speaker combo. But this is where the system synergy comes in. In the higher end system, the GR would become the weak link... likely the arm more than anything. But in more modest (but still expensive system) you're likely not untapping the full potential of the G.
So when you're debating G vs GR, I think you should consider where it's going to live more than anything. Decide based on your full system synergy, not just the cart. If we need it very bluntly and in black and white, I probably wouldn't consider the G unless you're also considering $1K+ carts, $2K+ phonostages, and appropriate high end cables. So if you're ready for the vinyl section of your system to approach $8K or more, then the G would be worth your while. But if you're sticking with $1-2K max carts and $2K or less phonostages, then the GR is probably the more appropriate pairing.
Not saying you'd need all that gear now with the G, it'll last ages. But if you think you're ultimately moving that way, then I'd give the G a hard look.
I’ve heard the original Nova integrated with the vacuum tube buffer. Nice preamp but the amp section was weak.
Given the tables you are looking at, you might want something a bit better amp wise. I’d think a GR/Audio Technica ART9/Sutherland Insight as a front end.
The ART 9 would be on my list at its price if I weren’t on the Grado train. But seeing as how I can get a $1000 Grado Statement Master for $600 when my Statement Platinum is worn, I’ll likely not stray from the fold.
That said, I really liked my A/T OC9 II when I had it. You won’t see anything bad about the ART 9 anywhere.