Posts: 164 Location: Central CA Coast Joined: April 5, 2005
Today I replaced my aging cartridge, the Clearaudio Aurum Beta S, with the Shelter 501 Mk III. So happy! Huge, huge improvement. I had forgotten that MC cartridges could be very, very special. Thanks to the guys at Audio Element in Pasadena, CA.
Largest improvement? Lots of folks believe, posted on July 31, 2015 at 14:28:06
Posts: 15387 Location: canyon country califiornia, orig from buffalo ny Joined: June 9, 2000
congrats on going to a top tier store. maybe brian doesn't have the $100k clearaudio tt on display but he can guide you into some exceedingly great systems. he certainly has picked up the torch from his father Brooks Berdan. Brooks would be considered the friend of anyone who got to know him and his expertise was of the highest caliber.
my personal best improvement came when i snagged an Audio Research SP3a1. the difference between IT and my previous preamp, the adcom gfp 565, was jaw dropping. it completely undid my expectations from tubed electronics. i expected the soft top, squishy bottom, and juicy midrange but instead got dead flat frequency response seemingly from DC to Daylight, dynamic range that was unprecedented in my system, tonal coloration that was dead on, plus soundstaging and imaging that i had only dreamed of before.
it delivers the goods right on through the adcom 555II amp which holds up WAY better than their preamps. its a good way to go with tubes in the front end and ss in the drive.
enjoy your new upgraded sound, it is certainly gratifying to make a purchase like that.
...regards...tr
RE: Largest improvement with one purchase, posted on August 1, 2015 at 07:02:58
Posts: 418 Location: Phx, AZ Joined: September 11, 2004
I moved from the same cartridge to a used Shelter 901 and it was a big upgrade. Congrats on your and I hope you enjoy.
My largest one item upgrade was changing the Rega tonearm on my Basis 2000 to a Basis Vector 3 tonearm. It was astonishing. Everything was better, but in particular the imaging and focus went from MIA to great.