Repair vs. upgrade?

Posted by CometCKO (A) on July 23, 2012 at 13:53:35

In Reply to: The weakest link? posted by zutroye on July 22, 2012 at 11:38:42:

First thing is to check that what you've got is operating correctly. Almost every time I've had a friend with poor-sounding vinyl, it was due to poor setup, or stylus wear. So you've got to be CERTAIN that those things are good before investing money in upgrades.

Modest gear can sound quite wonderful. My daughter has a Rega like yours, with a vintage integrated amplifier and an old pair of KLH speakers (and a modern subwoofer for Rap), and her system is the envy of her dorm-mates.

Anyway, if everything is up to snuff in your system and not borked, your upgrade path should probably include better amplification and maybe in the future some better speakers. But not until you are REALLY sure that the cartridge/stylus is OK, and the setup is spot-on. Small adjustments here can make a HUGE difference in your sound quality. I'm just aayin'

If it were me, I'd lean towards getting a good phono stage, or even a full-function preamplifier if your current receiver can function as an amplifier-only (it should have preamp inputs to do this). For instance, I've seen the very nice Audible Illusion Modulus preamp going used for around $500 or so, and that has a very nice sounding phono stage in it, as well as producing quite a nice sense of "you are there" for other inputs as well. It is not a bad building block for upgrading other aspects of your system too. You could add a decent amp and speakers as you can afford them.

If you are less suspicious of your receiver than I am, you could go for a dedicated phono stage, such as the Graham Slee, or the PS Audio GCPH which are also a quite nice sounding units near your price range. A phono stage would be plugged into your receiver as a high-level input (like a CD player), and I'm sure it would do better service than the Onkyo for that weak little phono signal coming from your cartridge.

But if I were a betting man, I'd bet you need repair/setup more than you need new equipment. You might not end up having to spend much at all to get great sound!
"Knowing what you don't know is, in a sense, omniscience"

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - The weakest link? - zutroye 11:38:42 07/22/12 (21)

Onkyo AVR phono sections - Macromusic 18:30:55 07/24/12 (1)

RE: Onkyo AVR phono sections - zutroye 20:07:58 07/24/12 (0)

RE: The weakest link? - zutroye 19:12:50 07/23/12 (4)

BTW - mark111 16:11:45 07/24/12 (0)

Cambridge phono is good for the money... - kuma 21:19:52 07/23/12 (2)

Agree (nt) - mark111 15:41:06 07/24/12 (0)

RE: Cambridge phono is good for the money... - 6bq5 12:06:11 07/24/12 (0)

Repair vs. upgrade? - CometCKO 13:53:35 07/23/12 (0)

RE: The weakest link? - jupiterboy 08:21:13 07/23/12 (0)

RE: The weakest link? - vinyl survivor 17:16:53 07/22/12 (0)

RE: The weakest link? - welly 16:15:28 07/22/12 (0)

RE: The weakest link? - Hi-Fidelity 15:26:52 07/22/12 (4)

RE: The weakest link? - zutroye 16:58:02 07/22/12 (3)

6 year old cartridge? - kuma 19:53:22 07/22/12 (2)

RE: 6 year old cartridge? - zutroye 20:43:05 07/22/12 (1)

If you allotted 500 bucks.... - kuma 21:41:38 07/22/12 (0)

Phono pre - mark111 14:30:07 07/22/12 (0)

RE: The weakest link? - Cuernavaca 14:09:13 07/22/12 (0)

I'm not an expert but - newdreams 12:19:59 07/22/12 (0)

RE: The weakest link? - musetap 12:04:36 07/22/12 (1)

RE: The weakest link? - zutroye 13:52:36 07/22/12 (0)

Follow Ups

Repair vs. upgrade? - CometCKO 13:53:35 07/23/12 (0)

Repair vs. upgrade?

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