Best and Worst Upgrades

There are some very interesting comments here and after reading through the thread I realised that my speakers had been in situ for about 5 years, The positioning was fine but they had not been disconnected since they were set up all those years ago so I followed the unplug and plug recommendations (after switch off!!) to clean the contacts.

So the NBLs had a much needed clean up of the input and the connections to the HF, mids and bass units. The result was at least a black box upgrade and a half. Cost = zero, result amazing.

Now to check the torque of the units.

FF

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Best was 500DR it has really made my Castle Harlech speakers sing.

A Rega Aura phonostage was an amazing upgrade on my Hana Umani on my Rega P3 deck.

Going from a NAC 92 to NAC 112 was another huge uplift

BEST - Synergisitic Research, Naim chips, NAC A5, Audiophilleo, Nova, CDi, 72/140, CDS2/XPS Zenith.

WORST - Fraim, Witch Hat Phantom, Snaxo 2-4/250’s

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Blimey.

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In my years of Ownership, have to thank Mrs D and @Cymbiosis for all the demos

to this owner the below

LP12

JAW DROPING
TA Stiletto
Ackrate 1 to Kilmax 2

BIG
Cirkus to Karasouel
Kore to Keel
Lingo 4 to Ackurate 1

VERY GOOD
Ittock VII to Ekos SE
DV journey 10x to 20x and now XX2
HCDR / NAIM Pre Fix to Linn Urika

MAIN SYSTEM

BIG
200 to 300 and then 300DR
HCDR to SC on 282
NAC journey 202 to 282 to 252

VERY GOOD
Quadaspire Q4 to FRAIM
Titan audio leads
Chord GROUND Array
B&W 805N to Kudos Titan 505

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Worst update: remote control — didn’t improve the sound even a tiny bit… :roll_eyes:

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I have to ask, why such an expensive cartridge on such a “cheap” table? Either got a deal or plaining on a significant upgrade in the future? As a previous modded RP6 owner, I can say that it wasn’t getting everything out of what the SL cartridge could offer, I now have the ML which is a rather large step up, so I can’t imagine how much a P3 is holding back a Umani. One would think if you like Rega, a P10 should be what your looking at for that cartridge.

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I listen to a lot of vinyl and after a lot of research and finding source first thinking reading this forum went with the best Hana I could get.My P3 has the RB300 arm which is very very good.
My next upgrade will be a power supply for my P3.

Source first is a good way to look at things but for vinyl, the cartridge alone isn’t just the source the table & phono stage also play a large roll in that. My advise if you really want to see what that cartridge is able to do, don’t waste any more money on upgrading the P3, your money is far better spent on upgrading the table. A better table will have a large impact on sound, as I said that level of cartridge deserves a P10. With a P3, it will be holding back the cartridge so much that the difference between a SL, ML & Unami will likely be rather small (at least significantly smaller then vs a table that is able to actually extract what each of those cartridges can offer)

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Hi @pinkers1 - I am not surprised the 500 was such an ear-opener!

As an ex-RP3 owner in the dim and distant past ( it was and remains great VFM), I too would expect you to really hear what your cartridge can do on a better turntable.

On the other hand, if it is satisfying to your ears and if you don’t want to consider options atm, I am not sure I need to try spending your money for you.

Good listening!

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:drooling_face: :drooling_face: :drooling_face:

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Huh?

Let’s have a go then…

Mega
Hifi in the house - Log cabin in garden
NAC92/90 - NAC52/250
NAP250 - NAP135s
Valhalla - Lingo1
Just adding an NDX
Spending on hifi upgrades - Spending on Motorbike adventures

Really good
Lingo1 - Lingo4
Pre Cirkus - Cirkus/Majik
Cirkus/Majik - Karousel/Kore
Troika - DVK17D3 Karat
Naim cards - Prefix

Ok
Joke baseboard - SRM Tech Silentbase

Pointless
Flatcap on NAC92
Flatcap on CD3.5

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My LP12 is up-to-the-minute upgraded and sits on rubber feet on sand in a wooden box - sounds great and no feedback.

If it works, it works!

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Worst - adding 250dr to uniti star, virtually no difference at all

Best - adding nac282 + hicap dr to the above, probably bigger difference than eventually replacing the uniti with a new ndx 2

Average - Powerline on the star and now ndx

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Worst is recently. DS 10 streamer. Absolutely top notch sound virtually unusable with the supplied app. It could be used as a roon end point, I don’t want roon. I’ve relegated it to bedroom duty and set it as a squeezebox device. That way I can use the sqbox remote.

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Worst - Full fat Fraim with chips.
Best - Chips under my Focal speakers.

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Presumably as opposed to having the hifi in the garden and the log cabin in the house?

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Surely there is a “sense of solidity and a tightening up of key strokes along with unrivalled weight and authority” with the R-Com. Of course all this is dependent on a suitably robust coffee table and sufficient grip strength to get the most from it. :slightly_smiling_face:

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