HiFi Priorities - What Next, MC or Speakers?

Hi-Fi Corner
21

FWIW until recently I had a P6 c/w Ania MC feeding in to a Uniti Star; initially I used an Arcam rPhono phono stage but was never impressed with the sound; I then bought a Rega Fono MC and the difference was huge!

2 Likes
22

Thanks for sharing your experience. It stands to reason that the Ania and Fono would work well together given the genesis of the products. It sure is tempting to try.

1 Like
23

Thanks. The comparison between the StageLine and Fono is valuable feedback. I can’t help to gravitate towards the StageLine based on my emotional attachment to Naim but your feedback is consistent to everything I’ve read.

I’d love to try an Aria some day but I think it will be down the road a ways.

1 Like
24

Thanks for your feedback. To be honest, your account of the AT cartridge setup is enough to push me away from that approach. It’s not necessarily that I prefer a convenient approach but the thought of modifying the TT with tonearm and lid spacers doesn’t sit well with my OCD.

Again, it doesn’t sound like the Ania Pro would disappoint…

1 Like
25

Thanks. I guess it would really depend how much of your listening was on those 300 records :wink:.

2 Likes
26

I ordered the Rega spacer but what turned up, whilst Rega badged was a spacer that covered a range of heights and I found it an absolute git to fit.

Whilst waiting for it I saw the suggestion somewhere on here about using decent washers, which at the end of the day are performing exactly the same role.

So when I gave up with the multi spacer I put the washers back in. Benefit of the washer approach is you do not need to totally remove the tonearm as you can just lift it up and pop a washer under the three fitting screws, dead easy.

Then it’s just putting some small adhesive pads at the corner to raise the resting height of the lid.

But having said all that, three mounting point of the Rega and no height plus the clear difference in SQ in your position I’d be Ania Pro all the way.

In fact you are starting to make an argument for me putting an Ania Pro on Rp6 and moving Ania to P3 and getting a Rega MC phono for my Densen system in the cabin ……

2 Likes
27

Hi All,

As an update, I ended up pulling the trigger on the Ania Pro and StageLine S. I was really torn on which way to go but couldn’t pass on a good deal. The package cost me almost the same amount as the cartridge alone at full price.

So far I’m very pleased. It’s a considerable improvement from my Exact/Stageline N and I’m excited to hear what it will sound like once it’s broken in!

I sincerely appreciate everyones input and will no doubt be adding a Supernait and some new speakers to the system some time in the near future.

Happy holidays!

4 Likes
28

A bit more than 24 hours in and I’m incredibly pleased. It’s remarkable how much more dynamic range and lower the sound floor is with the Ania Pro/StageLine S has when compared to the Exact/StageLine N.

I obviously can’t say if a SUPERNAIT or speakers would have had more impact but I have zero regrets.

2 Likes
29

Great to hear…
Good luck :+1:

1 Like
30

The perceived wisdom was always ‘source first’. I think that Linn were very much behind that sentiment gaining acceptance - although it could be said that Linn were bound to say that when they were ‘only’ a turntable manufacturer.

I believe that it’s still true, though. No amount of money spent on loudspeakers, say, will ever make up for deficiencies in the source components or amplification.

1 Like
31

See post 19

32

try the Nagaoka 200 (MP-cartridge) you don’t need to invest a a MC pramp.

and of course - stay ins the “vinyl” groove

33

Thank you. I did consider something like this but decided I wanted to stay in the Rega cartridge family and give MC a go.

This is one of the things that I love about hifi, so many paths to choose from.

34

I looked at this previously and concluded that keeping my exact which btw is a very good cartridge and upgrading from P6 to P8 was ultimately the better move as the turntable will have a bigger impact on sound and will get the most out of future upgrades.

1 Like
35

Isobariks might indicate they had both ends covered.

36

I considered this as well, but the opportunity to pick up the Ania Pro/SL-S at a reduced cost made the decision easy for me. The jump in SQ from the Exact 2/SL-S to the Ania Pro/SL-S was quite a large one in my system but I can’t say how much of this is being contributed by the preamp.

1 Like
37

I don’t agree at all with what’s said at post 19. You can never improve the sound of a system ‘further down the chain’.

The source is always the most important component in a system, so should be the best that you can afford. And so on down the line, so that…

The preamp is more important than the power amp, which in turn is more important than the loudspeakers.

This assumes a typical home music replay system.

Feel free to disagree, if you like, but this has been regarded as virtually ‘gospel truth’ since it was propounded by Ivor Tiefenbrunn and Julian Vereker about 50 years ago.

2 Likes
38

Speakers indeed can’t improve what is bad from the start, but that is absolutely not what I said or suggested. As for “virtually gospel truth”, there you have it: it is dogma, that many have been conditioned to follow. That earlier post of mine explained the alternative view - one that I have found holds true for me. I have heard systems built on “source first” that sounded awful to me - because tge speakers were awful, though popular among people preaching “source first”. (But as I have said in other threads exploring this more fully, the source does need to be adequate - it just doesn’t need to be the best part of the system, and certainly not necessarily where most money is spent, especially if full range sound is important to the individual.)

We have to agree to disagree - but it is right for forum members considering their path to be aware that the source first principle is one approach, and getting the speakers right is another: they have to decide which works for them, which may depend on the type of music to which they listen and what it is in the music that turns them on.

3 Likes
39

It sounds as if the change you made is working well for you, which is surely the test.

‘Source first’ has real world limits imho. Putting ND555 through an old Nait and £200 of speakers is very unlikely to be satisfying versus other ways of spending the money, for example. It is also argued very convincingly that we NEVER hear speakers - we hear speakers and room together. If the character (not absolute quality) from your speakers and room please you, then I would suggest that a speaker change is a long way from being a priority.

Next, if there is to be a ‘next’, would probably be an amplifier upgrade (go second-hand it at all possible). If you want to get good VFM on another upgrade after that, my guess is that boh P6 and Bluesound Node really will have to go, however attached to them you are.

However, using your ears seems to have got a good result so far, so my strongest suggestion would be to stick to that approach.

2 Likes
40

Thanks for your thoughts and there will definitely be a next :wink:

I’m very pleased with my choice but I’ll continue to have my eye out for a late model Supernait 2 and a HiCap DR.