That’s exactly where I’ve come from.
I’ve had a SN2 for 6 years and it’s been on most days so I know it very well.
The SN3 is worth getting - it does sound better to me because music just sounds ‘right’.
Poorer recordings sound better and I realised I just kept wanting to stop and listen and tap my foot (insert your favourite cliche here) because it’s so enjoyable paired with an NDX2.
Essentially I’m just really enjoying listening to the music more and don’t want to turn it off.
I’m now wondering what a turntable would sound like through it.
I feel moving from the SN2 to SN3 is worth the upgrade irrespective of whether you will make use of the phono stage or not.
Thanks for your ringing endorsement of the P8. I do think you’ve got the perfect set up - minimal box count achieving an enviable level of sound quality at a ‘reasonable’ budget - with your sources that I’d also love to own.
(I’m halfway there!).
I’m struggling to find a dealer that stocks both brands (Rega and Clear Audio) so I can compare them though. Thanks for your reply - in the end I may just need to take the plunge with one or the other.
That’s a good endorsement from someone who’s made the change. I’ll keep that in mind, especially if I’m at the point where I need a phono stage anyway. When I had a vinyl rig earlier, I had a TD 160 with a Graham S!ee Reflex M phono stage. The GS was excellent, but I believe the SN3 internal ps is in the same league. Maybe another member has heard them both?
I have an LP12 w/Adikt with the SN3 and it sounds great. I have been trying various separate phono stages (Rega, Vertere, Chord) as a precursor to potentially moving to separate pre/power where I wont get the benefit of an integrated phono stage.
What I can say is the only unit I preferred was the Vertere and that was £1500 plus £500 interconnects!
Currently have a McIntosh C2700 pre (with McIntosh power) on demo at home and its integrated MM stage is a significant improvement to my ears, but then tubes/cost is in a different ball park entirely!
I’d be confident the SN3 will handle most MM carts well and you’d have to spend decent money on a separate phono stage to better it.
i had a clearaudio Maestro V2 on a rega P6 for a while and it worked great
after trying out about 6 or 7 carts i settled on this for almost 2 years
great combo
I have a P6 running an Ortofon Bronze into an Nait XS3 which is the same MM stage as SN3 I understand.
I originally had the Rega Exact cart but the cantilever inside collapsed so I switched to the Bronze, the cart is far better IMO. Now I have ran the deck into a Rega MM mk3 phone stage and direct into the XS3.
The sound from both to me was very close with the cart doing a far better job than the Exact. I find the sound produced fantastic so can only imagine a P8 or 10 with a Ortofon Black adding more clarity through a SN3. I think the Bronze however is probably enough for the the P6 /XS3 combo I run.
As an aside I think the MM Mk3 would be a decent choice of stage for any SN2 owners for sound quality per price
Yes, they are unusual in the way they take their MM cartridges up to a higher price point , but having a MM from them combined with a really good phono stage, the sound I am getting is on a par with my LP12 from years ago, same richness and warmth
I have Bronze on my P8 direct onto the Xs3 and it is a sublime combo in my view. The internal phono stage is a revelation on this amp.
For a view on the Black with a P8 into a SN3, perhaps @anon4489532 could assist.
I am very pleased with the stage in the Xs3 same as the Rega MM Mk3 (Rega was a Christmas present from the wife so using it to keep her happy) but genuinely both sound virtually identical and the Rega will become a good backup possibly for my bedroom setup at some point.
I currently have a cart not yet mentioned by anyone, the Nagaoka MP-200. My configuration is MP-200 → slightly modified Planar-6 with 3mm shims → SN3. Only played about 5 or 6 sides, but I think it is beginning to sound quite, quite nice. Originally had an Exact and changed to an Ortofon 2M Bronze, but I didn’t have the patience to run it in, i.e. I didn’t completely like the way it sounded and was not willing to wait to hear if the sound would round out (although from some of the views here I might have been too quick on the draw). On the other hand, the MP-200 sounded nice on first play and appears to be a keeper (at least for the next few weeks!).
That’s not how it works. But if the inductance is low enough (and the one I looked up was 30 uH!!!), you’d need seriously high capacitance to reach the audible spectrum.
I think we may have found some carts Naim may have been testing with.
