Lots of ways to go these days and to be fair its harder to find a bad phono stage.
The superline is still a great phono stage even though its old now, but to get the best from it costs over £4k even if its all second hand, let alone new prices.
I would have liked to have seen a newer version of 500 series quality and maybe Naim will revisit it, now that vinyl is making a strong comeback?
But i still feel if you are going down the rega turntable road, then the rega phono stages well worth trying, as they are designed to go together and just work without any fuss or hassle.
But as always you need to try for yourself, as we all like different things and thats the only way to do it. It doesn’t matter what i say or a so called expert, its more just a pointer to help you navigate though all the gear towards something that you might just like.
I cannot justify the price of an Aura sadly …even though it would seem to be well priced
I have the Aria …and that performs well and I can hear the sinergy with my P8
I have always thought that the superline was the best sounding phono stage I have ever heard …just a shame it needs two shelves and deep pockets to make it work at its best…
Not sure I agree Dunc. Bottom line is the Aura is extremely expensive and if P10 / RP10 users are looking for something better than the Aria but can’t justify spending £4.5k on the Aura then a pre-loved Superline (at £1k - £1.5k) powered from a 552 seems, to me, to be a pretty smart choice.
Not sure I agree Dunc. Bottom line is the Aura is extremely expensive and if P10 / RP10 users are looking for something better than the Aria but can’t justify spending £4.5k on the Aura then a pre-loved Superline (at £1k - £1.5k) powered from a 552 seems, to me, to be a pretty smart choice.
The aura new is slightly less than £4k and comes with a nice set of phono cables and power cable, so all complete and ready to go.
The superline second hand is as you say from around £1000 to £1500, yes you can power it from your pre amp if you have the right one, but it wont be getting the best from your superline and also some say that it will weaken other sources as well. So really you need a power supply and if you want the supercap dr then another £2500 + for second hand , then add a hiline second hand at £350. Also you might want some better plugs like the z foil, o dont forget about the mains cable and the extra fraim shelf, it all starts to look expensive i say, and almost forgot the second hand superline is about due a service.
Then it needs to be left on all the time and for someone like myself that doesn’t use vinyl every night, thats a bit of a pain.
But like i said the superline is still a great phono stage, and i enjoyed mine, but now i have found the aura and matched to the rega P10/apheta3, i found it a nice improvement
Dunc, you responded to me, perhaps you wanted to respond to Bart? Our avatar have same colors.
I was only suggesting the Rega IOS reference second hand, which was replaced by the Aura recently.
It should be found for around 2k.
The power line polarity can be flipped, but via a switch on the back. There is no remote. I have never heard a difference one way or the other. Keith has been over and also noted it seems to make no difference in my setup.
Totally fair assessment! It’s impossible to argue with the P10/Apheta3/Aura combo.
If I were convinced that I could only ‘do’ the Superline with a SuperCap, and didn’t just want to hear the SL, I’d not have started in on this folly. It’ll be worth a listen powered by my 552, and i can sell it off for what I paid for it. Fortunately I already own the SL interconnect. And an empty Fraim level, albeit on the Brains not Brawn side. (I’ll slot the SL in where the Aria sits now, so no real estate cost there.)
(I leave my Aria on all the time; maybe I shouldn’t?)
Bart the superline is a great stage and as you have the 552 to power it from, then you have nothing to lose in trying it. I would hope it sounded better than the aria.
Rega say that you should turn the aura off and that it will be up to temp within 10 minutes of switching on, which is nice, as i dont use my tt every day and can go a hole week at times
I’m not sure you’d have to get a SC to power it. By all accounts the SL powered by the 552 sounds very good indeed. So if you already have a 552 and somewhere to site a SL then the £1k - £1.5k is all it would cost plus, presumably, a snaic. Sure you’d need a decent interconnect between the SL and the 552 but you would with the Aura too and, if you have one already for the Aria, then that’s sorted. Also no need for a power line as that’s already on the 552PS.
All I was saying was that the solution Bart is considering seems like a good cost-effective idea and should be an improvement over his Aria without spending thousands more on an Aura. I wasn’t meaning to suggest that it would be “better” than the Aura.
Entity is the name of Lejonklou HiFi 's new MC-phono preamp,.which has been released in November.
I have spoken to Fredrik,.and also taken note of some initial reactions,from those who were lucky enough to get hold of an Entity from the first batch.
Who,.incidentally,sold out at once.
A brief review below…
"When I got home,.I put on some music…and wow,what’s happened?!
Long story short, I’ve been listening happily since I got home.
The nuance has improved a bit.
The timing and dynamics have improved a LOT.
As it is performing right now,.it doesn’t just beat the Linn Urika,it blows it out of the water on nuance, dynamics,.timbre and musicality.
Piano has never sounded so real.
I have just frightened myself (and probably the neighbours) with Muti’s Rite of Spring - and I had to listen to it all the way through…"
Maybe this Entity for £1,500 might be an option,.I’m waiting with excitement to listen to it.
DaveEngland
I know what you are saying and agree to most off it, but the superline really needs a supercap to fully exploit it, i tried mine powered with a 52 first, then hicap and finally a supercap, all non dr and the supercap was easily the best. I must admit i never tried it powered from the 552 as i had the supercap by then, but it is a cheap way to go until you can move up.
Also they say that using the powered output has an effect on the other inputs and thats a problem if it does.
But i feel most would agree that if you have a 552 and superline, then you really should be using a supercap and yes that can be added later and this is where the bargin phono stage starts to become an expensive phono stage.
Also the aura comes with some matching phono cables, the same as fitted to the P8 and P10, yes you can buy more expensive, but as rega fit the same to the tt and you can’t change them easily, they shoul be ok
Entity is the name of Lejonklou HiFi 's new MC-phono preamp,.which has been released in November.
"When I got home,.I put on some music…and wow,what’s happened?!