Well let us know who the ultimate winner is!
@frenchrooster @Holmes
Sorry, I can’t help with the details, my system was set up by Touraj at the factory. They’re really helpful, so I’m sure if you give them a bell they’d be happy to help.
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Thanks all for the help so far. I’ve got the Vertere on song, now I just have to forget my first impressions…
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How is it comparing at the moment?
I had the same question on mind, before I read yours 
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Evening 1 summary
Rega Aria vs Vertere Phono 1 mk2 (Rega P6, Ania, Supernait 2, ProAc Studio 140 Mk2)
The Aria stood out as the artist of the two and reminded me of the Cesar A. Cruz quote “Art Should Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable”
The Aria made me uncomfortable with ‘new information’ in tracks I was fairly comfortable with, like the Alifarka Toure album Savanne, in a good and edgy way and more comfortable in a ‘this is what it should sound like’ way, with Sarathy Korwar & Upaj Collective’s - Night Dreamer Direct-to-Disc Sessions.
In contrast the Vertere seems too polite in its delivery and so far hasn’t engaged me in the same way. Both had me staying up late to listen to more, which is good.
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Appreciate the feedback.
Having enjoyed the Aria as much as I have I am glad that this is the result so far.
But talk about a win win scenario for you!!
I feel that a turntable like Vertere Mg1 or Sg1, which are a hell of a turntable, deserve more than a Vertere phono. These are 8k and 20k turntables, without cartridges. How a 1k phono, even if good, can do justice for these turntables. For a Rega P6 or eventually P8, yes.
But SG1 or Mg1, hum…
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Fair point FR but a Dynavector P75 was good enough to pair with an XX-2 cartridge and reveal much of the goodness of our Vertere MG-1.
Sure the £2,500 Moon phono stage is more capable but the P75 captured 80% (qualitatively!) of the musical goodness that the Moon phono stage lets through. And remember, the only phono stage that we auditioned that bettered the Moon stage was a Naim Superline with Supercap DR and special plug-in resistors. And the Moon delivered over 90% (again, subjectively!) of the Superline/SCDR.
p…s I really do like the Rega Aria. It’s fab.
Best regards, BF
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It’s the game. We are searching these last 5/ 10 % more .
Sometimes It makes all the difference 
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Aria Mk3 won
Vertere phone 1 Mk2 about to go back in box…
Everytime I went back to the Aria there was better delivery and presence to the music.
I can’t help thinking it’s down to the Rega cartridges and the Aria being made for each other. Beyond the sound quality difference, which I have been surprised about, the build quality of the Aria is in a different league to the Vertere. Unfortunately the power toggle switch broke on the unit before I got the hear anything, a couple of weeks ago when my dealer sent me out the shop with it to “just have a listen to” I said I’d give it another go but alongside the Aria with a view to buying the winner!
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Interesting, I bought a Vertere phono 1 to replace my Rega Aria last week.
When I looked at all the dip switches and tried to fathom the instructions for them I nearly threw in the towel, but then realised that my MM AT540ml cart simply needs all the switches set to off!
I’ve had the opposite end result, the Aria has been boxed up and sold and the Vertere is a definite keeper.
Much more open and detailed, all those cliches about veils lifting etc apply. The difference over the Aria certainly wasn’t small, so on a MC cart I suspect it would be highly dependent on getting the ideal setting on those switches.
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That makes sense, when I found the right settings for the Ania it was a big improvement, but there didn’t seem to be an impedance that got close enough to the rega cartridge to work in the same way that the Aria does for it. It seems as though there is a good range of cartridges that it’s likely to be great with.
Horses for courses I guess.
It’s great that we’re both happy with our, albeit different end results.
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When we looked to upgrade our phono stage from the Dynavector P75, I remember auditioning quite a number of very highly rated, award winning phono stages in the £1500 -£5000 range. All were competent but only two were magical with the XX-2 cartridge.
Even the Superline with SCDR sounded “very good” with Naim’s recommended 470 Ohm resistor but when the special order 453 Ohm resistor went in it was phenomenal.
When the musical signal is so incredibly small, as it is with a moving coil cartridge, the optimisation of phono to cartridge matching seems to be the most sensitive of all system component interfaces.
The Aria and Vertere phono 1 are probably equally capable but the Rega cartridges and phono stages have been optimised for each other. Try a different cartridge, such as an AT or Vertere’s own Mystic and the Phono 1 may come out on top.
We are about to replace our XX-2, so will be going through this whole cartridge-phono musical synergy exercise ourselves!
Delighted that you have a set up that works so well for you.
Best, BF
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I have just ordered the Gold Note ps10 from Italy for my new set up. One of the reasons for choosing this was the ability to change various load settings from a front panel. It seems expensive to pay 1200 notes and put a cart on at half the price but I think it should get the best from the cart.
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Great that you got a good result out of this. Sure you going to be just as happy with the Aria as I am.
Next step is checking out that Ania Pro 
This simply has to have an effect. And that is why I just went for it when I heard the sound. I cannot imagine another phono stage in the price bracket giving a better performance with Rega kit and Rega just going “Meh!”.
In every review I read there was very positive feedback about using the Aria with other kit as well but I have put the upgrade bug to bed for the foreseeable future and then I am pretty sure my next turntable will be Rega as well so I am not bothered by the fact that other phono stages will work better with other hardware.
Just enjoying the beautiful noise coming out of the system now.
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