Start with a better phono stage, cheapish to sort with second hand, and see how much difference a change of phono stage makes to your enjoyment. Plenty to choose from, Rega Aria, Graham Slee, and others, all for a few hundred pounds if you wait for the opportunity. Generally a dedicated phono will be a better solution than a built-in stage.
Nothing wrong with the interconnects, or indeed everything else.
It is easy just to throw money at the fashionable flavour of the month, and end up spending much more than you need to end up with what does not deliver contentment?
But…what do I know…just how I would spend my money given your system components.
(Easy for me to spend your money…)
(Once you start to scratch an itch, it soon ends up a nasty rash, and can get scabby, and may take some time to heal completely)
Thank you all for your kind replies and thinking along with me - I really appreciate this! Gave my friendly dealer a call today and the conclusion is indeed to upgrade the P8 cartridge and phono preamp … he also mentioned the Primare R35 phono pre which would give very good results in combination with the Rega Apheta 3 and is in a similar price range as the Rega Aria.
Obviously I will listen to that combination later but I wonder if there is any experience here with the Primare R35??
If you are staying with a Rega cart it would make sense to stay with the best Rega phono stage you can afford. They will be well matched. If you are thinking of trying a non Rega cart then other phono stages could be considered.
Thinking of getting a 1 box solution (moving from nac272 + nap250). I did once have a Goldnote S1 amplifier in the past and owning a Goldenote phonostage at the moment I think I could live with the IS-1000 (deluxe).
I also do know that Goldnote had som quirks in the past. The question is how is the app to controle the device? (vs Naim?)
It seemed fair to me to post an update on this, so here we go:
After some initial software problems which were neatly resolved by my dealer - yes, Linn also has these - I have been playing with the Linn Selekt DSM Edition hub for over a week now to my complete satisfaction… even Mrs. Klout is of opinion that it sounds better; for me the biggest difference is in the spaciousness and the better control over the bass. The Nova always sounded a bit ‘messy’ in this area.
Also very pleased on how big the improvement is when listening to vinyl on the P8, but this is perhaps related to the improvement of the phono stage over the Rega Fono MC. It just sounds so … well, Organik.
I’ve needed some time to get used to the app … I think if one is used to the Naim, this is reasonable, I do not have any preference for either one of them …
Again, very happy and pleased with the result!
Have not tried Space Opimisation yet, so to be continued.
- I have been playing with the Linn Selekt DSM Edition hub for over a week now to my complete satisfaction… even Mrs. Klout is of opinion that it sounds better; for me the biggest difference is in the spaciousness and the better control over the bass. The Nova always sounded a bit ‘messy’ in this area.