Why would a better phono stage be “excessive” ? It will simply allow you to hear what your cartridge is doing more clearly. You may not want to upgrade the deck so quickly…
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Khan 84 - I’m curious (unfortunately) about those speaker stands. I don’t know where you are, but here in the U.S. the price is astronomical so (please) tell me how awful they are . Seriously, how do you like them and how well are they constructed?
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That is very true and takes out what I had previously thought as being the weak link with the relatively basic phono stage. Knowing that I have as good a stage as I am likely to need, it will delay any turntable upgrade as I am getting the best out of what I have and I am really pleased with what I am hearing.
I used the term “excessive” given that my turntable is a 40 year old, fairly basic, Technics SL D2, which I think cost me around £90, but the phono stage is c£900, albeit I bough second-hand.
Lol. My friend I feel your pain. I’ve owned ‘something solid XF stands, custom design metal frame stands and hifi racks stands. All with 30.1,30.2, 30.2XD, HL5+,hl5annie so I have a good idea of the sound of harbs on different stands.
My advice. Open frame stands are essential. Even a top plate on a stand doesn’t work as well unless it’s low end that you crave most. So in this case the hifiracks stands or ones that are similar.
Next will be a thicker metal frame open stand so the custom designs open frame. Which is faster, more open sounding than the hifiracks.
Something solid XF is a really good stand. Forget that it looks thin and industrial. In fact it even rings when you knock it hard but it certainly doesn’t translate into poor performance. It’s actually to this date a close second fav. Best value overall as it’s less than half the price of the tontrager.
And finally the tontrager. It is the best stand overall IMO. Bass is supremely tight(most accurate). Most open sounding of all the stands with extension in every aspect of the frequency. Midrange is beautiful. I purchased a rubber sheet 0.5mm thick and cut it into an O to sit on the surrounds of the ‘tone bed’ to create a suction so the stands are fixed to the quartz plinths and to the speakers. I didn’t test without this method so this part is just my own tweak. Not necessary but I did it from the get go.
I hope that helps.
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I suspect there’s every chance my memory of relative MM / MC weights was from something I read around 1983 to 1987 and as has been pointed out magnet technology has improved.
What size is it and where did you get it from, as I need the exact same one for my P10? They dont see to do one thats “Rega P8 or P10 on Fraim” size 
Something new for my xerxes… top tip, dont plug your phono outputs in a unity gain av port by mistake, goes a tad loud!
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It’s a Pro-Ject Cover-It lid, sourced on line from Turntable World @ £70. Very happy and keeps the precious Apheta 3 safe.
After many years of thinking about it, researching, procrastinating… I have finally bought a degritter RCM. After splashing out on lp12 upgrades I thought it was finally time to go for it, to ty to look after the Kandid as best I can. Managed to find an ex dem (allegedly not used much) for just over 10% off so that covers any fluids I may need to restock after a while - have to go through all my records (a few hundred) so this will take some time!
Been mad busy with work and will be for next week or so at least. Hopefully will calm down over Christmas
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So you decided to climb? 
Enjoy,
Not sure if you mean me? but if so then yes, only brought about by purchasing Titan speakers. The 272 has replaced the Nait 5 which was doing pre amp duty for last 2 weeks as a stop gap until i decided on a pre amp. Tried a few options including 202/Hi, SN3, Uniti, and settled on the 272 Sounded right from the 1st note.
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I didn’t actually buy it, but have been loaned it for six months. I’ve started a new sideline, reviewing hi-fit kit and I have quite a few boxes of stuff booked for the coming months.
The Bluesound Powernode 2i is my first venture into the world of streaming, and this seemed quite a good place to start as the unit includes a hi-res DAC and streamer. All you need to do is plug in a pair of speakers. I’ll be setting it up over the weekend (the guys at BlueSound have also given me a free sub to Tidal) and living with it for two to three months before reviewing.
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Nice one, enjoy!
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Mine is MeiCord Opal full loom. They’re excellent and i can’t see me going back to shielded Ethernet cables again. These have really surprised me and sound amazing with the EE 8Switch.
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I had the original M30, loved its sweetness in the highs, but the overall sound flat too much laid back and not engaging, maybe good only in a real nearfield application, changed with the more musical and all-arounder standard C7-es3…just curious about the new xd version of C7, if the upgrade is worth…
After the purchase of NuPrime CDT-8PRO transport with Chord Hugo TT2 6 weeks ago, and waiting for the delivery of the Chord Epic digital and interconnect cables, my last purchase is the Matrix 2, after a very extend listening comparison with the German Naim Music-line power strip.
Lastly, it is not a purchase but a change, I have tightened the Naca5 cables for better manageability … maybe I have them too tight?
Which power cord?
I compared the Matrix 2 using a standard Naim cable (the one with EU shuko plug), the same used in the music-line power strip, for a réal « 1 to 1 » comparison: only after 1 long week of burn-in, the Matrix 2 prevailed over the music-line…