XS3 phono stage

Hi-Fi Corner
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Anyone using an external phono stage with XS3

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I was. I started with the inbuilt one. Then went to Stageline N, then to a Graham Slee Accession MM.

It wasn’t night and day between the internal stage and a Stageline. It was dramatic upgrading to the Graham Slee.

Are you thinking of upgrading!?

I no longer have the XS3, but still run the GS into my Chrome Bumper setup.

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Yes. Had the Graham Slee reflex m before I bought the XS3. Both sounded as good as the other. Sold the reflex m. Looking at Vertere I lx or Trilogy Audio 906i. Can get a home demo on the Trilogy. Both are about the same£1500/166 mark. I would like to think they would be an upgrade on the XS3.

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I’m sure they will be :slight_smile:

I’m also sure the XS3 is good enough to let the improvements shine through. I used my XS3 to audition a bunch of new turntables, all running a Dynavector DV10x5 cartridge. The XS3 definitely allowed them all to come across differently.

Good luck deciding on which phono stage to go with.

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Cheers. I’ve just upgraded from the 10x5 to the 20x2a. Great cartridges.

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Nice, was looking into that (the high output version) just the other day as a potential upgrade to my 10x5 :slight_smile:

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H or L?

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Internal phonostage xs3 or Stageline N need bright mm cartridge with high output to sound best and gives you the Naim sound. Greeham Slee phonostages sounds very different with none of the Naim qualities but with a more hifi sound.

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Ah interesting, I was about to comment that I’m massively impressed with the Stageline N but after reading your post I am using it with a 2M Black which is detailed/bright and high output.

I’d put the stageline up there with some of the much more expensive ones I’ve had.

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High

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Lejonklou Slipsik might be a possibility.

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Don’t have XS3 but I run a Cyrus Classic phono into my Nait 50 as theres a fluttering type sound through the internal stage on the 50 that I can’t seem to fix. Big improvement in sound over the internal and I can run mc if I want.

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Interesting you mention this. I like the darker character of my SN3 phono stage, which I suspect is similar the one in XS3.