upgraded my debut carbon with the aluminium sub platter and acrylic platter 👌
Nice! I'm sure you'll start to notice a difference. Upgrading that Cart to a Blue will be a huge difference as well, once the Red is end of life.
Pretty good difference off the bat tbh! I'm sure I'll notice it further the more different records I play. I actually have the Bronze Cart on here. Hard to tell the colour due to the childish coloured lighting 😂
Ah! Well that's a big difference from the Red! Awesome!
I upgraded to blue a few years ago.. it sounded fantastic with no real need to upgrade tbh... But when you know there's something else it's just a matter of time (and money) before you give in 😂 haha extremely happy with the bronze.
What I noticed right away with the aluminium sub platter is it's very heavy, some good mass. Speed is much more stable with less wow and flutter. Very solid and stable sound. And the acrylic platter seems to have tightened everything up. Looking forward to getting a few records on.
The Debut Carbon is such a quality product. It's a little bit of PITA to play 45, but that's the only criticism I ever had of it. It's a great sounding TT.
Absolutely agree. I had looked into getting the speed box to to switch onto 45 easier but I have the Debut Carbon DC and I don't believe it's compatible?
upgraded my debut carbon with the aluminium sub platter and acrylic platter 👌
Nice! I'm sure you'll start to notice a difference. Upgrading that Cart to a Blue will be a huge difference as well, once the Red is end of life.
Pretty good difference off the bat tbh! I'm sure I'll notice it further the more different records I play. I actually have the Bronze Cart on here. Hard to tell the colour due to the childish coloured lighting 😂
Ah! Well that's a big difference from the Red! Awesome!
I upgraded to blue a few years ago.. it sounded fantastic with no real need to upgrade tbh... But when you know there's something else it's just a matter of time (and money) before you give in 😂 haha extremely happy with the bronze.
What I noticed right away with the aluminium sub platter is it's very heavy, some good mass. Speed is much more stable with less wow and flutter. Very solid and stable sound. And the acrylic platter seems to have tightened everything up. Looking forward to getting a few records on.
The Debut Carbon is such a quality product. It's a little bit of PITA to play 45, but that's the only criticism I ever had of it. It's a great sounding TT.
Absolutely agree. I had looked into getting the speed box to to switch onto 45 easier but I have the Debut Carbon DC and I don't believe it's compatible?
Is that right? I figured it was compatible with any of the lines that didn't have built in speed control.
upgraded my debut carbon with the aluminium sub platter and acrylic platter 👌
Nice! I'm sure you'll start to notice a difference. Upgrading that Cart to a Blue will be a huge difference as well, once the Red is end of life.
Pretty good difference off the bat tbh! I'm sure I'll notice it further the more different records I play. I actually have the Bronze Cart on here. Hard to tell the colour due to the childish coloured lighting 😂
Ah! Well that's a big difference from the Red! Awesome!
I upgraded to blue a few years ago.. it sounded fantastic with no real need to upgrade tbh... But when you know there's something else it's just a matter of time (and money) before you give in 😂 haha extremely happy with the bronze.
What I noticed right away with the aluminium sub platter is it's very heavy, some good mass. Speed is much more stable with less wow and flutter. Very solid and stable sound. And the acrylic platter seems to have tightened everything up. Looking forward to getting a few records on.
The Debut Carbon is such a quality product. It's a little bit of PITA to play 45, but that's the only criticism I ever had of it. It's a great sounding TT.
Absolutely agree. I had looked into getting the speed box to to switch onto 45 easier but I have the Debut Carbon DC and I don't believe it's compatible?
Is that right? I figured it was compatible with any of the lines that didn't have built in speed control.
I read it on a forum somewhere and it's been enough to put me off spending the money. I'd like to find out for sure.
So once a year, I get the upgrade bug and make a change. This year I went with the phono stage. I had been using the internal MC stage in my Mcintosh C49. It's very good, but a touch limiting in the impedance and zero gain features. So after test driving a few Sim Audio Moons, I settled on this Gold Note PH10 with external power supply. Where as I would say the Moons were 105% of the stock phono, this Gold Note is just a monster upgrade. It kicks harder, faster and the music just explodes, while still being silky smooth. This is an Italian product and I'm still breaking it in, but after doing an A/B test for a week plus, it easily beats my Mcintosh stage.
So there are several cool things including true balanced outputs, two inputs (for multiple TTs) and the separate power supply. But the really cool features are super easy changes to the audio curves, gain, impedance and moving from MC to MM with a knob. That's right, audio curves. It has six curves, including two RIAA (use this 100% for anything mastered in the 80's or later) but also a Columbia curve and most cool for me, the Decca/London curve. I use this on my extensive original Rolling Stones records and sure as shit it makes the music much smoother. Plus the gain features are great, with multiples gains to choose from. If you have a MC cart, you know how important this is. And the changes are made on the fly, while playing. So you get immediate feedback. There are several records where I found I had to go -3db vs a flat 0 (the 0 gain is 60 db).
So one box is the power supply, and one the phono stage?
Also, nice AV cables. What brand are they?
Yes exactly. The one with the screen is the phono stage. Now that they are in their permanent place, I don't keep them next to each other. While it's quiet, no reason to put a power supply too close to the phono stage.
The balanced cables are from Viborg. I have two sets of them, the ones you see and from my preamp to my amp. I've been really happy with them. I'm not a cable guy but these were $50 on Amazon and to me that's reasonable for thick, insulated cables with really nice gold connectors.
So one box is the power supply, and one the phono stage?
Also, nice AV cables. What brand are they?
Yes exactly. The one with the screen is the phono stage. Now that they are in their permanent place, I don't keep them next to each other. While it's quiet, no reason to put a power supply too close to the phono stage.
The balanced cables are from Viborg. I have two sets of them, the ones you see and from my preamp to my amp. I've been really happy with them. I'm not a cable guy but these were $50 on Amazon and to me that's reasonable for thick, insulated cables with really nice gold connectors.
So the phono stage gives you the option of balanced or unbalanced cables?
So one box is the power supply, and one the phono stage?
Also, nice AV cables. What brand are they?
Yes exactly. The one with the screen is the phono stage. Now that they are in their permanent place, I don't keep them next to each other. While it's quiet, no reason to put a power supply too close to the phono stage.
The balanced cables are from Viborg. I have two sets of them, the ones you see and from my preamp to my amp. I've been really happy with them. I'm not a cable guy but these were $50 on Amazon and to me that's reasonable for thick, insulated cables with really nice gold connectors.
So the phono stage gives you the option of balanced or unbalanced cables?
I assume it's the same with the Macintosh?
Yes exactly. The Mc has balanced and unbalanced inputs and outputs. Now the inputs are unbalanced, but I don't know that I"ve ever seen balanced TT inputs. Maybe because the signal is so weak it doesn't make sense to have true balanced. And as I pointed out, there are two inputs, so you can run two TTs. Both can be MM or MC and you change on the screen rather than a dipswitch or anything painful. So it's super easy.
Pro-Ject S2 Willsenton R8 Decware Super Zen SE84UFO
The Decware seems to be a really cool one. There is one hell of a waiting list for it though. I may just do that and wait. Thoughts?
So maybe I'm confused but the S2 is a phono stage whereas the R8 is an integrated amp, if I'm not mistaken. Which component are you to buy?
So I've been reading and reading about tube amps and I wrote the wrong one down...
It should be Boyuurange A50 MKIII.
Back to the Decware. It pairs w my 92db MArtin Logans well going by their charts.
Ok so you want an integrated. What are you using now?
Was using a 70's Pioneer to pair w my HPM100's but using an Onkyo for my Martin Logan 15's.
I don't see a need for a preamp as of yet. Let me get a tube amp first and go from there.
Just from a brief glance, it doesn't look like any of these have a phono preamp. I'm guessing your 70's Pioneer did for sure. So you will need to fill that gap if you go with one of these tubes.
Pro-Ject S2 Willsenton R8 Decware Super Zen SE84UFO
The Decware seems to be a really cool one. There is one hell of a waiting list for it though. I may just do that and wait. Thoughts?
So maybe I'm confused but the S2 is a phono stage whereas the R8 is an integrated amp, if I'm not mistaken. Which component are you to buy?
So I've been reading and reading about tube amps and I wrote the wrong one down...
It should be Boyuurange A50 MKIII.
Back to the Decware. It pairs w my 92db MArtin Logans well going by their charts.
Ok so you want an integrated. What are you using now?
Was using a 70's Pioneer to pair w my HPM100's but using an Onkyo for my Martin Logan 15's.
I don't see a need for a preamp as of yet. Let me get a tube amp first and go from there.
Just from a brief glance, it doesn't look like any of these have a phono preamp. I'm guessing your 70's Pioneer did for sure. So you will need to fill that gap if you go with one of these tubes.
Glad you said something... I'll double check these again and see if they have them or not.
When I first got into this, I bought vintage so I wouldn't have to worry about these things...
I just took the plunge and bought a VPI Prime with 10 in JMW 3D tonearm. Pretty stoked.
I am considering the Marantz PM8006 integrated amp to pair it with, but a lot of you guys have more knowledge than me, so I’d thought I’d see if anyone had any suggestions. Open to separates. I’d like to stay around 2k for a budget.
I just took the plunge and bought a VPI Prime with 10 in JMW 3D tonearm. Pretty stoked.
I am considering the Marantz PM8006 integrated amp to pair it with, but a lot of you guys have more knowledge than me, so I’d thought I’d see if anyone had any suggestions. Open to separates. I’d like to stay around 2k for a budget.
Nice! Congrats! What cartridge did you select?
You went "end game" level with your turntable, as there likely won't be a need to upgrade that for the rest of your life. So my humble advice is to start planning what your end game (or close to it) for the rest of the system, and move towards that, even if that means holding off a bit. So I'd love to nerd out on this for a bit, so indulge me if you would..
1. What stereo/integrated, etc. are you using now that a Marantz or similar would replace? 2. Do you have a standalone phono stage, or is yours built into your existing? (note, the Marantz does not have a phono stage) 3. How large is your room? 4. What speakers are you using?
Comments
So there are several cool things including true balanced outputs, two inputs (for multiple TTs) and the separate power supply. But the really cool features are super easy changes to the audio curves, gain, impedance and moving from MC to MM with a knob. That's right, audio curves. It has six curves, including two RIAA (use this 100% for anything mastered in the 80's or later) but also a Columbia curve and most cool for me, the Decca/London curve. I use this on my extensive original Rolling Stones records and sure as shit it makes the music much smoother. Plus the gain features are great, with multiples gains to choose from. If you have a MC cart, you know how important this is. And the changes are made on the fly, while playing. So you get immediate feedback. There are several records where I found I had to go -3db vs a flat 0 (the 0 gain is 60 db).
Plus I think it's a gorgeous piece of gear.
The balanced cables are from Viborg. I have two sets of them, the ones you see and from my preamp to my amp. I've been really happy with them. I'm not a cable guy but these were $50 on Amazon and to me that's reasonable for thick, insulated cables with really nice gold connectors.
Just added the VPI 16.5 RCM and so far its been great. It's loud but cleans vinyl very well.
DC 2003
DC 2004 (VFC)
DC 2006
Pittsburgh 2006
Bonnaroo 2008
Virginia Beach 2008
DC 2008
Philly (Spectrum) 10/31/2009
DC 2010 (Jiffy Lube Live)
PJ 20 night 1
PJ 20 night 2
Phoenix 2013
LA 1 2013
Memphis 2014
Jacksonville 2016
Greenville 2016
Hampton 2016
Columbia 2016
Fenway 1 2016
Fenway 2 2016
Wrigley 1 2018
Wrigley 2 2018
Fenway 1 2018
Fenway 2 2018
Sea Hear Now 2021
Nashville 2022
Louisville 2022
Ohana 2024 (Night 1)
Ohana 2024 (Night 2)
Narrowed it down to:
Pro-Ject S2
Willsenton R8
Decware Super Zen SE84UFO
The Decware seems to be a really cool one. There is one hell of a waiting list for it though. I may just do that and wait. Thoughts?
It should be Boyuurange A50 MKIII.
Back to the Decware. It pairs w my 92db MArtin Logans well going by their charts.
I don't see a need for a preamp as of yet. Let me get a tube amp first and go from there.
When I first got into this, I bought vintage so I wouldn't have to worry about these things...
You went "end game" level with your turntable, as there likely won't be a need to upgrade that for the rest of your life. So my humble advice is to start planning what your end game (or close to it) for the rest of the system, and move towards that, even if that means holding off a bit. So I'd love to nerd out on this for a bit, so indulge me if you would..
1. What stereo/integrated, etc. are you using now that a Marantz or similar would replace?
2. Do you have a standalone phono stage, or is yours built into your existing? (note, the Marantz does not have a phono stage)
3. How large is your room?
4. What speakers are you using?