"Easynews" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all,
I am upgrading my vinyl capabilities shortly and have about £1000 to
spend. I have a Rega P2 turntable, Quad 12L speakers, and a fairly old
Denon integrated amp / tuner with a reasonable phono stage. I was
intending to buy the EAR 834P phono stage, upgrade my fairly basic
cartridge, and buy an integrated amp- is this a good idea? Should I take a
different course, or if replacing the amp is the way, have you any
suggestions for ones I should try out?
Thanks for any advice, I'm a newbie when it comes to hi-fi.
Paul



You're definitely thinking along the right lines - valves are the magic
ingredient when it comes to getting the *life* and sparkle out of vinyl.

The Denon is likely to have a fairly good onboard phono stage (I have one
myself and can vouch for the recent models, if nothing else) but it is not a
patch on the valve phono I use (unfortunately) - the ss phono is flat by
comparison and will render the music 'blameless' (and bland) much like CD.
(Which, of course, suits some people just fine! ;-)

But, I'm not sure I would bother with the EAR - I had one and it was my
introduction to valve phonos and a quantum leap forward at the time, but
it's gone now and I don't miss it! The sound is pleasant enough but
'bloated' in comparison with the WAD phono stage I built:

http://www.apah69.dsl.pipex.com/wadphono/wadphono.htm

I believe the new company that is rising from WAD's ashes - World Design -
is on the verge of bringing out a new version (??) and I would recommend you
go for one of those. It should cost less than the EAR and they are a doddle
to build! (If I can do it, *anybody* can!! :-)

(I hardly dare mention that a valve amp won't do any harm either - but I'm
not so sure that I'm recommending the Chinese Cheepies any more, the Chinks
have got a long way to go with their Animal and Human Rights issues before I
would be comfortable spending any more on *avoidable* Chinese kit or
advising others to do the same...??)