Don Pearce wrote:
On Wed, 11 Oct 2006 15:37:36 GMT, "Easynews" wrote:

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


I'd go with Keith G's suggestion of a valve phono pre. It really could
be the one thing you keep. As suggested elsewhere I rate the EAR, but
it's too expensive for what it is.


I would go for a decent quality subwoofer to give you that extra
bottom octave. OK, it will be more useful with your non-vinyl sources,
but it will still help out the vinyl to a degree. The rest of the kit
is well up to standard for playing those LPs.

d


I bought a sub recently - a Rel Strata 5 - and I can't make up my mind
whether I like it. Two issues:

1. The sub has a different effect on different music and volumes. That
might sound obvious, but it means constant twiddling to get the balance
right.

2. At my preferred setting, when it can hardly be noticed but just adds
a bit of weight*, it seems to introduce a sort of airiness to the sound
- the music at all frequencies (vocals, cymbals) seems less distinct and
less focused. I really can't figure out why this happens and I'm not
sure if it's a good or bad thing. For now it's just different.

I think overall I'll keep it - it's a nice unobtrusive bit of furniture,
and certainly brings films to life :-)

Rob

* FWIW, xover at 39hz, volume 47%, room 16'x11' suspended timber floor
thick carpet, main speakers Dynaudio Contour 1.1s