Having had a couple of weeks home demoing a couple of phono amps I have decided to stick with my Creek phonoboard. To my old ears I found it virtually impossible to say that either the Rothwell or Graham Slee offered the sort of improvement that would justify the cost. Both truly excellent phono amps, but I had clearly underestimated my Creek.
However, demoing phono amps is one thing, but trying different cartridges is virtually impossible. People asking for "which cartridge?" advice on this forum and others are given lots and lots of different options and opinions, but how do you decide, it seems very hit and miss to me. I know from experience that a change up in cartridge can make a big difference. Last year for example I damaged my Rega Bias cart on my old P3 and moved up to a 2M Blue, and boy the difference was immense. So there should be really, the 2M Blue was 3 times the price of the Bias. However it got me thinking about having different cartridge options. I'm really enjoying my Pro-Ject with 2M Blue but I would like to try it with a different cart. Now I know there is a lot of love on these boards for all things Nagaoka for example, but I can't demo one so to buy one would be a bit of a punt. I could buy one 2nd hand I suppose but I'm a bit wary of 2nd cart carts.
I've been having a good browse the last few days and it seems that buying certain carts direct from Japan or Hong Kong can offer massive savings from buying over here, so I'm thinking of taking the plunge and buying from the Far East. Am I likely to be hit with additional import duty and taxes? Anyone got some good links to sellers that they would recommend?
.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram