John Duncan said:
plastic penguin said:
John Duncan said:
Cost for you to exchange is going to be 5-600 quid. You could get a Project Speedbox and a much better cartridge, and still have lots of money left over...
This'll show my naivety - what does a speedbox actually do? Is it a box of tricks that connects directly to my current TT?
Yes, it's a quartz-controlled power supply to make it run at exactly 33.33 rpm more consistently. There are two versions, one more accurate (and expensive) than the other IIRC. It also allows electronic speed change from 33 to 45, if that's any use to you.
So will a speedbox really up the quality enough on the Xpression 1 to justify upgrading the cartridge? I've taken, I believe, my current TT as far as is reasonable cartridge-wise. Also I've read so many times on here about the cartridge being the last link in the chain (TT and motor then the arm and bringing up from the rear, the cart...).
And I heard price compatible carts, namely Ortofon, alongside the ClearAudio and for my tastes, on the Pro-ject at least, it was the best out of the bunch, so what cart will outsmart the ClearAudio?