received the lyrita audio tube phonostage yesterday. has inputs for mm and mc through the cinemag step up transformer. the mm is for the sumiko blue point cart i currently use and the mc input and step up transformer is for the denon dl 103 i have planned for the garrard turntable as funds allow.
straight out of the box it sounded unimpressive. this is a feature even with the lyrita SET amp. after extended periods of non-use it requires a few songs to sound decent. i guess that's cos of the heavy duty transformers in both amps? after three songs however it started showing its true colours. all 5-6 lps i played sounded like re-mixed records! the same old music but wow! things sounded so fleshed out and 3D! superb vocals portrayal. notes decay naturally and beautifully not ending abruptly. this gives a good sense of flow to the music. sound simply sounded 3D compared to a flattish sound I had heard from the project tube box II. very well spatially defined with each instrument heard clearly if you wanted to follow that instrument yet part of the music.
the most surprising part was all the second hand lps i listened to did not sound second hand!! they took on a new life far far more than they took on after wet cleaning! absolutely unbelievable that flea market lps could sound like they were sounding! in one word - alive. detail came through that i thought was not there cos of the quality and condition of the record. i read that a phono stage was very important cos of the ultra low level of the signal and after hearing the lyrita i realize the truth of this.
overall this makes me want to clean more lps and listen and realizing how good even old lps sound is perhaps the best achievement for the phonostage!
highly recommended if you want to hear what your old record is really capable out outputting.
downsides: hum issues at high volume. this is cos my speakers are high efficiency bout 92 db. viren had a solution - he said the hum is at 100hz approx and so therefore sit at a point in the room where there's a null point. it does work. there are distances from the speaker where the bass increases and decreases and if i sit in the right spot the hum issue becomes lower. however the hum is a problem only at silent spots on the record like track changes or quieter passages in the music. once the music is playing it does not interfere.
will be experimenting with rajiv's suggestion for tubes to reduce hum. let's see how that goes!
straight out of the box it sounded unimpressive. this is a feature even with the lyrita SET amp. after extended periods of non-use it requires a few songs to sound decent. i guess that's cos of the heavy duty transformers in both amps? after three songs however it started showing its true colours. all 5-6 lps i played sounded like re-mixed records! the same old music but wow! things sounded so fleshed out and 3D! superb vocals portrayal. notes decay naturally and beautifully not ending abruptly. this gives a good sense of flow to the music. sound simply sounded 3D compared to a flattish sound I had heard from the project tube box II. very well spatially defined with each instrument heard clearly if you wanted to follow that instrument yet part of the music.
the most surprising part was all the second hand lps i listened to did not sound second hand!! they took on a new life far far more than they took on after wet cleaning! absolutely unbelievable that flea market lps could sound like they were sounding! in one word - alive. detail came through that i thought was not there cos of the quality and condition of the record. i read that a phono stage was very important cos of the ultra low level of the signal and after hearing the lyrita i realize the truth of this.
overall this makes me want to clean more lps and listen and realizing how good even old lps sound is perhaps the best achievement for the phonostage!
highly recommended if you want to hear what your old record is really capable out outputting.
downsides: hum issues at high volume. this is cos my speakers are high efficiency bout 92 db. viren had a solution - he said the hum is at 100hz approx and so therefore sit at a point in the room where there's a null point. it does work. there are distances from the speaker where the bass increases and decreases and if i sit in the right spot the hum issue becomes lower. however the hum is a problem only at silent spots on the record like track changes or quieter passages in the music. once the music is playing it does not interfere.
will be experimenting with rajiv's suggestion for tubes to reduce hum. let's see how that goes!