r/StereoAdvice

I'm looking to upgrade my current turntable setup, and I'm considering moving from MM to MC. The system is in a fairly small room, 14 x 11 ft. My local shop has offered me the MP100 at $1,600 which seems like a sizeable upgrade especially if considering MC. Both cartridge and phono preamp are seeking recommendations. Total budget for upgrades is around $4,000.

A few questions for those with more experience:

1. Is the next logical upgrade for my system the MC and phono preamp, or should I be looking at something else first?
2. Which cartridge and phono combo would be worth considering?

Vinyl front end

• Turntable: Rega Planar 6
• Cartridge: Rega Nd7 (MM)
• Mods: GrooveTracer counterweight and subplatter
• Speed control: Rega Neo PSU
• Phono stage: Rega Fono MM Mk5

Amplification

• Receiver: Anthem MRX 740

Considering

• McIntosh MP100 phono stage (Deal at $1,600)
• Hana ML (MC) cartridge (Recommended by my local shop)

Situation: I happily enjoyed the Nad M10 streaming amp since 2020. Unfortunately it has recently broken down, it is at the distributor and I am afraid that the repair quote will be expensive - in essence a new motherboard. Awaiting this, I have been looking for a potential replacement, and prefer not to have all my eggs in one basket then despite the M10 being such an attractive one box solution.

I do have the FIIO K13 R2R as a dac preamp in my desktop system (driving smsl pa200 and smsl speakers) and found it rather excellent. That is why I have been thinking about this setup to replace the M10, **but I am well aware there must be many other good options**:

- FIIO K17R2R as a streaming preamp/dac. I like that it has airplay, and I could stream my local music using dlna, instead of the bluos in my m10. It looks like a pretty decent device.

- 2 Topping B200 mono blocks to offer perfectly neutral power amplification. Any colour in the output will be the slightly richer R2R DAC of the preamp.

**Opinions, ideas, alternatives are welcome.**.
The total budget of the above is around $2K, so there should be other interesting solutions. For example, I could conceivably use a basic Wiim (so that I keep Airplay support) into a decent dac/preamp. Choices, choices...

FYI, my sources would be an oppo bluray over coax for cds (maybe connect the analog out as well for the occasional sacd), TV over optical, Apple Music over Airplay and local ripped music from a network drive; exactly what I did on my M10. Speakers are Usher Dancer Mini-X Diamond (Such a mouthful!) which I find pretty good.

Location: I currently live in Hong Kong, with access to all kinds of the modern Chinese hifi leading brands without tariff blues. Hence a budget of approx $2K equivalent should allow for a number of good suggestions.

Music styles: mostly jazz and classical; some singer-songwriters .

Living room size: approx 5x7m.

Previously before streaming I used a classic quad 44/405-2 amp set with a harman cd player and diy coax speakers.

I am thinking of buying the super dentons for the supposed warm sound and their size. My room 14*11. I don’t listen at high volumes and am looking for a softer presentation of the high end. Also not chasing base. USA based. Philly area. Budget 3k or less. Americana. Dead. Indie. Phish.

Looking for an amp that can preserve and complement the warm sound. System is mainly for music. I will stream or run an Apple product into the amp as a source. Happy to use Apple Music but also open to another service. Would be nice to have hdmi and maybe hook up a cd player in the future but cd no essential.

Thanks for any advice. While I am mostly wanting advice about an amp feel free to opine about other issues too (bookshelves).

Hey there -

My elderly parents are winding down. They want to play my mom's Joan Baez and Beatles records, but they no longer have a turntable. Audiophiles love the high end, so this question is a poor fit for this sub, but just in case there's someone from an audio store who knows it all who reads this:

Can you recommend a very, very easy to use turntable, where you can put a record on and then just push START or something, and you don't have to put the needle down. And can it be accompanied by small wireless speakers? Because their tiny living room was cluttered and full before we had to add walkers and all the equipment the hospice team brought in.

So, is there an idiot-proof all-in-one turntable plus small wireless speakers setup that an 85yo man in the middle of going blind can use to play old records to his dying wife?

Budget: any. I don't care if it's expensive. Any ideas very welcome and appreciated.

Location: Cambridge MA

Was lucky enough to be gifted a pair of Wharfedale denton 85th anniversary edition speakers with a Marantz Model 70 amp for a milestone birthday. My current turntable (a little audio-technica bluetooth table AT-LP60BT) does not do my new setup justice. Happy to spend around $1000AUD - more or less if needed TBH - any thoughts on something complimentary or tips on what I should be looking for? Limited experience with hifi. Location: Australia.

Unfortunately my 15yo NAD C372 is starting to fail. It’s currently powering some new ELAC DBR62s. I’d like to get something that will take a speaker upgrade some years down the line. Willing to pay for more power than is needed today (I have some old B&W 684s in the basement collecting dust that it could power some day too). I like the 150wpc range because I feel I won’t outgrow that. Of course I’d like better performance than the 372.

Budget $4k ceiling but preferable $2-3k. Located in US. Sitting about 12’ from speakers. I’m against the back wall and room is 20’ wide but one side opens to the dining room.

Currently listening to Dire Straights with the balance cranked to the left so it sounds somewhat balanced (left channel is struggling).