Sutherland Club House

Angsty said:
I’m saving my pennies for the TZ Vibe at $1400 MSRP. But, oh, the temptation!
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How many pennies have you saved? :)
www.usaudiomart.com

Sutherland TZ Vibe

The TZ Vibe is in excellent condition. You don't have to worry about load resistance as the TZ zeroes it out. It is for low output MC only. There is a gain option for low, medium, and high. $1,000 shipped.Please let me know if you have any questions.
www.usaudiomart.com www.usaudiomart.com
 
dansomeone said:
How many pennies have you saved? :)
www.usaudiomart.com

Sutherland TZ Vibe

The TZ Vibe is in excellent condition. You don't have to worry about load resistance as the TZ zeroes it out. It is for low output MC only. There is a gain option for low, medium, and high. $1,000 shipped.Please let me know if you have any questions.
www.usaudiomart.com www.usaudiomart.com
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I’m loving my Hana ML but I don’t know that I could fully commit to low output MCs.
 
dansomeone said:
How many pennies have you saved? :)
www.usaudiomart.com

Sutherland TZ Vibe

The TZ Vibe is in excellent condition. You don't have to worry about load resistance as the TZ zeroes it out. It is for low output MC only. There is a gain option for low, medium, and high. $1,000 shipped.Please let me know if you have any questions.
www.usaudiomart.com www.usaudiomart.com
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Thanks, @dansomeone!!! The answer is: not quite enough yet!

I have a Bryston BP-1.5 that’s in Canada for service now. Despite the awesome temptation that this deal presents, I’m going to wait until the Bryston gets back first - I haven’t gotten the repair bill yet! My initial tests suggested that the Bryston would be more detailed than the Insight, but it had a persistent hum that I could not resolve.

I’m finding it’s hard to save those pennies when I keep the credit card busy!
 
I have an original KC Vibe and really like the sound of it. I enjoy both MM and MC cartridges, though, and its noise floor when using MM is higher than my other phono stages. I mostly listen via headphones, so this can be audible over the music, especially when listening to softer music or a record that isn’t cut very hot.

I emailed Ron regarding this and he explained to me that the KC Vibe uses a bipolar input which is designed to have lowest noise when used with a low source impedance, like an MC cartridge. This as opposed to a JFET input, which would have lower noise when used with a higher source impedance, like an MM cartridge.

Are the higher-end Sutherland phono stages like the Insight and 20/20 the same as the KC Vibe in this regard? If so, I’ll probably keep the Vibe only for MC and look for something else to use with MM.
 
Stereophile on the 20/20:

“The gain and load impedances for each channel are set by printed-circuit-board jumpers by the input jack, and the circuitry is based on three high-performance chips from Texas Instruments: an INA163 low-noise, low-distortion instrumentation amplifier, a Burr-Brown OPA134 FET-input op-amp, and a Burr-Brown OPA627 op-amp, the last used as a DC servo amplifier with high-quality, 1% tolerance Rel-Caps used for EQ.”
 
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mackat said:
I have an original KC Vibe and really like the sound of it. I enjoy both MM and MC cartridges, though, and its noise floor when using MM is higher than my other phono stages. I mostly listen via headphones, so this can be audible over the music, especially when listening to softer music or a record that isn’t cut very hot.

I emailed Ron regarding this and he explained to me that the KC Vibe uses a bipolar input which is designed to have lowest noise when used with a low source impedance, like an MC cartridge. This as opposed to a JFET input, which would have lower noise when used with a higher source impedance, like an MM cartridge.

Are the higher-end Sutherland phono stages like the Insight and 20/20 the same as the KC Vibe in this regard? If so, I’ll probably keep the Vibe only for MC and look for something else to use with MM.
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The Insight and 20/20 are very different beasts than the KC Vibe. Sutherland tends to design the best preamp he can at a specific price point and a dollar goes much further in manufacturing than in retail.

I’ve owned my Insight for about six years with zero noise issues for either MM or MC. What the Insight gives up to higher priced preamps is in low level detail and crispness; it’s a bit more laid back. I feel that my Insight is less detailed than my twice-the-retail Bryston using my MC, but I have not really missed the Bryston much as it’s been in the shop for two months.

The Insight is excellent. I’d rather own one Insight than two less expensive phonos.
 
Thank you for the info guys, I really appreciate it!

I had read somewhere that the Insight was basically a souped-up KC Vibe, which is apparently not the case.

I see one used Insight listed right now that I may pursue. No 20/20’s at the moment, at least not within my budget 😄
 
mackat said:
I ended up buying a used 20/20, very excited for it to arrive! Now I just need to find another home for my KC Vibe :)
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Congrats! Would love to hear your head-to-head comparison of the two.

Still waiting for my Bryston to get back from the shop! At least it's been shipped now. They spent two months trying to figure out how to restore the worn lettering before giving up. I'm not angry since the repair and the return shipping are now free despite the phono being long out of warranty. The shipped unit is now back to original specs.

I may opt for laser etching of the lettering at a local shop since Bryston could not find the original silk screen. Depends on if I can find a black faceplate, or not.
 
The Bryston is back! After giving it overnight to fully warm up and charge capacitors, I gave it a spin today. After just a couple of records, my initial impressions were validated and the hum issue is now gone. The BP-1.5 is better than the Insight in my setup.

Bryston said that they replaced the switches and “tightened up the ground points”. So it looks like the Bryston will be taking residence in the audio cabinet for a while until a Little Loco can find its way in. I may just move the Insight to the office system for a future LOMC addition over there.
 
GStephenH said:
I love it. Granted I don’t have much to compare it to since my first phono preamp was the 20/20 then I went to the Duo. But, truly, I can’t imagine ever needing to upgrade again.
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Stephen, glad to see you enjoy the Duo(s). Its bulletproofness ensures your enjoyment for decades and its musicality can’t be questioned. I love the Aesthetix Rhea Signature that replaced your Duo in my system but hindsight makes it apparent the Duo can be considered a great lifetime choice for a phono pre. Good call!
 
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