I love the look of my old Marantz 2215b and I will never get rid of it. Actually works great and looks great now that I put new led lights in. I'm not gonna throw any money at it for a recap, but I use it most every day. I listen to fm radio while I'm working. I run the tape outs to the tuner inputs of my NAD amp and let it do the power work, Kinda of the best of both worlds.
Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice
- Thread starter Joe Mac
- Start date
debianlinux
Well-Known Member
Why does the Rega Fono not get pitched around here?
MM only and at least 2 of the other 3 (unsure about the Vincent) are more flexible re MC maybe? I don’t have a great deal of experience with Rega personally if I’m honest.
AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
I would agree with @Joe Mac , flexibility is something worth having especially when your in the same price range (The Pho-8 is MM/MC as well), and if I'm not mistaken the Rega's the most expensive of them. Again, as Joe, not familiar with the sound of the Rega, but I'm a big "bang for your buck" type of person.
debianlinux
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I was just curious because it his the price point and gets fabulous reviews everywhere I look. I don’t view the lack of MC to be a big deal at this price tier (assuming it lives up to the hype otherwise). I guess, I thought maybe the glowing reviews were astroturfed or something.
That’s fair and I’d imagine the reviews are likely spot on. Rega stuff has too avid a following. Ironically Rega and MF seem to be locked as amongst the highest rated phono stages at a few price points, it was a call between the two manufacturers for me too when I bought my phono stage!
Even better, in all honesty, all 3 are really nice in that price point. As you said, a little research and @neuorder I'm sure you'll find the one that suits you best
Nice, thanks for the input guys!
A shop in town has the LX2-LPS for $399 CAD (about $289 USD) which puts it close to same price as the Vincent ($249 at Audio Advisor) and Studiophono ($299 at Music Direct). Also, if I were to pick up the LX2-LPS, I'd be saving on shipping, possibly duty, and have instant gratification.
I'll have to research some comparisons if I decide to update my preamp.
Right?? I love the look of my Sansui when listening to music in the dark. Looks good next to my Nakamichi LX-3 tape deck too.
If your amp is hesitating putting out power to one channel, then the power supply (likely the caps) are on the way out.
“Serviced” means many different things to different people. I’ll give you a couple of examples:
More years ago than I care to think about,
my first “real” job was managing a shop that did repairs and bought and sold used gear on the side. All of the gear was “checked out” by me. Does it work? Does it look good? Yes? Does it have issue- like noisy controls? No problem. I’d open it up, and hit it with some tuner cleaner. Problem solved. We’d sell our gear as “professionally inspected” with a 90 day guarantee. Would I accept a piece of gear like your Sansui? No. We’d have to run it through the shop. That would kill my profit margin.
Years later, I found myself in sales and finance for a VW dealership. We sold Factory Certified used VWs. To the public, that means the best of the best, right? Nope. The cars would have to fall into age/mileage requirements. The dealer paid for a warranty from VW. Shazam! It’s certified. So that 100 point check? We’d check the oil. If it was clean on the dipstick, it’s good to go. If not, we’d change the oil. Of course, a detail. The joke when you bought the car (besides the $3000 you paid for a $300 certification) was “Two down, 98 to go.”
There are good shops and good dealerships- ask me about the $5000 of repairs my dealership just did on my Alfa under warranty- with a free Alfa loaner. But you have to have some understanding of what you are dealing with. Most people don’t.
These days, I’m not fond of most vintage gear. The prices have gotten ridiculous. I’d recommend you buy a NAD 326BEE V2 to replace your Sansui. That’s where I’d start. I’d not spend the money to properly bring the Sansui up to snuff.
I bought a Decware amp and Zu speakers last year, so I can merrily endorse your plan.
Definitely get the speakers first, all else equal. As others have said, a low powered amp won't work well with inefficient speakers. I'm not sure what your timeline for both steps is, but keep in mind it'll likely take 4+ months to get the Decware. Mine took 4.5 months from the time I placed the order. Also keep in mind that you are only charged 10% (non-refundable) when you place your Decware order, with the balance being charged when it ships. You might be able to save yourself a few months if you order in advance.
dansomeone
Well-Known Member
Oh yeah, your shared experience pushed me down this path. Definitely speakers first, at the upcoming July sale. I've wanted them since I read Steve Guttenberg's review seven years ago. Then wait patiently until Decware's black friday 10% off sale for the amp. That allows plenty of time to get to know the speakers in my current setup, the better to appreciate the differences the new amp brings.
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Thanks for the advice! I agree with you on vintage gear. I see the NAD doesn't have a phono stage so maybe I'll look into a new phono stage first while looking for a used 326BEE. Is there much difference between V1 and V2?
V2 has a built in phono stage.
dansomeone
Well-Known Member
I think @HiFi Guy is referring to the 40w NAD 316BEE, which added a phono stage in version 2. The 50w 326BEE is discontinued and never had a phono stage or a second version.
Correct.
MikeH
Well-Known Member
Anybody know why a new TT (less than 6 months old) would have fluctuations in volume on records? My buddy's TT sounds like someone is raising and lowering the volume on certain albums (but not all). It's a Fluance TT.
Does it have a built in phono stage? If so, that’s where I suspect the problem lies.
MikeH
Well-Known Member
Yes--it does. I suspected that too...I think he bought it directly through Fluance so I told him to reach out to them to see about the warranty/replacement. Sucks that it failed within 6 months though...
debianlinux
Well-Known Member
Yes. A TT, at heart, is stupid simple. Make a platter spin a constant speed and drape a rock over it. Speed fluctuations are an actual TT problem. Volume fluctuations are almost necessarily in the amplification stages (although suspect wiring could theoretically cause it).