Sutherland Club House

AnthonyI

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It was bound to happen, lol.
My first Sutherland was the KC Vibe, which was great, but before the 30 day exchange/return was reached we traded up to an Insight. There are a couple more steps up the ladder, the 20/20 ($2200) and Duo ($4000). If you're looking for a step up from your Pho-8 or iPhono and stay under $1k, the KC Vibe ($895 )is fantastic. Budget prevented me from going much farther than the Insight ($1400), but it's an "End Game" piece for me, it's an amazing piece of equipment. Anyway, I wanted to bring this thread back because Uncle Kevin at Upscale posted a review of the 20/20 a few days ago and it reminded me why I love the Sutherland mentality, quality and product.

 
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Why must you torment us so with all this great gear?!

Okay, self, take deep breaths and repeat, "I like what I have. I like what I have."

(Curls up into a ball and starts sucking thumb) I like what I have. I like what I have. I like what I have. I like what I have.

It's not working. Dammit, I want one!
 
I guess this is the right place to put this. As most of you know, I love the Grado house sound.

When I was turntable shopping a couple of years ago I ruled out any turntable that I knew would hum with a Grado.

The perfect turntable for me would also be able to be used with a Grado wood bodied cartridge, which is something I knew I eventually wanted to try. The Grado woodies weigh 10 grams. As we all know, the MoFi fit the bill to a T.

The same consideration came into play with the phono stage. Grado makes two different series of wood bodied cartridges- the Statement (1 mV output) and Reference (4.8 mV output). The difference is that the Reference has 125 feet of coiled copper, while the Statement has just over 7 feet. The wiring is much thicker in the Statement, leading to an electrical resistance of just over 70 ohms at the cartridge pins. The Reference is 480 ohms. The Statement series gives a more direct path between the grooves and the arm wiring.

Like a moving coil, you'll need more gain than the standard 40 or so dB. I'm running at 50 dB. But unlike a moving coil, the Statement series is designed to operate into a 47k ohm load. Many phono stages can't do this. Sutherlands can.

So the plan is complete. Everything is designed to work together. Absolutely no regrets. The eagle has landed- as much as I love the Gold2, the Statement Platinum is a clear level above. The SP isn't broken in yet, but I already prefer it to a broken in Gold2. Its like going from a Vibe to an Insight- not a small jump.
 
I guess this is the right place to put this. As most of you know, I love the Grado house sound.

When I was turntable shopping a couple of years ago I ruled out any turntable that I knew would hum with a Grado.

The perfect turntable for me would also be able to be used with a Grado wood bodied cartridge, which is something I knew I eventually wanted to try. The Grado woodies weigh 10 grams. As we all know, the MoFi fit the bill to a T.

The same consideration came into play with the phono stage. Grado makes two different series of wood bodied cartridges- the Statement (1 mV output) and Reference (4.8 mV output). The difference is that the Reference has 125 feet of coiled copper, while the Statement has just over 7 feet. The wiring is much thicker in the Statement, leading to an electrical resistance of just over 70 ohms at the cartridge pins. The Reference is 480 ohms. The Statement series gives a more direct path between the grooves and the arm wiring.

Like a moving coil, you'll need more gain than the standard 40 or so dB. I'm running at 50 dB. But unlike a moving coil, the Statement series is designed to operate into a 47k ohm load. Many phono stages can't do this. Sutherlands can.

So the plan is complete. Everything is designed to work together. Absolutely no regrets. The eagle has landed- as much as I love the Gold2, the Statement Platinum is a clear level above. The SP isn't broken in yet, but I already prefer it to a broken in Gold2. Its like going from a Vibe to an Insight- not a small jump.
.................maybe I shouldn't visit you in a couple of weeks, lol
 
I have a chance to listen to and buy a 20/20 in the next week or two in my system. I sold my Insight because I thought the onboard on my Luxman was just as good. I’m curious if anyone has gone from an Insight to the 20/20, and if so, what changes did you experience?
 
I have a chance to listen to and buy a 20/20 in the next week or two in my system. I sold my Insight because I thought the onboard on my Luxman was just as good. I’m curious if anyone has gone from an Insight to the 20/20, and if so, what changes did you experience?

Can you buy it with a money back guarantee?
 
It’s a friends who is getting a Duo. I can listen to it in my setup for a few weeks before deciding. Was just curious if anyone had made the leap.
Its good you can demo it, that always helps. Since you got rid of the Insight I think either the 20/20 or Duo would still fit the bill, based on your budget of course, I still think if you own an Insight the next jump would be the Duo in my opinion, but as @HiFi Guy mentioned a couple posts up, I'm good with the Insight. Doesn't mean that if I had a chance to demo the Duo I wouldn't, lol, but not actively looking. Have fun!
 
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