Phono Stage

Whats a decent phono stage to use. I keep seeing the projects for £40. Are they decent enough or should i opt for something better.

Its for a
Rega P2
Project xpression
or Project RPM4

Via a NADc350

Cheers
G

 

The Creeks are meant to be good and I use an M/F XLPS with my PT/Kuzma/Dynavector. Les at Walrus had to restrain me from spending more money because in his view it was not worth going above this for my T/T and therefore should also apply to you unless you will be upgrading at some point soon. dominic

 

I am just about to head off to the shop to buy a priject xpression. I am tempted to get a nad phono stage as this is tha same as my amp. I dont have masses of vinyl so i dont want anythin super expesive. Just value for money that will last and be decent enough for an upgraded tt in a few years.

G

 

Either the Pro-Ject or NAD should do the trick. I use a Pro-Ject Phono Box with a Debut II and a Yamaha AV amp. The NAD would be as good, I would imagine.

 

NOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Dont get a project deck!!!!!!! Even if its just for the reason that u cant upgrade the arm on them!!!!! Much more sensible to get a Rega that can be upgraded / modified if u want in the future.
Tested project decks against Rega ones and the Regas were loads better. The project 9 which was quite a lot more expensive than the P3 but was not nearly as nice. Also.....
Erm...why would ne1 buy the NAD deck when its based on the Rega anyway, surley the original's always gonna be best, and Rega wouldnt let a "copy" of their deck be better.
I listened to project's phonobox and the £100 phonobox SE and ended up with the SE version, as I thought it was worth the extra £s, and even sounded as good as a MF XLP.
IMHO having owned a Project Debut there's no point in spending the extra money on an expression, cos I couldnt hear the difference when demoing them together...if ur spending this sort of money, u might as well save a few spons and get a debut...else just buy a Rega.

I meant a project 6 btw

 

I think you'll find the Nad isn't a copy of a P2 ... it IS a P2.

 

Jimmy - I think you need to read the above posts again. The Project Expression deck has a very good carbon fibre arm - and it could be changed if you so wish - but why on this level of deck I don't know. There is no mention of purchasing a NAD deck - just a NAD phono stage.

I would just like to add that I quite liked the phonbox with my Debut II when I had it and I would imagine that the SE would suit the Expression well. I would add a little extra to your budget thou and get a slightly better cartridge at the time of purchase - this would make it much cheaper.

Donut

 

You cant change the arm to anything other than another project one though...can you???
Surley thats the whole point of spending a reasonable sum on something like this...u can upgrade it later. Rega arms can go to Origin Live and get modded like this....project cant.
And IMO the rega decks all sounded lots better to start with...so all in all clearly a much better option.
Yes i was wrong about NAD decks being mentioned...need to open my eyes a bit.
What i meant was i couldnt hear the expression being any better than my old debut, so couldnt see a reason for the extra outlay...unless it went on a Rega...call me narrow minded.....its what my ears told me!!!!!

 

But surley the rega vsn would be better cos they designed it....you wouldnt build a version for someone else and make it exactly the same and exactly as good, the rega has got to be better.

 

Not claiming that it necessarily makes a whole lot of commercial sense, but so far as I can tell, there is no "version" question about it. They are one and the same identical deck or put another way the NAD is an OEM P2. They should be exactly as good because they are exactly the same.

Rega don't seem to be suffering. Maybe they struck a good deal with NAD? Who knows . They do it with their arms after all - you'll see RB250s and RB300s with all sorts of different manufacturers names on - true some are modded but many aren't. Don't think Rega care so much about whose name is on a deck so long as it sells and its their deck

Unlike the new Goldring GR1 which looks like a P2 (which it isn't) and has an arm which looks like an RB250 (which it isn't either, though in the case oif the arm it is a Rega) - that said it may well still be good value - I dunno, I haven't heard one.

 

well i had a project debut II (although i never used the project phono stage, i had a marantz at the time) and it worked well for what it was.

in my view, if you like the sound of the xpression deck you should get it. it is unlikely, at that price point, that you will start upgrading lots of parts of your deck. you can upgrade the arm to a different one, but the carbon fibre arm is not a bad arm at all.

once you start wanting to spend more money on arms and cartridges you will probably replace the whole deck as the plinth will show its limitations. so be pragmatic now, and if you like it, get it. this is of course my humble opinion. especially if it is a good deal (it will be worth considering second hand gear to see if you can get more for your money).

i have now the Project 2, because i got a good deal on it.
the sound is considerably better than the debut, but most of all, the platter is much heavier, and has a glass layer on top of the iron disc. this may seem fancy but has a very important impact on your choice of cartridges, so you may want to think about this.

you see, when i tried to use a high-output MC cartridge on the debut ii, due to its iron platter, the magnetism of the cartridge was pulling it towards the platter, making any arm adjustments void and making it impossible to listen to a record. took me a long while to realise this, actually!

so now i can use them, because the platter has the glass layer that isolates the iron from the cartridge. and it is altogether a better platter and a better deck.

so if you are thinking of using high ouput MC cartridges try one first, but AFAIK the platter on the xpression is the same of the debut II and will cause you the same problems.

hope this helps,

:beer:
Jack

 

I have tried the Project Phono box and its cack with my amp,so I have a brand new one,with a box and a receipt,i have only had it a week,you can have it for £30 if you want it

 

Cheers saab,

Just out of curiosity why is it cack with your amp. I have a nad c350 at the mo .

Greg

 

dunno,i can only compare it to the built in phono stage that is in the Audio Analogue Puccini am selling,maybe i just expected too much for my £40

if you want it let me know otherwise i will Ebay it,and they go for more than i paid for it,thanks to bid fever