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hi carlton i am a bit late to this party, though i have been following it since the beginning
at first i was going to add my 2 cents worth in on the amplifier, but you had your mind set on the valves which is fine
i find the valves a bit "slow" and less engaging, however i have not heard any modern ones
i run an accuphase power and pre which i would not part with and i am very happy with my system as a whole, but two areas i will spend money on soonish is to do more research into speaker cables and, like you am very interested in a separate phono stage though the built in phone mc setting on my accuphase seems extremely good
for something different i would certainly audition a valve phono stage, but i am open to either
one important thing when considering the turntable is to think seriously about having an external motor and belt to turn the platter
this has been the major difference for me in quietness of my prescious records
up until about 5 years ago i had my rega 3 since 1982 and with moderate to higher volumes the motor underneath turning the spindle used to rumble and of course then the cartridge picked it up and magnified it and so clarity was lost at even moderate volumes no matter how isolated from vibration the deck was
i have never heard a quieter turntable than the one i have now ( the project evolution 10.1) with it's outboard motor, whisper quiet even on higher volumes except of course for the wonderful pops of records
next, do not under estimate mass in a platter, the best dampening of them all (except for the magnificent suspension from a thorens!)
i also have the wonderful ortofon kontrapunkt A moving coil
DON'T SCRIMP ON YOUR SPEAKERS, this could let all of your hard earned a big waste in my books
in the 80's a good pair of speakers made an average system sound better, now though i start with the pointy (literally) end of things with a good cartridge and styli
look out for a decent second hand pair of brits i reckon
i have had my celestion ditton 66's since 1982 also and i love them to bits, very efficient on low volumes with amazing clarity
pat
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