One of those tell me what to upgrade threads

Hi everyone. I’m toying around with the idea of dumping some money into my system. Surprise!

Speakers: Silverline Sonatina II
Preamp: B&K Pro10MC (direct bypass 24/7)
Amp: B&K Ref 7250 II
Phono Pre: MS Nova II
Turntable: Hotrodded Pro-Ject RM 1.3
Cart: Evo III Hi
CD Player: RCA Laserdisc player
Cables: 95% DHLabs
Sub: one big turd

Here’s where my mind is going.
I cant justify a turntable upgrade, because I would love something like a VPI Classic.
I’m hearing the end of my cart’s life and I’m eyeballing the Hana’s. I don’t think the SL would shine well enough on the current table, though that is what I also would like to have. Thinking the EL.

I also feel bottlenecked by my preamp. Was toying around with the idea of a tube preamp. But also want to up my digital playback game. I’m not a streamer at all, and play only red book cd. My eyes wandered toward the Parasound P6 yesterday at the hifi shop.

My end game is to get Magnepan’s again. Something like the 1.7’s.

My mind says buy the Hana EL to hold me over till I can snag a VPI. Get the P6. Then jump on some well cared for 1.7’s when they appear at the hifi shop.

Am I out of my mind?

 

Seems like a reasonable plan.
We are all out of our minds.
Enjoy!

 

Just curious as to what you did to improve the turntable?

 

I had the tone arm wire stripped, and replaced with cardas, high end cartridge clips, and updated the junction box with better rca jacks. Swapped out the platter for an acrylic one with a new bearing. Then the speedbox.

 

I bet it sounds better than it did. Congrats.

 

Being a diehard tube audiophile, I like the tube preamp idea.

 

I agree.

 

Any suggestions??

 

How do you like the system the way it currently stands?
Is there any particular characteristic that bothers you?

 

Budget?

 

Budget?

 

El budgeto?

 

$1500 for the pre

 

You could offer $1500 for this one below, never know, it's listed for $1750, really nice tube preamp, I have the LS2 version with some upgraded parts, mainly teflon capacitors, but beautiful sound, uses four 6922 tubes in a monolithic triode configuration, remote control with relay switched 100-position volume using very high quality relays and resistors, all film capacitors in the signal and high voltage circuits, only uses electrolytics in the tube heater power supply and the digital control circuits... 10% discount (max $100) on ebay today too



Conrad Johnson Premier 17LS | eBay

 

Just a heads up, not sure what the one above went for but there's a 17LS on ebay ending in a couple hours with the current bid around $1300, no affiliation and all that, and I wouldn't go above $1700 since there is shipping too, but if someone could score it around $1500 or so, that is a pretty nice deal for a very nice sounding preamp ...

Conrad Johnson Premier 17LS Preamplifier | eBay

 

Looks like it went for $1577, that's a pretty good deal. I know of another one near San Francisco that's listed for $1500, don't know about shipping though...

 

I recently went from a Rogue 99 pre to a Parasound P6 and so far have been pleased. The difference between the two preamps in SQ was negligible, and I got all of the flexibility that the P6 offers and with a much lower noise floor. The phono preamp is solid, while it doesn’t touch my Lounge tube pre, it isn’t too far off. My favorite part of the P6 is the bass management, which cleaned up my mains/sub integration, and in that way I did get a nice boost in SQ.

While there may be better sounding stripped down used tube pre’s you can get in this price range, you have to ask yourself what you want out of a pre. Are you all SQ (CJ, PrimaLuna, etc) or do you want a Swiss Army knife like the P6? I wanted the convenience of the all in one and the synergy with my A21 amp, so the P6 fit the bill.