[pele1977]

Do you know any amps that have very 3D sound just like Heed Audio Quasar but much more cheaper? That could also be DIY. Now i'm using CA640P.

[royphil345]

Have a favorite cartridge you plan on using with it?

[pele1977]

I have a Goldring 1042 with Rega P2.

[low.pfile]

Do you know any amps that have very 3D sound just like Heed Audio Quasar but much more cheaper? That could also be DIY. Now i'm using CA640P.

for reference, to those with suggestions....the aforementioned heed quasar is $995 retail

[pele1977]

for reference, to those with suggestions....the aforementioned heed quasar is $995 retail

Yeah. I could allways save money and buy it but...

[pele1977]

Would jolida 9 do the job?

[royphil345]

Would jolida 9 do the job?

I've never been 100% satisfied with my Jolida. It definitely has strengths and a smooth, powerful, refined sound. But it's just so "round" sounding. The rolled off frequency extremes seem to make it sound a little "forward" and the soundstage isn't as well defined as I'd like. Maybe the capacitor upgrade we were discussing in the other thread would help, but I can't imagine it doing THAT much. Still wish I could hear a rip done with a modded Jolida to maybe inspire me into action...


I've heard some rips done with that little Hagerman Bugle and thought they sounded very nice. Maybe not quite as transparent and 3-D as I've heard, but rich, inviting and it definitely seemed to sound worlds better than many inexpensive phono stages. I've owned several...  I still mean to pick up a Bugle someday, maybe the kit if it really seems like you still save money after buying all the parts retail.

[Russtafarian]

A sound-smith.com mmp4 ($300) with a 24v battery power supply (2 12v SLAs in series) will get you there.  I can't get over how good this setup sounds in my system.

[Russtafarian]

Actually I'm thinking of selling my mmp-4 so I can get the version with MC transformers.  PM me if you're interested.

Russ

[royphil345]

Would jolida 9 do the job?

I have to apologize to my Jolida. I was having doubts about it and I've been trying out some solid-state units, some of them selling for almost the price of the Jolida. The Jolida has come out on top, in some cases by a wide margin with the competition having obvious flaws. With the Sovtek LPS tubes and the tube covers removed, it really does sound quite accurate, smooth, musical and transparent. It definitely showed it's worth at least it's price. So, yes... I definitely would recommend it as an upgrade to anything I've heard that costs less. You get your money's worth with the Jolida. I think you would very likely be pleased with the upgrade. Don't even listen to it with the stock Chinese tubes though. It would scare you... lol.

I think it's one of those things where it took me so long to make it sound right over time... with tube rolling and the best sounding settings for my carts... there was just never a "wow" moment and I still doubted it when it finally started to sound nice.

[royphil345]

I ended up buying Russ's Soundsmith MMP4. I held off offering any opinions on it because... It comes in a low-gain version Soundsmith calls "standard" and a higher gain version one of his distributors chooses to stock instead. The one I bought turned out to be the higher gain version and, to my ear, the whopping high gain caused kind of a V-shaped EQ curve when used with my standard output MM carts.

I sent the MMP4 to Soundsmith to have it converted to "standard" gain. Got it back a few days ago and now I can say it is an EXTREMELY accurate, transparent, dynamic, "open" and refined sounding phono stage. I may even prefer it to my Jolida, even after the tweaks I found to get the most out of my Jolida. It will definitely be a tough call. I recently tried and sent back several other solid-state phono stages. Nothing else came close to this in the price-range. So yes, Soundsmith MMP4 also highly recommended! Definitely get the "standard" low gain version unless you'll be using it with a high-output moving coil or moving magnet with unusually low output. I haven't tried powering it with batteries as Russ recommended yet, but I bet it would sound insanely smooth and I may get around to trying it one of these days. Very, very satisfied with it as-is though. Can't imagine how the MMP3 with super-premium parts quality for $100.00 more would sound. The MMP4 is probably the best phono stage I've heard in my system yet... and not the most expensive. May not seem like a huge bargain at $300.00 for moving magnet only... But, it's worth every penny IMO.

Here's a rip done with the Soundmith and the slightly bright, but reasonably revealing AT440MLa. I keep grabbing that cart to evaluate mods or equipment, even though it's not my favorite as far as tone goes. But, it's about the most revealing cart I have...

http://www.4shared.com/file/8mi0cLOl/08_-_TIJUANA_TAXI.html

EDIT: Naw... After more listening, I still prefer the Jolida, particularly after substituting the silver mica capacitance loading plugs for the internal cheap ceramic loading capacitors. The Soundsmith still has a bit of a V-shaped EQ to my ear. Not bad, no obvious harshness or coloration like some of the other solid-states I auditioned. But, it seems to favor the frequency extremes a bit much for my taste and it doesn't really cut it with the 440MLa.  I would spend $400.00 on a Jolida instead of $300.00 on the Soundsmith. I'll probably end up reselling the Soundsmith.