For the back story, see my previous thread:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=40602.0OK, so I went a little crazy. I tried to add each mod or element individually so I could really ascertain its effect, but in a couple of cases impatience got the best of me. Here is what I've done up to this point:
Cartridge: Denon DL-160. I think it was nostalgic memories of my early-80's DL-103 that led me to go this way, but it is the one element I am not totally sold on. It seems to be forgiving of surface noise, I love the mids and soundstage, piano recordings sound beautiful - but the high end on certain vocal and cymbal recordings is a bit shrill. I think I will allow for some more break-in time before I think about a change, and $180 for this cart is within the "worthy experiment" range. I'm tracking at 1.5 g - recommended is 1.25. I think I've done a pretty good job of alignment, but I may try redoing it after all the tweaks I've done since (read on).
Phono pre: Slee Amp 2 SE - love it love it love it! Totally gets out of the way of the music. Not much more needs to be said.
Platter: Iron Audio acrylic: Tightened up all the low-mid gunk and improved imaging and bass presence. No-brainer.
Counterweight: Kerry F2 Titanium. Greatly tightened up the bass and added an overall authority to the sound.
I added a 2mm spacer under the arm to correct the VTA, I eliminated the stock feet and added brass footers from Turntable Basics, cut off the stock IC cable and soldered on gold-plated jacks, and cut off the captice AC cord and soldered on a Mapleshade power cable. It was a bit hard at this point to isolate the effect of each item, but I would say the latter had the least noticeable effect (especially vs. cost), not taking into account any future improvement from break-in time. I am using an Audience Au-24 IC between the table and the pre, and an Anti-Cable w/bullet plugs connecting the pre to the amp (Portal Audio Panache).
So, for what I've spent doing all of this I probably could have bought a much better table, but taking into account the parting out of the Grado cart and NAD phono pre that came with it, as well as the great deal I got to begin with, I feel OK about it. Also, I wouldn't have had the fun of going through the upgrade process, which was very satisfying, and easier than I expected. The Rega P2, being a relatively basic design, is a great blank canvas, and I now see why there has historically been a market for products to upgrade it.
I think tonearm re-wiring and a mat may be in my future, but for now I think I'll take a break and enjoy some music.
Speaking of which, I have officially rediscovered vinyl, and guess what - it rules! As an experiment, I A/B/C'ed the same recording (Steve Swallow's "Home", ECM ca. 1980) on vinyl, CD and through iTunes via AirPort Express. The vinyl sounded so much better than my fairly pricey Audience-modded Denon player that it is not even the slightest bit amusing. The AirPort Express was disappointingly a not very distant third.
