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  #251  
Old 10-26-2019, 10:42 PM
Ilisten Ilisten is offline
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I just sold 2 Transparent HPPCs and a Premium power cord last weekend and replaced them all with the new Venom NR power cords and it was very noticeable in my system, I had the premium power cord on my C2300. The new Venom NRs are sweet power cables and an excellent value. I demoed the Delta NR at the same time and there wasn’t enough noticeable difference for me to make that step up.
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  #252  
Old 10-29-2019, 04:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ilisten View Post
I just sold 2 Transparent HPPCs and a Premium power cord last weekend and replaced them all with the new Venom NR power cords and it was very noticeable in my system, I had the premium power cord on my C2300. The new Venom NRs are sweet power cables and an excellent value. I demoed the Delta NR at the same time and there wasn’t enough noticeable difference for me to make that step up.
Interesting. I waffled between the Venoms and the Premium before I finally decided. In limited listening I'm pleased with the Premium on my 2300, but I'm fully aware the Venoms are lurking out there. There was a snafu regarding the price I was quoted by Transparent for the upgrade discount on the Premium (the price I was quoted was for a 2m, rather than a 1m HPPC; the store caught it after the order was placed), and had I known that I might well have gone for the Venom NR v12. As is, I saved $21 over a NR v10, excluding shipping and sales tax.

What changed in the sound for you?
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  #253  
Old 10-29-2019, 10:35 PM
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Dead quiet! It just seemed to lower the noise floor that much more and add more dynamics to my system. Even though I thought it already was until I made the switch.Deeper, wider and more separation between the different instruments and vocals I would say, don’t know how else to describe it. I’m sold on Shunyata now and maybe my next move will be a Denali or one of the new Hydra power distributors.
When does it end?
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  #254  
Old 11-01-2019, 09:26 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ilisten View Post
Dead quiet! It just seemed to lower the noise floor that much more and add more dynamics to my system. Even though I thought it already was until I made the switch.Deeper, wider and more separation between the different instruments and vocals I would say, don’t know how else to describe it. I’m sold on Shunyata now and maybe my next move will be a Denali or one of the new Hydra power distributors.
When does it end?
I think it ends when we say it does. Or when the money runs out.

So in your case, what already sounded good sounded better when the Venoms were put in. That piques my curiosity. As one who likes continuity and completeness, I'd be willing to try the Venoms but not at the expense of my sense of balance. So if I went for them, they'd end up on my power conditioners (NR v10, replacing Venom HCs) or my sources (NR v12, replacing Transparent HPPCs). I don't intend to touch the Premiums on my 2300 or MC501s; that line about money running out is a real thing, and I'm not hard-core enough to go on upgrade binges regularly. I'm still getting used to the Premium on my 2300, and the limited amount of time has yielded positive results. I'll have a better handle once it has more hours on it, but I like what I hear so far. Still, the Venoms are intriguing.
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  #255  
Old 07-03-2020, 10:42 AM
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Along with my new turntable, I purchased a new cartridge to go with it. It's the Grado Sonata 3 Timbre. While I like its sound, I do find I have to turn up the volume very much compared to the previous Grado Sonata 2. For unknown reasons the high volume setting bothers me some.

The Timbre is low output (though not a MC), so I thought of putting it on my C2300's MC input to see if that would change things. As is, I turn up the volume roughly 20 notches higher than previously depending on the recording.

Maybe a very naive question, but would the 2300's MC input compensate for the low-output, or am I just getting weird over nothing? I would have to disconnect everything and change out the tubes in the 2300's MC section, which I'm hoping to avoid. Since I never planned to use the MC input, I put $10 JJs in there as placeholders, as opposed to the Telefunken Black Diamonds in the line/MM inputs.
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  #256  
Old 09-07-2021, 06:33 AM
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It's been a while, but I was wondering if any C2300 users are using an outboard phono preamp? And if so which one and why? The onboard phono sections on Mac gear are quite good, but I'm not that pleased with the way I have to connect the ground to the C2300's terminal. The posts are huge and the smallish spades on my Van den Hul tonearm cable don't even fit around them. This wasn't an issue with my old, departed Aragon 47k; its ground terminal was a perfect fit (the tonearm itself is a SME 309).

The outboard phono is a flash-in-the-pan idea perhaps, but over time I've lost interest in vinyl spinning despite a new TT purchase last year; I haven't played an LP since April, and before that since July of 2020. Maybe a new phono preamp would revitalize me some?
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  #257  
Old 09-07-2021, 08:42 PM
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So you want a new phono preamp because your ground wire doesn’t fit the C2300’s ground terminal? Why not just replace the turntable’s spade connector with a larger spade connector?
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Last edited by Stahle; 09-07-2021 at 08:47 PM.
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  #258  
Old 09-08-2021, 12:32 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stahle View Post
So you want a new phono preamp because your ground wire doesn’t fit the C2300’s ground terminal? Why not just replace the turntable’s spade connector with a larger spade connector?
I didn't think of replacing the spades myself, that's an idea. But I'm not handy or adept enough technically to do it. Better to have someone who knows what they're doing handle it.

The idea for a new phono preamp came from another thread, where the OP was looking for one to use in place of the phono section on his Mac integrated. That idea was intriguing, and I started looking into the Parasound JC 3+ and the Mac MP100. But then I thought the MP100 might give me the same issue as I have now with the C2300 (the ground terminals look the same), and the JC 3+ is more money than I should be spending. I've semi-abandoned the idea for now and switched the focus to another tonearm cable with custom spades to fit the 2300's terminal better. The van den Hul I have now could be replaced for about $500 or so, but I'd need to see if the larger spades (or bananas)? would be extra. A new cable would be my third one; the previous one suffered mangled spades, and the original cable wasn't long enough when I rearranged my system (pre-C2300).

Besides, a separate phono preamp also means an extra set of ICs and another power cord; I do have extra ICs (Kimber Hero and AQ King Cobra) lying around, but I'd have to buy a PC. Add to that the trouble of re-arranging my setup to accommodate the extra box, and a possible tuner upgrade to replace my MD102, and there's enough reason to consider carefully what I do going forward.
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  #259  
Old 09-08-2021, 05:01 PM
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^ ^ ^ ^
UPDATE: I heard from McIntosh, and the ground terminals are the same size on the MP100 as those on the C2300. Further, the MP100 represents "a slight upgrade in sound quality and functionality."
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  #260  
Old 02-13-2022, 04:39 PM
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I have been interested off and on in Sweet Vinyl's Sugar Cube series of de-clicking devices for vinyl. I have some older records that would benefit from one for sure. But having begun explorations, I've got questions.

From what I see, it appears to be designed for line stages only. I visited the website and saw a sample hookup for the Sweet Vinyl SC-1 Plus. That set-up requires a phono preamp in the chain. The TT goes into a phono preamp, then that goes into the SC-1 Plus, then the SC-1 Plus goes into the preamp line stage. I didn't see any other option. I e-mailed Sweet Vinyl on this, we'll see what they say. The C2300's built-in phono is more than adequate. My money isn't situated to where it would be wise to buy both a phono preamp and an SC-1 Plus. It's either or neither.

If anyone is using a Sweet Vinyl unit with a built-in phono stage, feel free to chime in with your thoughts. Thanks.
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Last edited by prepress; 02-13-2022 at 04:42 PM.
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