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Audio Research State of the Art Audio Reproduction

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  #11  
Old 03-05-2013, 05:09 PM
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Number95 Number95 is offline
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Originally Posted by Etunes View Post
I've been told that the best match is a cartridge with an output voltage of .4MV@ 5cm/s or greater with the REF Phono 2. Please share your thoughts and experience with the REF Phono 2 and which cartridge works for you. My turntables are SME 20/3A which has the V arm and the Ayre/DPS with DPS arm.
Thanks!
I use Transfiguration Orpheus with ph7 with reasonable satisfaction. Ph7 has 57.5db gain and cartridge is 0.48mv if I am not mistaken. Ref2 seems to have 68db single ended and 74db balanced gain depending on your connecting preference thru preamp, either of its gains are much better compared to ph7 so you should almost have an ideal combination with any cartridge at the market. I doubt you will need extra gain thru your preamp with Ref2(se) while with ph7 and low output mc cartridges, one sometimes need preamp gain which slightly degrades overall performance as well as introducing more noise. I do not think one can regret his choice if he gets Ref2 se. For fine tuning to the cartridge's internal impedence and to the rest of the audio system, you can try different load preferences thru Ref phono and find the most optimum load for phono stage. Happy listenings.
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  #12  
Old 03-05-2013, 05:47 PM
BillK BillK is offline
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I'm ecstatic (as I should be) with the Lyra Kleos and recently upgraded to the Atlas (!).
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  #13  
Old 03-05-2013, 06:17 PM
Etunes Etunes is offline
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Originally Posted by gardener View Post
I have a dynavector xv1 s. Set at high gain. Load 500. And works fantastically
And I don't have se version. Is it a big step up?
No. Ref 5. Ref 75 and Nola KO
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  #14  
Old 03-05-2013, 08:14 PM
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analog brother analog brother is offline
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Originally Posted by BillK View Post
I'm ecstatic (as I should be) with the Lyra Kleos and recently upgraded to the Atlas (!).
i am keen to know the differences. please indulge us!
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  #15  
Old 03-06-2013, 12:50 AM
jpgr4blu jpgr4blu is offline
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I agree with Gardener. Dynavector XV1-s, high gain, 500 ohm loading--wonderful.
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Wilson Alexia V, ARC Ref 160M MkII,Ref 40,Ref Phono2SE, Shunyata Triton3, Typhon, Sigma PCs, ICs & SCs, Spectral SDR4000SV (w MIT IC), Belcanto PL1, Oppo 205, Marantz 2270 (tuner only):AudioDesk and VPI record cleaners, Furutech Demag & Destat; Stillpoint Apertures, TechDas AF 3S Premium with SAT CF9 and Kuzma 4pt 9" arms, Lyra Atlas Lambda SL, Dynavector XV1-t stereo and XV1-s mono carts, Miyajima mono, Shure V15VxMR,
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  #16  
Old 03-06-2013, 01:30 AM
Tonepub Tonepub is offline
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Actually the step up to the SE is pretty big, considering ARC is only charging $2000 to do it. Both are great. You only need to select high or low gain and loading from the front panel. I've used everything from .23mv carts up and have had no issues. So far nothing that didn't work just fine with this phono stage.
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  #17  
Old 03-06-2013, 02:01 AM
BillK BillK is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by analog brother View Post
i am keen to know the differences. please indulge us!
Basically the Atlas excels most notably at retrieval of low frequency information (for both better and worse.)

The good of this is that there is more actual bass being extracted from my LPs than I knew was there with other cartridges I've used - not tubbyness or false bass, but natural bass in the recordings (sometimes also heard on digital copies of the same album.)

The bad is that the cartridge is better at conveying rotational-based infrasonic low frequencies to the phono stage and on to the amp so I now see my woofers making motions I've never seen them make before trying to reproduce excessively low frequencies.

The Atlas also consistently seems to provide more separation between channels than I've heard with other cartridges.

Is it worth the huge price premium over the Kleos? It all depends on what you want to hear on your records, but I've never heard better LF information extracted from my vinyl, and given the price of the Ref 2 SE alone it makes sense to feed it the best signal that you reasonably can.

The downside of course is that if you amortize expected stylus life over the cost of the cartridge, you're paying about $9/hour to play an LP, so you'd best only play really, really good pressings.

(For the first time in my life I understand the efficacy of having multiple tonearms affixed or readily available to swap in and out.)

Last edited by BillK; 03-06-2013 at 02:05 AM.
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  #18  
Old 03-06-2013, 11:16 AM
Etunes Etunes is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tonepub View Post
Actually the step up to the SE is pretty big, considering ARC is only charging $2000 to do it. Both are great. You only need to select high or low gain and loading from the front panel. I've used everything from .23mv carts up and have had no issues. So far nothing that didn't work just fine with this phono stage.
Do you have a favorite or go to cartridge. Seems like the SE update is next on the list.
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  #19  
Old 03-06-2013, 04:20 PM
microstrip microstrip is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tonepub View Post
Actually the step up to the SE is pretty big, considering ARC is only charging $2000 to do it. Both are great. You only need to select high or low gain and loading from the front panel. I've used everything from .23mv carts up and have had no issues. So far nothing that didn't work just fine with this phono stage.
Do you know what are the exact changes, other than cosmetics? Are they similar to those carried when going from REF5 to REF5SE?
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  #20  
Old 03-06-2013, 07:12 PM
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mostly teflon caps upgrade i think. may be more.
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