Michell Gyrodec se/nait XS2

Gyrodec SE also here.  My phono stage is worth twice the amp.  I'm happy with that.  It's got a very important role to play.

I'd certainly be thinking of the price of my phonostage but only within the context of which cartridges and phonostages have good synergy together.

What's your cartridge?

Chris

Christopher_M posted:

I'd certainly be thinking of the price of my phonostage but only within the context of which cartridges and phonostages have good synergy together.

What's your cartridge?

Chris

Haven't ordered the Gyrodec yet. But thought about a Rega Exact cartridge.  

Rega Fono then. Or Aria if flush.

C.

I originally used a Cambridge 640p before buying an old single din  Stageline from flea bay which has worked brilliantly on my Gyrodec with a high output  moving coil cartridge  with amps  Amps

 from 5i  to 252  no complaints/ no regrets,  it been brilliant  considering the money I paid for it  (I have only recently upgraded to superline and fitted a microbenz moving coil .. Still have the Stageline. 

IMHO , if it sounds right to you and it's within your budget then that's all that matters..  

Enjoy your analogue music.. 

Christopher_M posted:

I'd certainly be thinking of the price of my phonostage but only within the context of which cartridges and phonostages have good synergy together.

What's your cartridge?

Chris

Audio Technica OC7 iii on SME IV. That's about £2000 worth.  Phono is about £3000 new but paid £1500 s/h.  Just to put it in context. Maybe less ££ would have served as well. To be honest, I had no idea how much to spend but heard such good reports about the my stage that I thought I'd give it a go.  If I had a Rega cartridge, I'd certainly be considering one of their phono amps to go with it.

For an Exact, I think a Stageline N run into your Nait (no Hicap) would be a great choice. You could also get a Dynavector 10X5 cartridge and P75 phono -- which also handles low-output MC carts, if you later decide to move up the range.

I take it that your Gyro will have a Rega tonearm?

Gyro SE here, with TechnoArm and high output MM cartridge man cart (£750). I ended up spending far more that I intended but I do have a big LP collection and will possibly move over to MC at some point so I guess this had a bearing on my final choice.

 First off I had stageline N then added hicapDR which was ok but lacked some finesse and fine detail I knew I was missing, fast forward and I've now moved on to the Avid Pellere which I got at a very good price from my dealer S/H very impressive, it has refinement and a smoothness with great micro detail in a organic natural way especially when paired with quality interconnects, I found Chord Signature Tuned Array were a good match.  I did a home dem with the Rega Aria stage but it sounded dreadful here, bloated and overblown  just a mess then the Lehmann BC which was way better but too far in the opposite direction fantastic detail but a bit too metallic and bright then tried their Decade seemed better balanced very good overall but not quite a match for the Avid Pellere and at the same price although new the price is double so not surprising I guess. At the end of the day Its all about synergy with your cart/arm TT combo even cables make a huge difference, try and demo where possible would be my advice and remember where phono stages are concerned there a big world outside of Naim so I found it worth the effort to try as many different combos as possible.

So back to your main question, I would say if the Rega Aria works with your cart/apm/tt then go for it, I ended up spending  more on my stage than I did  on arm/cart but I am totally happy with what it does for me. good luck with your journey.

Are you having a techno arm?  In which case I'd have a Dyna Vec 10x5 low output and Naim Stageline S.  

Dyna's are great trackers in my experience.