AudioNote resistors with ClearAudio Nano v2 and Concept MC massive improvement

Posted by: SimonPeterArnold on 08 March 2018

I have had a ClearAudio Concept TT with the Concept MC cartridge  for a while combined with their Nano v2 phonostage. I have been happy with it but its always lacked a bit of depth. Since switching my amp to Naim using Arcam before this has become more evident. I cant afford to upgrade any more kit and as I don't play vinyl all the time I think I am at the limit I am willing to invest,. So I started playing with different loadings in the phonostage. I had always used the stock resistors supplied and stuck the 403 ohm that ClearAudio recommend in the Nano for their own cartridges. So I tried the other 3 they supply, I found the 1000ohms too bright, 200ohm not really very dynamic and the 50ohm lost too much. So I decided wanted to try some other variants. After some research is seems that 100ohm seems to be stock favourite for  MC and a lot of stages this is the only option, so I decided to get some and also 470ohm as these are not far of the recommended spec ClearAudio say to use, 

The next step was to find some resistors not knowing much about these things I got some from a guy at my work who builds electronic  kit for the company. I got an assortment of different ones and tried them out. They all sounded worse than the stock ones supplied with the phonostage, So i got to think maybe they are just not audio grade components. So after more research I found some people talking about Audio Note some swearing they wouldn't use anything else. So I hunted some down in the uk and found Hifi-Collective stocked a wide range of different audio component manufacturers, Audio Note being one of them. So ordered in 100ohms and 470ohms they are not cheap considering what they are at about £4 each but hey its cheaper than most upgrades.

After installing them  all I can say is that wow both for them radically changed the sound for the better. Brought my vinyl back to life, gave ot warmth again which is what I loved about the format. Also it brought back the detail I was lacking. Overall I preferred the 100ohm as I think Naim is pretty bright and this helps compensate for it. I thought it might loose too muchi n the high end but gained more in the mids and with the Atom it just sounded right.  The difference over the stock resistors was night and day. I am truly shocked that something so small and inexpensive has given my kit a new leash of life. 

So if there any nano users or any people with phonostages that take plug in resistors rather than hardwired in I can highly recommend these resistors over stock ones. There are even more expensive ones in the range too.

 Now to get back to listening and loving my vinyl collection. 

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Posted on: 08 March 2018 by yeti42

You’re getting off lightly, superlines use resistors in DIN plugs - both channels in one plug - the decoupled plugs (air plugs in Naim parlance)  with Z foil resistors inside are a bit over £150 each.

Do you have any capacitance options? When I changed my arm from Naim to Schröder I found adding 470pf was optimal, It wasn’t a benefit with the Aro, probably due to the difference in the arm leads used.

Posted on: 09 March 2018 by SimonPeterArnold

Ouch,Nope no capacitance options thankfully it's complicated enough setting up a turntable without adding another thing into the mix. I'm happy with it now so no more tinkering required although I do have an urge to try some others in this range to see how it changes it.