My system so far.. advice on phono stage and speakers

Hi W12. £600 is a good budget. Firstly, for the phono stage you've got a few options. Naim's Stageline is probably your first port of call, lots on eBay around the £200 mark. It can be elevated with a Hi-Cap but that'll blow your budget. The upsides are the authentic Naim sound, doesn't need it's own power supply, size and price of course. The only downside is you have to choose MM or MC. In your case, it's a MM so you'd want the Stageline-N plus a 4 pin Din-Din to power it.

I've just bought a Rega Aria which is a £850 phono stage to replace my Stageline, these can be had from dealers secondhand, ex-demo or off eBay for around £600-£650. That'll take MC or MM so you're futureproofed if changing cartridges. It will need a BNC-DIN cable (so factor that into the price), though but takes it power from the (supplied) kettle-type lead. I found the Aria to deliver more detail and greater dynamics. It's a top stage IMHO.

LP12-owning Forum members also recommend Lejonklou (which would be within budget) but they are only available through 2 dealers in the UK which is why I couldn't demo one easily, or you can buy direct online. 

There's Graham Slee who specialise in phono stages. I didn't audtion any but people do speak well of them.

If it were my money and I couldn't go to the cost of the Aria + cable I'd stick with a Stageline, it's a great stage and superb value.

Jonner the downside is a 272 cannot power a stageline

2nd hand Linn Linto should come within budget.

Linto is mc only

Thank you all, what a great community!

I’ll put the rega aria and also Graham Slee on the shortlist. I had seen quite a few GS’s on eBay but not knowing much about hifi thought it safer to stick with mainstream brands.

I assume the 272 can work with a stageline but I’ll need a hicap or other to power it up?

Yes, the Stageline would work with a power supply. You might like to think about where you are going with vinyl. A hicapped Stageline is quite a lot if you are sticking with the MP150. 

As for speakers, you’d be potty not to try them first. Maybe your local dealer sells some used ones, or has ex dem bargains. If you want the full Naim sound, and if you have solid brick walls, you could do a lot worse than some SBLs. They need careful setting up, which you may or may not be up for, but if you are you can get incredible performance for not much money. 

Antonio1 posted:

Jonner the downside is a 272 cannot power a stageline

Drat!

There’s a Graham Slee Reflex M on eBay, this is ok for MM isn’t it?

The cartridge looks ok with 4.5 mV..

Just enquire if you re in the uk authorized sellers or trusted dealers whether they may help you sort an older stageline/older flatcap2x/xs not needing service in the immediate, whereabouts  your budget or not much more.

that would be great.

Antonio1 posted:

Just enquire if you re in the uk authorized sellers or trusted dealers whether they may help you sort an older stageline/older flatcap2x/xs not needing service in the immediate, whereabouts  your budget or not much more.

that would be great.

If it helps (and I might get moderated for this), Cymbiosis have just taken a Hi-Cap into stock, they emailed me at the weekend. All you need then is a Stageline-N and I will be sending mine to them as part-x on the Aria I've been demoing for the last couple of weeks. 

Thanks Jonners, I’ve bought the reflex m now. The naim way tends to add more and more and I thought I’d keep it simple now. I’m going to set it up with my cinema speakers (monitor audio apex 10) and then enjoy the speaker upgrade in a month or two. I’ll let you know how it all sounds ????

Good one - enjoy!