Which amp will sound best for vinyl?

[Squishman]

Trying to decide between a NAD C338 or a Denon PMA-600NE. Both have the features I need. Which might sound best for vinyl? Or could they be so close, it may be indecirepherable?

 

[highfigh]

The amp is less important than the cartridge, turntable & setup and whatever is between the cartridge and amplifier. Without a good cartridge and setup, there's no chance of it sounding better than mediocre and without a good phono preamp, even a good cartridge has a road block. You don't need to go nuts on the price, but the cartridge needs to be a good match for the tonearm and this is something that has been lost on many people who are selling this kind of equipment- they never had to deal with it in their lives and don't know how it works.

 

[Squishman]

The amp is less important than the cartridge, turntable & setup and whatever is between the cartridge and amplifier. Without a good cartridge and setup, there's no chance of it sounding better than mediocre and without a good phono preamp, even a good cartridge has a road block. You don't need to go nuts on the price, but the cartridge needs to be a good match for the tonearm and this is something that has been lost on many people who are selling this kind of equipment- they never had to deal with it in their lives and don't know how it works.

Ortophon Red.

 

[PENG]

Ortophon Red.

Based on specs, either amp won't be the bottleneck, the red is. So I would go for the one with the lower price, and personally I would take the Denon because it is class AB amp that is proven. The hybrid NAD would likely be more complex, and may have more things that can fail, but I am just guessing.

 

[highfigh]

Ortophon Red.

OK, what table? I would look at U-Turn and ProJect if you want bang for the buck.

 

[highfigh]

Based on specs, either amp won't be the bottleneck, the red is. So I would go for the one with the lower price, and personally I would take the Denon because it is class AB amp that is proven. The hybrid NAD would likely be more complex, and may have more things that can fail, but I am just guessing.

But the red can be used as a platform for a better stylus since that series uses the same body.

 

[Squishman]

Based on specs, either amp won't be the bottleneck, the red is. So I would go for the one with the lower price, and personally I would take the Denon because it is class AB amp that is proven. The hybrid NAD would likely be more complex, and may have more things that can fail, but I am just guessing.

Terrific info. Thx. Shall I upgrade to the Blue? Amp currently (in 2 ch mode) is Yamaha RX-A1060.

 

[highfigh]

Terrific info. Thx. Shall I upgrade to the Blue? Amp currently (in 2 ch mode) is Yamaha RX-A1060.

If it's new, I would say it would be better to wait until it needs replacement and if you're just getting into this, enjoy it.

 

[PENG]

Terrific info. Thx. Shall I upgrade to the Blue? Amp currently (in 2 ch mode) is Yamaha RX-A1060.

I think you may prefer either, it is easy to find out because the stylus are interchangeable. I may try it myself eventually but am in no hurry because I keep thinking that the difference will be too minute for me to tell a difference.

 

[Squishman]

OK, what table? I would look at U-Turn and ProJect if you want bang for the buck.

I have ProJect Carbon. Love it. I Installed an auto-lifter that works swimmingly.

 

[rnatalli]

ProJect, Rega, and U-Turn are good turntables.

 

[davidscott]

I have a REGA Planar 3 - best TT I have ever owned and I have owned TTs since 1978.

 

[Squishman]

My ProJect replaced a 100 year old (well, 40-45 years anyway) direct drive Technics. And wow, what a huge difference. The Q-up lifter is nice too.

 

[davidscott]

My ProJect replaced a 100 year old (well, 40-45 years anyway) direct drive Technics. And wow, what a huge difference. The Q-up lifter is nice too.

I might just have to add one of those Q-Ups to my REGA

 

[Squishman]

I might just have to add one of those Q-Ups to my REGA

Pretty sure you'll be happy with it.

 

[killdozzer]

If it's new, I would say it would be better to wait until it needs replacement and if you're just getting into this, enjoy it.

Another approach is if it's still new, sell it to lower the cost of the blue stylus which may be costly to some.

 

[killdozzer]

And wow, what a huge difference.

What's the difference you noticed?

 

[eljr]

Which amp will sound best for vinyl?

I saw this thread and right under it was this thread

" what are you drinking right now ? "

ironic

 

[highfigh]

I think you may prefer either, it is easy to find out because the stylus are interchangeable. I may try it myself eventually but am in no hurry because I keep thinking that the difference will be too minute for me to tell a difference.

I just checked the specs for both and the two differences are:

Channel separation at 1 kHz- Red (22 dB) vs Blue (25 dB)
Frequency range at - 3dB- Red (20-25,000 Hz) vs Blue (20-22,000 Hz)

Both have an ellyptical stylus and the tips have the same dimensions, so the differences are caused by the metal shank on the Red because the rest is the same- this has always been the case for using a nude stylus, but unless someone is comparing them, nobody will ever be able to say with certainty which they're hearing or that the Red sounds bad.

 

[highfigh]

I saw this thread and right under it was this thread

" what are you drinking right now ? "

ironic

At least other thread wasn't "What are you on and where can I get some?".