I am inheriting some TT's - looking for feedback on the Aesthetix Rhea as I found one cheap on eBay.

[Ron P. Stewart]

I am inheriting a vinyl collection and two turntables as a family member has recently passed away. I will be getting a collection of 78's, as well as a collection of normal LP's and 45's.

The TT's I am getting are an Linn LP12 with a Lyra Skala cartridge, and a Dual 1019, which has a Shure M78S for use with 78's. I already own a VPI Nomad.

What I would like to do is to have the LP12 and the Dual 1019 connected to my system for LP's and 78's. I would like to get an antique automatic 45 player where I can stack old singles for automatic play just for fun. I will keep my VPI as a backup as I have read that the LP12 can be finicky.

Ideally, I would like a phono preamp with four inputs, but three will suffice, and I have heard good things about the Rhea. That said, I just wanted to check in with /r/audiophile to see what you think about the Rhea and what a good price would be for it.

I have bought on eBay in the past, but only regular consumer grade products, not audiophile electronics. I wanted to hear from you what you think about buying audiophile gear on eBay. It looks like the seller also has some Nordost and Analysis Plus Speaker Cables and Interconnects that I may try to snag as well.

Here is a link to the eBay sale on the Aesthetix Rhea:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aesthetix-Rhea-Tube-Phono-Stage-Stereo-Preamplifier-World-Class-Stunning-/172471966174?hash=item28282159de:g:wxsAAOSw241YbFuJ

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[class a]

AS a Linn owner I would have the TT checked out. It could use some adjusting. Also not all Linns' are the same. What type of power supply, Cirkus upgrade, Tonearm. Instead of spending money on the cables I would upgrade on the Cart. The phono your interested in can handle just about any cart. Also if you don't have one think about a Record Cleaning Machine.

 

[Ron P. Stewart]

AS a Linn owner I would have the TT checked out. It could use some adjusting. Also not all Linns' are the same. What type of power supply, Cirkus upgrade, Tonearm. Instead of spending money on the cables I would upgrade on the Cart. The phono your interested in can handle just about any cart. Also if you don't have one think about a Record Cleaning Machine.

Upgrade the cart on the Linn? I'm not sure if I'm ready to spend that kind of money...the Lyra Skala that is on there now is $4,500. I can't see spending more on that for an upgrade. Is something wrong with the Skala?

 

[class a]

Upgrade the cart on the Linn? I'm not sure if I'm ready to spend that kind of money...the Lyra Skala that is on there now is $4,500. I can't see spending more on that for an upgrade. Is something wrong with the Skala?

Did not notice the cart. What is the rest of the Linn setup. I assume you have an Ekos arm.

 

[Ron P. Stewart]

Did not notice the cart. What is the rest of the Linn setup. I assume you have an Ekos arm.

I think so but I am not sure. I have not received the TT's yet, but I should get them in the next week or two.

 

[slipperybidness]

I am inheriting a vinyl collection and two turntables as a family member has recently passed away. I will be getting a collection of 78's, as well as a collection of normal LP's and 45's.

The TT's I am getting are an Linn LP12 with a Lyra Skala cartridge, and a Dual 1019, which has a Shure M78S for use with 78's. I already own a VPI Nomad.

What I would like to do is to have the LP12 and the Dual 1019 connected to my system for LP's and 78's. I would like to get an antique automatic 45 player where I can stack old singles for automatic play just for fun. I will keep my VPI as a backup as I have read that the LP12 can be finicky.

Ideally, I would like a phono preamp with four inputs, but three will suffice, and I have heard good things about the Rhea. That said, I just wanted to check in with /r/audiophile to see what you think about the Rhea and what a good price would be for it.

I have bought on eBay in the past, but only regular consumer grade products, not audiophile electronics. I wanted to hear from you what you think about buying audiophile gear on eBay. It looks like the seller also has some Nordost and Analysis Plus Speaker Cables and Interconnects that I may try to snag as well.

Here is a link to the eBay sale on the Aesthetix Rhea:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aesthetix-Rhea-Tube-Phono-Stage-Stereo-Preamplifier-World-Class-Stunning-/172471966174?hash=item28282159de:g:wxsAAOSw241YbFuJ

Thanks so much for your help!

Why would you possibly want a TUBE Pre-amp? Unless you have some tube nostalgia, then you REALLY want Solid State gear. You do realize that Tubes are consumable items and the response will change as the tube ages?

That tube phono preamp that you listed has a dismal S/N of 70dB! Here is an Emotiva phono preamp with a MUCH better S/N:
http://emotiva.com/products/pres-and-pros/xps-1

And, I would not consider ~$1K phono stage as cheap by any means.

I have done a lot of buying and selling on ebay, one thing that catches my attention is that this vendor may be a pawn shop or a consignment shop. There isn't anything necessarily bad about that, but just be aware that the vendor may not be the best resource for info or know the complete history of the item.

 

[TLS Guy]

I don't know how far you want to get into the 78 RPM playing. It is more complex than you think.

The first big issue is that the equalization curve is NOT RIAA. That was for the LP introduced in 1948 by Columbia. The RIAA curve is not close. Worse record companies all had their own curve.

Good preamps of the period had a way to equalize for all the various curves.

The next issue is that the speed was not always 78 RPM, so speed adjustment is required.

Finally the groove cut was not standard, so people who are really into this have 78 RPM cartridges with different stylus radii.

To really enjoy 78 rpm vintage gear is required.

The most favored turntable for 78 RPM is the old Goldring Lenco GL 75. The motor spindle wheel is conical and the idler wheel slides up and down it.

The next favored are the Garrard 301 and 401s as they have an eddy broke on the top of the induction motor to set the speed.

Now lets deal with the equalization issue.

Here is the Garrard 301 Decca set up I use with a Quad 22 tube preamp from the era. I'm the original owner of all this because I'm old and go way back to my childhood with this. I grew up with it.

The turntable on the left is a Garrard 301 with a Decca ffss set up. Underneath is the Quad 22 tube preamp.

On the arm is the Decca H4E LP head. In the case is my original Decca ffss MK II head which I had converted by Decca to a 78 RPM head. The heads slide on and off the arm and are changed in seconds. I chose a stylus radius that fits most 78s. I do not have multiple heads, that a totally devoted (obsessional) enthusiast would have.

The card on the left lists pretty much all known LP manufacturers, at least the ones you are likely to run into. To the right of the record manufacturers names are the correct button combinations on the preamp for the correct equalization for the record you want to play.

In addition 78s, in my opinion sound much better played though a single speaker and so do mono LPs. So I play these discs through my center channel speaker only. It sounds very nostalgic.

 

[Ron P. Stewart]

I don't know how far you want to get into the 78 RPM playing. It is more complex than you think.

Wow. What a fantastic post. I had not idea about any of this.

Perhaps I will leave the 78 for another day. I think I'll have my hands full with the Linn for a while anyway!

Thanks much for the extremely informative post!

 

[sterling shoote]

Reading the posts on this thread makes me want to play some vinyl. I should know better. It's so seductive. Makes me think perhaps I might want to upgrade my turntable and cartridge. Right now, I've got a 38 year old Sony PS-4750 fitted with a Shure V15v-mr. Recently I bought some new albums of material I already had on SACD. The vinyl sounds for the most part indistinguishable from SACD so my question is would an upgrade really get me an upgraded experience? Sorry, did not mean to hijack this great thread.