Welshsox
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Clearaudio performance
Jan Vigne
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Buy the Scout and be happy.

Welshsox
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Jan

The problem is the arm, it just looks flaky.

Firstly didnt like the feel of the unipivot and i was offended by the bit of sticky foam that is on the riser bar. The whole arm just looked like a high school project to me.

I know my reaction is not very logical but the VPI just doesnt feel right.

Alan

linden518
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Welsh, I haven't heard the Interspace, but I heard Nott's 294, the one with 12" arm. It's a killer table, and I'm sure the Interspace has that same "family" sound. Very musical, fluid, and organically big sound. I was told before by someone that rather than going with Interspace, though, to go for the Space Deck... there always seems to be a few on Audiogon at any given time.

And why not Rega P3-24? I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about that TT... if anything, it seems to give you WAY more than the $ spent on it. And that speed controller, too... If I were you, rather than considering the Marantz & Clearaudio, I'd get the Rega P3-24 and get one of those Rega wall shelves & I'd be so set.

tom collins
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i have a nott that i like a great deal. lovely deep sound. worth a listen. this is the horizon se, the predecessor to the innerspace. mine has the rega rb250 arm and is a pretty odd looking industrial piece. i was told by the dealer that the innerspace sounds better. i haven't heard one yet to say one way or that other. at this level, i think you get a peek into what all the fuss is about in analog. better than the lower regas and others, but only the beginning of what the big brothers are capable of.

tom

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I really don't think anything VPI can be called flaky, but if you don't love it, don't buy it I say. How about some of the better Music Hall 'tables? They have gotten good reviews and use some pretty nice tried and true principles. Price is good too!

Welshsox
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Self

Ive got an old P3 at the moment and its OK but not setting me on fire.

Im not keen on buying a TT on Audiogon, theres a lot to setup and if its not spot on then even the best would sound crap.

Im intrigued by your commenst about teh Nottingham sounding big, thats typically exactly what i like. When did you hear that and do you have any more specifics on the Interspace because thats the only Nott I can really afford.

Thanks

alan

Welshsox
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Tom

I haven't heard the Interspace, but I heard Nott's 294, the one with 12" arm. It's a killer table, and I'm sure the Interspace has that same "family" sound. Very musical, fluid, and organically big sound.

From your comment's Tom can I take it that you would agree with Self ? It does seem that big fluid sound with a dark background is the typical noittingham sound. With my love of punchy rock and big orchestral music it does seem as if this is the perfect family sound.

Alan

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Sorry, Welsh. Haven't heard the Interspace, so can't comment, but I can't imagine that there won't be a "trickle-down" of the sonic qualities of the 294 that you like.

Getting back to Clearaudio Performance, I remembered that John Atkinson's favorite sound at this year's FSI in Montreal was Leben/ProAc room. The sources were Audio Aero Prima CDP and Clearaudio Performance.

http://blog.stereophile.com/fsi2008/040708proac/

Welshsox
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Self

Thanks

Im narrowing it down to the following three

Marantz - Based on Clearaudio and available for $1500 with a nice cartridge

Nottingham Interspace - $2500 with nice cartridge

Clearaudio Performance - $3500 with very nice cartridge

My heart of course says the performance but my head says otherwise, the Marantz has the $800 virtuoso cartridge and it just seems such good value. The biggest issue with TT is that unlike everything else my dealer doesnt do home trials.

The Nottingham does seem to have the sound i like but although the local dealer is very friendly and where i normally buy my stuff the Nott would be a strict no refund sale, the other two I can get a 30 day return policy on. The Nott does look like a serious peice of kit though so im sure id be happy but its just that nagging thing of paying $2500 and finding you dont like the sound in your system in your room even though it sounded great in the shop.

Alan

tom collins
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welsh:
when i first heard the nott that i now own, the dealer had a rega p2 with glass platter and rega bias cart on display and this nott horizon se with benz silver high output mc cart. in switching between the 2, the difference was very obvious. the rega sounded good, the nott sounded much better. the nott sounded more complete, lows were lower, highs clearer and better defined. the demo room was a bit small, so soundstage was hard to tell. he has a very large vinyl collection and where the difference was really obvious was on older 70s era music and less than perfect vinyl. the nott would take a standard $3.99 70s record and make it sound like an expensive audiophile record. i brought a few of my new expensive audiophile records to try out and they both did a good job with those, but the nott was still better. the nott also deemphasised the background noise much better. like a fool, i cheaped out and bought the rega. about a year later, i was trading the rega back in for the nott. i got the nott home and liked it much better, but it was not all that i remembered in the store and could not figure out why until recently. my electronic setup is an arcam a80 and p80 biamped. i had always used the standard power cords that came with them. i recently switched to nordost shiva and vishnu (on the a80) cords and wham, like a smack between the eyes - the fantastic sound i remembered was back in full force and again, much quieter background, even the wife could tell, but i didn't tell her the cost. he must have had upgraded cords on the amps in the store at the time and i hadn't noticed, he was running the arcam integrated then. it is hard to believe that this is the entry level and it gets better. if the innerspace is better than this, you would be happy.

tom

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That Marantz really is a good bargain, with that sweet cart. But it all depends on how you like the Clearaudio sound. (Music Direct has a demo model on sale, with warranty, for $1295.) If you can, you should have a listen. From the get-go, a lot of guys who are into vinyl told me to stay away from too much acrylic, though. I'm sure some manufacturers can make the acrylic material to work for them, and some can't.

That stinks that you can't home-demo the Nott, but as far as reliability is concerned, the Notts are supposed to be rock solid...

BillB
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Quote:
Self

Thanks
Im narrowing it down to the following three
Marantz - Based on Clearaudio and available for $1500 with a nice cartridge
Nottingham Interspace - $2500 with nice cartridge
Clearaudio Performance - $3500 with very nice cartridge
My heart of course says the performance but my head says otherwise, the Marantz has the $800 virtuoso cartridge and it just seems such good value. The biggest issue with TT is that unlike everything else my dealer doesnt do home trials.
The Nottingham does seem to have the sound i like but although the local dealer is very friendly and where i normally buy my stuff the Nott would be a strict no refund sale, the other two I can get a 30 day return policy on. The Nott does look like a serious peice of kit though so im sure id be happy but its just that nagging thing of paying $2500 and finding you dont like the sound in your system in your room even though it sounded great in the shop.

Alan

I think it's crazy for that dealer to not give any customer satisfaction consideration. He's knocking himself out of competition. Tell him that you are ready to buy another brand elsewhere, but if he will give the 30 day return policy then he'll get the sale. He would be stupid to not cooperate with that.

Welshsox
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Hi

Hopefully ill be going down to music direct in the morning to listen to the Marantz, I also need to swap a scratched new album ( dont tell DUP ). I agree with Tom that you sometimes dont spend enough and end up spending it anyways but i just dont know how much difference there will be between the Marantz/Nott/Clearaudio.

They have 2 marantz's at $1299, it just seems like to good a deal to pass up, even if i do get itchy fingers after twelve months I should be able to sell that for $900-1000 online.

The problem with beating up the dealers is that they have been great with me through my system building process and I do feel a sense of loyalty, I would prefer just to let them know im going elsewhere rather than beat them up. I know this is not necessarily the bets thing to do but im do believe that dealers get shafted in a lot of ways.

Im just so curious about the Nottingham with a good MM cartridge.

Alan

Welshsox
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Well I went to visit Music Direct and the guys are very friendly and helpful.

The Marantz is very attractive and those demos @ $1299 are great bargins, they have about an hours use apparantly.

After talking with the guys they were fairly strong in the opinion that the Marantz for me would not be that big a step change and that I should hold out for the performance.

I would love to buy the performance right now but it just stretches the budget a little to far so I thing im going to stick with the Rega for now. What I am contemplating though is upgrading the cartridge now with a view to swapping the new cartridge onto the clearaudio when i get the funding.

Alan

tom collins
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good choice: one of the fun thing about turntables is that there are a lot of upgrade paths available. carts; arms; platters; wiring; etc. if your are so inclined, or just enjoy it as is for a while and sell it for an upgrade.
either way, you'll have fun and get some good listening. maybe you can also find like-minded people in your area and listen to their rigs.

tom

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