I own the Cambridge and I can attest to its quality. I have used it for about a year now and initially I thought it was just a fling but I have kept it in the system and I must say the results are quite good. My ears ate certainly not as finely tuned to artifacts as many people on this list but from a person who definitely cares deeply about audio quality I was seriously impressed with this device. Well built and well designed
this company takes pride in making a very respectable component at a very affordable price point.
AA
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 16, 2012, at 9:36 PM, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Look for the NAD or Cambridge on sale and you'll be happy. I thought the ART preamp, which really was that cheap when it was on sale, was surprisingly good and I listened on headphones so I think I'd hear if it had chronic overload problems. My beef with that was really lousy sound coming from USB to computer, I'm assuming due to a really bad A-D converter or bad jitter problems. It didn't matter what recorder software I used, so I am blaming their hardware interface or possibly their USB driver. But for just analog line outputs and headphone outputs, it was a really good value, in my opinion. Too bad they don't make it anymore. I would call the Cambridge and also assume the NAD are steps up so most people with most cartridges in most situations would probably be quite satisfied.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Roderic G Stephens" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 9:13 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Phono Preamps
>
>
> Tom, I think you're touching on the law of diminishing returns; you get that much less for your money as you spend more, so one has to find his/her own tipping point. I'm guessing mine is at $100.
>
> --- On Thu, 2/16/12, Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>
> From: Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Phono Preamps
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Thursday, February 16, 2012, 11:56 AM
>
>
> I have the Cambridge and it's not bad at all. That's for a turntable in the workshop. I think the NAD is right in line with that, as is Audio Fidelity. You can only do so much different at that price point. Would I use any of these with a cartridge that costs more than a couple hundred bucks? Probably not since you'd probably not hear any differences that exist between that cartridge and a lower-priced one. There comes a point in phono playback where I'm sure there are very subtle improvements but the cost is outrageous and what you get for far less sounds just fine 90+% of the time on 90+% of what you'd listen to. I would say the class of "good enough for almost any listening or transfer uses" comes in the mid-price range of everything. The low-end stuff gets junky when it gets really low priced. Like with everything else in life, you get what you pay for.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl Pultz" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 2:42 PM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Phono Preamps
>
>
> I try to urge perspective to someone (including myself) who is tempted to
> get something for almost nothing. Since Phillip Holmes' Rek-O-Kut article
> talked about the Mac C20, check out what a $70 device would cost in 1960:
> $9.62. What kind of phono preamp could you get in 1960 for $10? That you can
> even get one today for that value is amazing, but not necessarily a good
> idea.
>
> Of the several units I've had at home in the past decade, the best value was
> the Dynavector p75. I had the first version, and it was really very good
> sonically, unperturbed by RFI or in any obvious way by overload. It has
> gotten pricy - $850 - which in 1960 dollars is $116 - but you can find them
> second hand for around $350.
>
> Occupying the budget realm $150 - $200 is Cambridge Audio and Musical
> Fidelity, companies that have a reputation for not making junk. I'd like to
> hear one of Soundsmith's units, which are also reasonably priced. Man, there
> are a LOT of attractive possibilities for not much dough.
>
> Just suggestions. It's worth spending a little money on something important.
> How often does one buy a phono preamp?
>
> Carl
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dan Nelson
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2012 1:01 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Phono Preamps
>
> How accurate will the playback curve be when 10%/20% off the shelf
> components in the feedback loop be ?
> I have 4 RIAA Preamps from Op-Amp labs here in LA, that track within a
> couple db off test records with Shure 55 cartridges in each turntable. They
> cost like $40 each. Op-amp labs made a lot of plug and play building
> blocks with good results for those who didnt want to hand build stuff.
> I would suspect that with 1% components the typical data sheet preamp
> would track pretty close to calculated values with off the shelf audio
> chips.
>
> dnw
>
> Beautiful Music you will never forget, at;
> http://www.americanbeautiful.podbean.com/
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