System edited: Nuforce P9 and Reference 9 V2 has gone, and have been replaced by Aloia amp and preamp. It's hard to say if it is better or worse, it is simply different. By the way, I have loved Nuforce and now I am strongly surprised by Aloia's amp and preamp, that are really good sounding (and more good looking than Nuforce).
I'm pretty sure that in the future my M.S. Phonomena will be replaced by a better performing phono preamp. And I am very curious to listen to JLTI phono stage. But it seems very difficult to find one to test, here in Italy.
Regarding the cartrige, I like so much your Lyra Argo, but in my setup - with Ikeda IT-345 arm - Fidelity Research FR-7F cartrige and FR XF-1 L transformer makes a great combination.
System edited: Pioneer PD-D9 has been replaced by Sony Scd-1 that will be modified with A. Wright di Vacuum State kit. And I have finally found the right step-up for my FR cartrige, a Fidelity Research XF-1 L transformer. Really a fantastich match.
i think that P9 is a very fine preamp, and - most important - is it born to be matched with Nuforce mono amps (basically it has got the same chassis of Ref 9 series).
I can't see any big weakness, even if I don't like so much the volume control system.
In my system it is very neutral and well balanced; micro and macro dynamic is great (and I use to listen at low levels, so the job is more difficult). And there is also an excellent detail level, but without listening fatigue.
System edited: Emm Labs Dcc2 + cdsd amd Nuforce Ref 9 SE have gone. New entry: Nuforce Ref. 9 SE V2 and P9 that have really impressed me, and the new 2 channel sacd player from Pioneer PD-D9.
Yes, I love my DPS turntable, and Ikeda arm matches very well with FR-7f and DL-103. Tracking is very impressive, playing an LP test vinyl like hfnrr test it is ok even with most difficult tracks.
The problem is with oputput level of Fidelity Research cartrige that is very low and the phono stage set up at maximum gain is not a definitive solution. Is sounds good but I think I'm loosing a lot of dynamics. And so I think I could buy a step-up transformer, one could be by Fidelity Research, the other one i like very much is Uesugi Bros 5. So your suggestion for a different phono stage like Allen Wright ones could be really interesting too, I will investigate :-)
Hi Alexsee! I think it is a very good match between Mingus III and Nuforce Ref 9 SE. Yes, I love Nuforce amps. Before Ref.9 SE I had a Ref 9 that was really good too. And I think I will upgrade to V2 within the end of this year.
Hi Osahead2, thank you. I love 2 way speakers, in my opinion the most coherent system to listen to music. Of course it is not perfect, and compared to bigger system the lower bass range will be reduced (or lost).
