Shure V15 III HE ... what phono stage?

[Howie]

Just wondering if anyone has used, or is still using, a Shure V15 Mk 3 HE (hyper elliptical) moving magnet cartridges and stylus. If so did you have any preference to a phone stage to use with it?

I've recently swapped in and out ....

NAD PP2 ... looses bass compared to the others but has good soundstage and good real sounding cymbals (wonderful in fact) but while it has those highs it still manages to suppress a lot of clicks and pops. 

Moon LP110 ... great bass but looses a bit of the real cymbal sound (though avoids sibilance on records which usually show this up), and via the loss in highs pretty well eliminates clicks and pops.

AR SP8 used as phono stage ... surprisingly flattened the sound against the wall or even pushed it back into the next room. I really wasn't expecting that! Maybe the valve are past used by date or no longer/never were balanced? To me it seems as though the dynamic range of all frequencies is 'flat' and hence the stuff at the 'front' and therefore louder still sounds the same level as the mid front-back instruments, while the strings etc at the back sound too loud and blend in with the mid-front. Having not listened to a valve phono before I am wondering if my interpretation of whats wrong with its sound with my Shure is correct. Or maybe someone with a valve phono can tell me why this is so. I've read good comment re using this old classic SP8 as a phono, yet to me its the worst of the three I have tested.

Surprisingly out of these, my ol' cloth ears prefer the cheap NAD PP2! 

Listening has been over many months with each and listening to the same track and hastily swapping between while using a cheap dB meter to keep the level at the listening chair the same (or as close as the thing gets to measuring and telling me its the same SPL). LOL

So, just interested if anyone has used this vintage old cartridge and stylus and can suggest what phono stages they liked with it.

cheers

Howie

[Jack Ward]

I absolutely love my Bugle.

One reviewer on his site raves about the sound of this pre over his PP2.

 

https://hagerman-audio-labs.myshopify.com/collections/phono-preamps/products/bugle2

YMMV

Jack Ward
Freeport, FLA, USA

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[Carl Smith]

Thanks for that Jack. I shall look for a second hand one or someone in the local audio club who might be willing to let me have a test of theirs. Worse case the price is low enough to buy outright if I need to! Like I said in my original post, my cheap little PP2 betters a couple of other far more expensive and technically complicated stages, so no problem from me re audio snobbery. If I can get hold of and find a Bugle 2 betters the PP2 I am quite happy to go the Bugle route. Cheers

[SmithMcDougall Gmail]

Hi Howie;

I can't comment on the ARC SP8's phono stage - never heard it.  But I have heard a mint SP8 pushing CD music into a ARC D70 poweramp (ie, as a line-level preamp) and from there to a pair of Coral Beta 10 full-rangers.  On well-recorded stuff, the result was amazing. With Gladys Knight's "Before Me" album, Gladys was in the room with us - if I'd had a stick I felt I could've touched her. Stunning 3-dimensionality. Ditto the backing musicians.

A short time after, the SP8 was removed & a NAD ss preamp inserted;  the image just went flat.

The SP8 owner was always very particular with his tubes - all old stock Telefunken long plates, Brit-made Mullards, Seimens, whatever.

The experience is etched in my memory....

[Carl Smith]

Thanks for the info. Yes, I expected more and wondered about the valves. I have no idea what was in the SP8. Very interesting. I know the owner has a bunch of valves for rolling and might get in touch and see if there's a chance of swapping. I recall looking past the top grill/vents in that thing and there sure seemed a bunch of different valves inside. I am sure he will let me know if he has the right kind to swap over. Cheers

[SmithMcDougall Gmail]

I recall with the SP8 / D70 combo there was a shipload of tubes involved. Something like 22 or thereabouts.

Too many for this little black duck.....

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