Almost a year ago, I talked about the benefits of matching a phono stage to a cartridge.
In that context, I had recently purchased a Dynavector 10×5 High Output Moving Coil (HOMC) cartridge and dreamed about the possibility of eventually upgrading my phono stage to the Dynavector P75 mk II.
Make no mistake: the Cambridge Audio 540p is a killer budget phono stage (it retails for $120-130 new in Canada) and I’ve been very pleased with its performance in my system thus far. That said, I’ve always known that it was the weakest link in my system, especially since upgrading my cartridge.
Unfortunately, the P75 retails in Canada at nearly $900 new. For that reason, I haven’t been able to justify picking one up, especially when I’ve had so many other system improvement priorities.
Well, last week I found a used P75 on Audiogon for a deal I had to take advantage of. These usually sell mere minutes after they are posted and I happened to see it almost immediately after it went up so I snapped it up.
I received it in the mail today, set it up and have been in audio bliss since.
The sonic improvements over my previous phono stage are massive. With the P75, the level of clarity and detail, especially when playing music at higher volumes, is considerably improved. The soundstage seems larger and undoubtedly provides for more noticeable depth and instrument/vocal separation. The best way I can describe it is that there are more audible layers to the music.
In my mind, these are the improvements to a system you hope for; and the ones that leave you tremendously grateful for when the desired effect(s) is achieved.
Another thing I love about the P75 is its flexibility. It has adjustable gain settings to accommodate Moving Magnet (MM) and HOMC cartridges; Low Output Moving Coil cartridges (LOMC); and a special phono enhancer or “Dr. T” mode for Dynavector’s own line of LOMC cartridges. The adjustments are clearly identified in the owner’s manual and take less than five minutes to make after removing the casing.
In other words, you can easily experiment with different cartridges and not have to change the phono stage to do so.
Suffice it to say, I’m pleased to have the Dynavector P75 mkII as a part of my system.
The Dynavector phono phono stage sounds well worthwhile…these gradual improvements are definitely making a huge overall positive audio experience…I’m pleased you are enjoying your music so much.