I'm under no delusions that my new-to-me Clearaudio Performance DC table with Clearaudio Tracer arm is state-of-the-art, but I'm a bit surprised by how big a step up it is from my previous rig.
Since I returned to vinyl about six or seven years ago I've had a Rega P3 and a P6. I learned a lot from them and enjoyed some great recordings, but this new deck and arm are in a different league altogether.
Specifically, the Clearaudio table and arm cleaned up some slight muddiness in the upper midrange and extended both the left/right and front/back edges of the soundstage significantly. They also added more slam in the bottom without shifting the overall profile in that direction. In fact, the simplest summary of the sound is that everything sounds wonderfully in balance: tonally, dynamically, and spatially.
My primary cartridge is a Hana ML moving coil, and I listened to that in both my Rega P6 and in the Clearaudio back-to-back. I'm confident in my comparisons.
One final note is that my Performance DC came with a very attractive aftermarket perforated leather platter mat. After listening to the Clearaudio combo with the mat for a couple of days I decided to remove it and listen to a few tracks. I was surprised again...there was a further increase in the clarity of recordings and a more precise placement of instruments and voices without the mat.
I'm increasingly convinced that the most important component in a hifi system is an open mind on the part of the owner. While I have over 40 years experience listening to high-end gear, a solid academic background in physics, and a long science-based career, I'm still not confident or smart enough to be able to reliably predict the end result of a component change within a system. My new turntable and arm, however, was a case when I was delighted that the outcome exceeded my expectations!
System: Clearaudio Performance DC turntable with Clearaudio Tracer tonearm and Hana ML mc cartridge; NAD M50.2 digital player/vault; Modwright PH 9.0XT phono stage; Okto Research dac8 Stereo DAC; Modwright KWH 225i integrated amp; Custom 2-way solid mahogany tower speakers with ScanSpeak and Morel drivers; PS Audio Power Plant power regenerator; Hapa Audio, M101, and Audio Art cables.
Since I returned to vinyl about six or seven years ago I've had a Rega P3 and a P6. I learned a lot from them and enjoyed some great recordings, but this new deck and arm are in a different league altogether.
Specifically, the Clearaudio table and arm cleaned up some slight muddiness in the upper midrange and extended both the left/right and front/back edges of the soundstage significantly. They also added more slam in the bottom without shifting the overall profile in that direction. In fact, the simplest summary of the sound is that everything sounds wonderfully in balance: tonally, dynamically, and spatially.
My primary cartridge is a Hana ML moving coil, and I listened to that in both my Rega P6 and in the Clearaudio back-to-back. I'm confident in my comparisons.
One final note is that my Performance DC came with a very attractive aftermarket perforated leather platter mat. After listening to the Clearaudio combo with the mat for a couple of days I decided to remove it and listen to a few tracks. I was surprised again...there was a further increase in the clarity of recordings and a more precise placement of instruments and voices without the mat.
I'm increasingly convinced that the most important component in a hifi system is an open mind on the part of the owner. While I have over 40 years experience listening to high-end gear, a solid academic background in physics, and a long science-based career, I'm still not confident or smart enough to be able to reliably predict the end result of a component change within a system. My new turntable and arm, however, was a case when I was delighted that the outcome exceeded my expectations!
System: Clearaudio Performance DC turntable with Clearaudio Tracer tonearm and Hana ML mc cartridge; NAD M50.2 digital player/vault; Modwright PH 9.0XT phono stage; Okto Research dac8 Stereo DAC; Modwright KWH 225i integrated amp; Custom 2-way solid mahogany tower speakers with ScanSpeak and Morel drivers; PS Audio Power Plant power regenerator; Hapa Audio, M101, and Audio Art cables.
