SP20

LOOKS :
I like it better than the REF10
Really like without the handles and is bigger than a LS27 or LS17
The small multicolor touchscreen panel is awesome.
The remote control is all metal like the REF series
The volume rotates 360 and like that feel

PERFOMANCE:
Is been just few hours and I like it very much. is less of ⅓ of the REF10 price, is not fair to compared them to each other.
Sounds much better than the LS17se and the Phono stage, I'm still on hold to test it but is cool that you can digitally handle it with
the Touch screen.

Let me get some more hours to give my final impression but I can say right now is a winner

:)
PS
My SF Olympica III, they will be here this weekend
 
highEndguy said:
LOOKS :
I like it better than the REF10
Really like without the handles and is bigger than a LS27 or LS17
The small multicolor touchscreen panel is awesome.
The remote control is all metal like the REF series
The volume rotates 360 and like that feel

PERFOMANCE:
Is been just few hours and I like it very much. is less of ⅓ of the REF10 price, is not fair to compared them to each other.
Sounds much better than the LS17se and the Phono stage, I'm still on hold to test it but is cool that you can digitally handle it with
the Touch screen.

Let me get some more hours to give my final impression but I can say right now is a winner

:)
PS
My SF Olympica III, they will be here this weekend
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing Nelson! Congrats on the sweet preamp. I agree, it looks very very nice.
 
nice Nelson!!1 congrats, i also think its beautiful.
did i just say that about a piece of arc gear?? haha!!!
 
lol!!! i like arc gear i just always felt it was very pedestrian looking. and i cant afford the pieces that i would want from them. but this is a decently priced(if $9k can be a decent price)and great looking piece of gear.
 
That is a beautiful unit and the Stereophile review makes it already a winner.
Congrats ! Enjoy in great health.



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Very nice piece Nelson. I like the looks of the SP-20. Glad you are happy with it out of the gate. :congrats:
 
Enjoying my SP 20 a great deal, even with only 100 hours so far. Currently examining turntable options in the context of the 58db gain from SP 20's onboard phono stage. Last week at the dealer, I listened to an AMG Giro with the Teatro MC cart (.4mv), then a Linn LP12 Akurate with the new Krystal cartridge (.25mv, or at least I *think* that's the output; not easy to find that spec).

The Giro struck me as more analytical, slower feeling, but with a much wider stage and inky black silence underneath. The LP12 was lively and separated elements in the music beautifully. But both carts were quiet and both are below the universal recommendation of .5mv as the bare minimum required voltage for the SP 20 phono stage (with specs similar to PH 8?). We did have to "turn the knob" quite a bit more for the Linn, but I didn't know at the time how low-output the Kyrstal was and, if I had, I might've expected it to sound worse.

In any case, I intend to narrow my search to more voltage appropriate cartridges, like the Lyra Kleos. I'm curious what phono configurations other SP 20 owners have found successful.
 
I have a Kleos cartridge with my SP-20, and the combination is excellent.
 
GreyMouse said:
Enjoying my SP 20 a great deal, even with only 100 hours so far. Currently examining turntable options in the context of the 58db gain from SP 20's onboard phono stage. Last week at the dealer, I listened to an AMG Giro with the Teatro MC cart (.4mv), then a Linn LP12 Akurate with the new Krystal cartridge (.25mv, or at least I *think* that's the output; not easy to find that spec).

The Giro struck me as more analytical, slower feeling, but with a much wider stage and inky black silence underneath. The LP12 was lively and separated elements in the music beautifully. But both carts were quiet and both are below the universal recommendation of .5mv as the bare minimum required voltage for the SP 20 phono stage (with specs similar to PH 8?). We did have to "turn the knob" quite a bit more for the Linn, but I didn't know at the time how low-output the Kyrstal was and, if I had, I might've expected it to sound worse.

In any case, I intend to narrow my search to more voltage appropriate cartridges, like the Lyra Kleos. I'm curious what phono configurations other SP 20 owners have found successful.
Click to expand...

A dealer told me recently the SP20 would only support MM? Did not find anything in the specs either confirming or denying that statement?


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Sorry i I never saw this reply! Better late than never I hope.

The SP20 limits you to MC or even a few Moving Iron carts, like Soundstage. From having surveyed the forums and talked to Cal at ARC several months ago, it seems the sweet spot of cart output is .5mv. Cal recommended avoiding anything below, which eliminates the Krystal (and all MM carts, as far as I can tell). You might deal with some clipping issues with MM and the SP20's phono stage.

Kuoppis said:
A dealer told me recently the SP20 would only support MM? Did not find anything in the specs either confirming or denying that statement?


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Click to expand...
 
GreyMouse said:
Sorry i I never saw this reply! Better late than never I hope.

The SP20 limits you to MC or even a few Moving Iron carts, like Soundstage. From having surveyed the forums and talked to Cal at ARC several months ago, it seems the sweet spot of cart output is .5mv. Cal recommended avoiding anything below, which eliminates the Krystal (and all MM carts, as far as I can tell). You might deal with some clipping issues with MM and the SP20's phono stage.
Click to expand...

Thank you for sharing, that's what I thought.

Hence, I went with a dedicated phono-pre, the ARC PH6, so I can make my cart decisions more independently. Current cart output is 0.4mv.


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GreyMouse said:
Sorry i I never saw this reply! Better late than never I hope.

The SP20 limits you to MC or even a few Moving Iron carts, like Soundstage. From having surveyed the forums and talked to Cal at ARC several months ago, it seems the sweet spot of cart output is .5mv. Cal recommended avoiding anything below, which eliminates the Krystal (and all MM carts, as far as I can tell). You might deal with some clipping issues with MM and the SP20's phono stage.
Click to expand...


Just to clarify...

I think you have used the terms of MM and MC carts backwards. MM carts are higher output types than MC carts.
 
Yeah that was a poorly constructed sentence on my part. All MM carts are out, because they're too high output, and among the MC carts only the higher output models (of low output MC carts, haha) are ideal with the fixed 58db gain of the ARC SP20 phono stage. The sweet spot is about .5mV.

It's somewhat of a limitation of an otherwise amazing unit.

MikeCh said:
Just to clarify...

I think you have used the terms of MM and MC carts backwards. MM carts are higher output types than MC carts.
Click to expand...
 
Also: The Krystal is .23mV, I believe, which was well below any recommendation for my SP20. Too bad, because it sounds great.
 
GreyMouse said:
Also: The Krystal is .23mV, I believe, which was well below any recommendation for my SP20. Too bad, because it sounds great.
Click to expand...

Following up this dusty thread, I finally chose the VPI Prime with an Ortofon Cadenza Blue cart (at .5mV). It sounds great so far. With more latitude on the phono stage I might have picked the Cadenza Bronze, but it's a little underpowered for the SP20, so they say.

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That's very interesting, I was thinking about the same combination. And while the Prime and the Cadenza Bronze are a nice combination, I also concluded the Cadenza Bronze might be too low in output for the SP20. And though the SP20 is a superb preamp, you might want to support it with a step-up transformer for lower output carts. So I initially went for the PH6 instead.

The PH6 was nice and way better than my earlier EAR 834P Signature, but I kind of missed the the lushness and vivid reproduction of timbres I had with the EAR.

By coincidence I then came across the Grandinote Celio, which gives me a ton of details, paired with colors and lushness. To my surprise, it is not a tube phono, but based on so called magnetosolid technology (tube architecture with transistors). It plays in a class of its own. The only downside is I think it's about 8,5K in the US.


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Kuoppis said:
That's very interesting, I was thinking about the same combination. And while the Prime and the Cadenza Bronze are a nice combination, I also concluded the Cadenza Bronze might be too low in output for the SP20. And though the SP20 is a superb preamp, you might want to support it with a step-up transformer for lower output carts. So I initially went for the PH6 instead.

The PH6 was nice and way better than my earlier EAR 834P Signature, but I kind of missed the the lushness and vivid reproduction of timbres I had with the EAR.

By coincidence I then came across the Grandinote Celio, which gives me a ton of details, paired with colors and lushness. To my surprise, it is not a tube phono, but based on so called magnetosolid technology (tube architecture with transistors). It plays in a class of its own. The only downside is I think it's about 8,5K in the US.
Click to expand...

I've only ever heard praise for the PH6. Seems Audio Research knows their way around a phono stage. When my dealer demo'd for me a mid-level Linn LP12 with the brand-new Krystal cartridge (.25mv, though you have to hack MI5 to find that), he used an SP20 and Ref-75se to duplicate my home gear. He knew I was concerned about the mismatch. He cranked it up and, admittedly, the SP20 phono stage seemed very quiet. Still, the output was literally half what anybody was recommending (including Cal at ARC) and the cart was so absolutely new it seemed wiser to select a more known product.

I'll make a note to find and listen to the Grandinote. It sounds like a nice discovery!



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