First off, I couldn’t be more impressed with the front-end equipment recommended by Warren of Audioarcan & John from Pure Fidelity. They helped me combine a Pure Fidelity Harmony turntable, an Ortofon Windfeld Ti cartridge & the Origin Live Illustrious tone arm. All I can say is ‘holy smokes’, this is beyond anything I expected. When playing well-recorded records, it reproduces such realism, it’s actually surprising. Warren was good enough to check-in after the sale to make sure I was satisfied with everything.
Regarding the phono stage, I was actually quite happy with my initial Audioarcan purchase of the all-tube Icon Audio PS1; with it’s nice open sound & no messing with gain, impedance loads, etc. But after a few months Warren suggested upgrading to the PS3 to better match & bring out the subtleties of the Windfeld Ti cartridge. After some fence sitting, I bit the bullet & Warren was absolutely right. The PS3 is brilliant. The spacial information in the sound stage is simply amazing, especially with percussion, horns, bass & female voices. It’s a revelation & brings you right into the music. The PS3 phono stage is truly a magnificent piece of gear.
I can not see ever upgrading any of these pieces again. My current music setup is probably the best thing to result from my isolation during this awful pandemic. Many thanks to Warren & John for putting together such a rewarding combination.
