It’s probably a long shot, but has anyone got or know of an Io, preferably a Gold, that I could borrow (and / or buy) to try into my Paradise Phono Stage?
I have a 1 and a 2, both of which are sat in boxes…
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I used an io1 with my paradise and it worked pretty good. Just needed turning up a bit more on my amp.
8am on other carts 9.30 on io1
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Definitive have a newly rebuilt Gold one in their ‘Stuff’ list.
Only £5k.
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If you are feeling (really) brave or fancy a challenge this isn’t badly priced. Might be worth seeing if he can post it to Rudy and he can forward it to you (failing that I know a few people in Austria who come over to the UK frequently for work)
Cantilever looks to be sitting very high so the suspension is probably gone so factor in an extra £1000 for a possible rebuild.
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That sounds perfect, I will message you privately about them if you are willing to loan out?
I spoke with Simon who built the vast majority of these and he confirmed there are a few people using an Io with the Paradise. It has gain between 64 and 70dB and for an Io he suggested around 10r loading plugs.
Do you still run the Io or have you changed to a different cart?
I’ve seen that but it is out of my price range.
Brave indeed! I think I might give that a miss.
Ana Mighty have an Io1 (rebuilt by them) plus ANS3L package for sale for around £3k, but that would mean a new MM phono stage.
and what is wrong with your existing cart? 
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Well, nothing really, but when has that ever stopped any of us. 
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TBH my experience with IO’s is none of of the IO range really shine unless they are matched perfectly by the SUT. Outside of a Salgle I’ve not heard any SUT or phono (excluding of the AN / Kondo ranges) that lets them really open up and do the effortless trick that is so very toothsome to the ear. No surprise the higher end SUTs from AN / Kondo are silver and convey the tiny signal better… There, in this instance cable (windings) matter.
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This is very much my experience I bought my Io Gold with an ANS3L. I soon traded the ANS3L for an AN(J)S6c and might upgrade that to silver if I can ever come across one at a sensible price.
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I thought the AN S6c was a silver SUT?
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The Io Gold with the AN-S8 was a lovely combo.
I’ve still got an early AN-S3L which was silver rather than copper
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Pretty sure you have silver transformers.
The c in ANS6c doesn’t stand for copper transformers, but might stand for the substantial copper casing.
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IIRC they are silver transformers. I was under the impression there was a superior ANS6 which was all silver. I may well be mistaken though. It ran rings around the ANS3L.
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There’s an S7 but I don’t think it’s that much different. The later “Kondo” branded one is the SF-Z. They’re all silver and pretty similar. As noted the ‘c’ in S6c denotes copper box AFAIK.
I do agree that Ios work best with transformers. While they work ok with very high gain MC stages it ends up a bit meh.
The AN UK silver variants are the S8 and S9. The S9 is extraordinary and beats the JP ones hands down, but it’s eye watering expensive. The silver Slagle is a good alternative which has a different sound but comparable quality.
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I have an S7 but I can’t remember the differences? Does the S6 have x4 formers inside?
On one occasion I had the AN(J)S6c, the ANUK S8 and the Kondo SFz at my place on the same day,
You could hear a difference but as soon as you were 30 seconds into the music you forgot it. I wouldn’t say one was any better than the other and could have lived with any of them.
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