Love my PL-P pre, but wouldn’t pay the asking price of the new classic stuff never mind the top end HD range. My pre is nicely put together but the III or IV r2r contain a lot more top end engineering. I have no use case for one, but still would love to own one.
At least the PL-P only takes 8 d size batteries. Although NiMH and constantly tricked charged.
Sadly this didn’t come with any leads,and they look pricey.
As it’s not to keep,a dozen cheap batteries seems the way to try it.
Luckily the batteries that were inside hadn’t leaked
Suspect someone on the forum will have suitable ones they could loan for test purposes.
The fun thing with the Nagra is the built in speaker, I have some blanks - Perhaps ‘Stu sings from the shower’ will be a campfire hit at Lopwell?
Feel the 
Voice of the Lopwell woods
The sound that haunts, trauma on repeat, whispering through woods,
But would the powerful sound of Stu keep the pesky Brownies at bay?
Patch might
Bit of an impulse purchase, had not planned to buy a tonearm for my Thorens TD-160 Mk2 project as I already had a basic RB250 in the cupboard that came with an Michell Tecnodec a few years back. I did try a lovely SME 3009 S2 (Split Weight) but it was too long on the back and hit the lid so sold it on.
I have always lusted after a 309 (or IV/V) since listening to them on Gyrodec & Orbe back when I worked in the hifi shop but they always seemed to be out of my price range at the time so ended up with a bargain SME M2-9 on my Gyrodec SE when I owned it. The M2-9 would be perfect for the TD-160 but not seen one for sale for a good while and the 309 popped up at a good price so here we are!
I beleive it might be on the heavy side for the suspended TD-160 Mk2, a quick play with the springs and its somewhat level but its not ideal. This Thorens was inherited from my FIL when he passed so it holds sentimental value for the family so it will be kept but I might end up with something else to use in the system. I’m thinking maybe a Technics SL-120 or SL-150 to start with on the affordable end of the spectrum, I’m not the biggest fan of suspended decks like the Syncro and Gyrodec SE I have had in the past.
I’ve an AT-33PTGII as well as an Ortofon Quintet Blue to try out when the Thorens is finally finished, its 90% there, just needs the base installing and a little fettle to get the top plate to be fully flush!
I have an M2 on the AVID which I would potentially be open to working out some sort of swap plus cash balance option for the 309 if that interests you?
Thanks for the offer, I’ll see how I get on but as I say, if it does not work out on the Thorens, I’d like to try something else first. I’ve lusted after one for years so not keen to move on just yet 
Before I bought the Rega P9 I did look at the Avid Ingenium back when they were ~£800 with an SME mount, had I kept my M2-9 back then I suspect I would have gone down that route rather than the P9 (and then P7) via the Michell Tecnodec & Syncro as well as that Micro Seiki beast!
I remember hearing a Avid Ingenium Plug&Play at a show once somewhere and was suitably impressed with it 
.
Well Stu one of my VPA mono blocks has just developed a fault so on a sample of one, no…
Just swapped in the Shuguang Treasure 300B-Z Gold pins. Out of the box they sound surprisingly good.
Nagar power amps too, or something different?
I’m sure I must have heard a full stack Nagra setup at Munich a while back, but I cannot recall it at all.
Complete set I believe
The classic pre as shown is 16k - I have one but didn’t pay that for it.
