The Leben CS600x will shatter your preconceptions of what an EL34 integrated amp sounds like. It is one of the most musical pieces of gear I’ve ever owned, and it combines the best qualities of SET and ultra linear tube amps. Reward it with NOS line stage tubes and upgraded power tubes, and it will produce exceptional sounds.

I am no stranger to tube amps generally, or EL34 amps specifically. I’ve owned many EL34 integrateds, including the ASL DT1006, the VAC Avatar SE, and the Conrad Johnson CAV50. I’ve also owned the mighty AirTight ATM3 monoblock amps (six EL34’s per channel) and the lowly Dynaco ST70. For headphone, I started with the Woo WA6SE, and graduated to the Woo WA22 and WA5, the latter two of which I still own.

I was intrigued by the Leben after reading about its synergy with Devore Fidelity speakers, and also the magic of the Leben CS300 as a headphone amp. My mighty Woo WA5 is tough to beat with headphones and does a stellar job with very efficient speakers but I was searching for a bit more power for the speakers. The waiting time to procure a 600x was nearly six months, and they are rare as hens teeth on the used market. The earlier 600 model can be found, and can be upgraded to the X, but it uses different line stage tubes that are becoming harder to source, as there is no new production and the NOS versions are spendy, hence the x model, whose tubes are easily sourced.

After a week of burning in, the 600x founds its true voice. On recommendation, I swapped the EH EL34 for the Gold Lion KT77s, and experimented with several NOS line stage tubes before settling on a pair of Sylvania and CBS tubes, with GE, Raytheon, and RCA tubes faring quite well too. Tube swapping noticeably removed some grit and glare present in the JJ new production tubes.

The Woo WA5 is a splendid SET amp, and the 300b creates a believable immediacy that is truly beguiling. I was expecting to lose this in return for better dynamics but the Leben surprised me. It had palpable body and presence, if not quite as present as the 300b amp, it was darn close. The soundstage was more lifelike, and inner detail of brushed cymbals, the blat of horns, the decay of percussion, and the placement of instruments was exceptional. I’ve never heard an EL34 amp sound this transparent, and it managed to give detail, immediacy, and dynamics without sacrificing warmth and tone. It completely rewrote my understanding of what a great EL34 amp can be. It has the presence and palpability of a SET amp, but with the dynamics I typically associate with 6550 or KT88 tubes. And it doesn’t lose the warmth and overall pace of the EL34, but rather improves on the usual rounded sound in surprising ways. Bass is never rock solid but is far more firm than any EL34 amp I’ve experienced, and the top end is crystal clear but still warm. Definitely confounds my stereotypes of the EL34.

This was the experience with loudspeakers. With headphones, the Leben 600x was wonderful but the quality of results depended a bit more on the headphones. The LCD3 and HD650 were really terrific, if not perhaps as fully dynamic and manhandled the way they sounded on the mighty Woo WA5. While I ultimately preferred the WA5 on these two headphones, I could be quite happy with the Leben, which excelled over the WA22 except perhaps with the HD650 (which in balanced mode with a balanced source, mates exceptionally well with the WA22). With the Focal Clear, the Leben was less successful than the Woo WA5, and not as equal to the WA22. The bass was a bit soft, and the sound was less dynamic than the Clears can produce. I suspect it has something to do with Clear’s very low impedance and matching with the Leben, but either way, it didn’t knock me over the way the WA5 did on the Clear. The LCD3 was just right with the Leben, showing firm tight bass, delicious midrange, and clear musical top end. The WA5 only bested the Leben by giving the LCD more energy and bounce.

Judged purely as a speaker integrated amp, I have to absolutely side with the Leben. It does everything the WA5 does and more - more dynamics, more soundstage height and depth, more detail, and more effortless presentation.

Judged as purely a headphone amp, I’d still have to give the nod to the WA5, but not necessarily to the WA22 - it depends on the headphone. For an integrated amp that needs to double as a headphone amp, however, the Leben takes the clear win. It’s very versatile and it’s a clear keeper.

For now, the WA5 still stays but I’m looking hard at justifying keeping the WA22 because it only does headphones, and it only betters the others on the HD650 and Clear when running in full balanced mode. But the Leben will now occupy the place of honor in the main system, and it continues to enchant. That it also looks marvelous and will last a lifetime is a bonus.

I've enjoyed digital audio for quite some time, ditching my high end CD transport in 2005 for a Mac Mini based music server feeding a high end DAC, and later adding a highly modified Squeezebox SB3 with a custom linear power supply.

This setup "served" me well until I tired of having a computer system in my listening room. I pivoted to the Sony HAPZ1ES, a one box music server that also opened up the world of hi rez files to me. This setup served me well until it became clear that Sony would not support high rez music streaming services - they could tolerate supporting Spotify but not a service like Tidal or Qobuz which might arguably compete with their hi rez downloads.

The moment I tried Tidal (and later Qobuz) was the moment I realized that devices like the Sony would become high end bricks - very useful for the 300 or so albums I owned but useless for the modern age. I went looking for a music streamer, and quickly fell down the rabbit hole.

Music streamers are all over the board in terms of features and price, as the market has exploded for these devices. High price doesn't always equate to more features, and my desire to find a "one size box that does all" and avoid a computer in my system proved to be challenging. At the low end were boxes like Sonos, Auralic Mini, and BlueSound, which supported many features but simply lacked the high end fidelity chops to be considered as seriously replacements to the wonderful sounding Sony or my now 14 year old DAC. At the other end were devices like Aurender, which seem to have the goods sonically, but which were priced very high and didn't support MQA or stored files or even have an integrated DAC (at least not at the price points I was looking at).

Audiophiles are odd cheapskates. They can spend thousands on an amp but balk at paying a few hundred for cables. They can skimp on a tube amp but spent a small fortune on rolling vintage tubes. For me, it’s network streamers without a DAC. I can justify the higher price of a premium DAC but $3-4k for streamer-only box box that doesnt do MQA and is not even Roon compatible makes me grumpy. And most of these high end devices are supported by a proprietary app whose features and quality seemed to vary widely, from barely functional to not quite ready for the big leagues.

Then something fascinating happened in my journey - I discovered Roon. That changed EVERYTHING.

Without going into too much detail on Roon, think of it like an operating system for music that is hardware agnostic. It can run on any computer (Linux, Apple, Android, Windows) and work with any hardware that is roon capable. That includes over 40 DACs, streamers, receivers, Sonos, Apple Airplay capable devices etc. One app, that brings together all of your stored music together with all of your music services including Tidal and now Qobuz, in one search interface. It lets you simultaneously stream different music files to all your roon compatible devices. So missus can listen to her music on the Sonos in the office while I rock out to my headphone system in our living room and my kids groove to their music on their laptops in their room.

All I needed for high end nirvana was a Roon capable endpoint, which is a fancy name for a music streamer and DAC. Hence my search and hence the review of the Lumin D2.

Like the Sony, the Lumin is a one-box music streamer. Unlike the Sony, Lumin supports Roon, streams Tidal and Qobuz directly if you don't use Roon, and accesses your music stored on a network drive or attached hard hard drive. You don't need Roon to use the Lumin but if you don't use Roon, you'd be missing out on a key benefit of the Lumin.

Like most high end devices, the Lumin sports single ended and balanced outputs - important for headphone users like me who have invested in a fully balanced amp and balanced cables for their headphones, and want the benefits of a balanced source. The integrated DACs in the Lumin are well known for rendering analog like sound and support up to DSD 128.

I couldn't find many reviews of the Lumin D2 in popular magazines or blogs - odd, because other Lumin products were reviewed and the earlier Lumin D1 had a strong following. I almost passed on it as I couldn't find a Lumin dealer nearby. But a few reviews convinced me to roll the dice, especially after a mixed experience with another music streamer which worked great but didn't better the sound of my 14 year old Squeezebox system or my Sony HAPZ1ES.

I found a good deal on a demo unit and bought it sound unheard and crossed my fingers.

After a few weeks, I'm quite the fan. The Lumin has a warm analog like sound that comes closer to the tone of my wonderful Musical Fidelity TriVista tube DAC but lets me hear much deeper into the music. I am noticing significantly more texture, more space, and more "groove" on most files. Part of this may be because I can now experience hi rez 24/192 files from Qobuz or MQA files from Tidal. However, redbook files (the standard CD format) sound much much better, and I think Roon and Lumin's synergy has something to do with this.

That unique feature of Roon? Among Roon's many charms is the ability to take 16bit 44khz files and upsample them in Roon to DSD 64 resolution. This includes not just my stored files but Tidal and Qobuz streamed files too. The Lumin then receives them as DSD files and renders them as such with its internal DAC. There is a higher level of analog ease with these upsampled Redbook files that I don't hear with the Sony or the TriVista (which still sounds nice but is suddenly less revealing. I’ll still keep it for the office). The TriVista can’t play 24/96 or 24/192, let alone MQA. Roon can upsample those up to DSD for good measure, and the Lumin plays them as DSD files, or as native high Rez, with MQA. Phew!

I would certainly expect this out of a $4k or more device like the Aurender streamer or some high end DAC like the Auralic G2 Vega, but I am pleasantly surprised to hear this level of sound quality from a $2300 device that includes both the streamer and the DAC (less in my case as I saved by buying a demo). I am looking at my $2k Sony with new regret, though I had 4 nice years with it. The Lumin when fed by Roon outperforms the Sony on Redbook and easily matches it on DSD and high rez files, PLUS it streams Tidal and Qobuz PLUS it supports Roon. It out-sounds the E.One stream, the Moon Mind, and comes as close as I can recall hearing to the Chord Qutest - which itself is just a DAC, and which was the favorite of my audition of DAC only devices.

I've read where the Lumin's fidelity can be brought up a few more notches by adding a Linear Power Supply (a quick and easy plug and play effort) for another few hundred dollars. Maybe I'll try this, as a similar upgrade years ago radically improved the Squeezebox. But I am enjoying the sound so much I am not tempted to rush out and try this.

Would the Lumin sound as fantastic without Roon? I haven't been tested to try it using its native app, because not using Roon is like taking several steps backwards. Roon itself requires another investment, both for the software license and adding a server to run it. I dug deep and bought the Roon Nucleus Server, which you can effectively duplicate using DIY kits for half of what Roon asks, but the Nucleus works out of the box and took me 5 min of setup time vs. several hours to source and put together a fanless server.

For me, Roon fufills a wish I had with the Sony - an app that updates regularly and supports a myriad of music services and includes helpful features and isn't obsolete when the manufacturer decides the useful life of the device is over or not supporting services that conflict with its corporate business objectives.

The Lumin D2 is the missing hardware link - one box that does streaming and digital decoding, at a price and with fidelity that is not obscene. It just works, and it sounds marvelous doing so, certainly with MQA and high rez files but more important, with Redbook files too. I've not found a similar device that is this well built, fully featured, and well thought out, a list that includes the Bel Canto E.One Stream, Chord's Qutest, Moon Audio, and several others I've since forgotten about. Do yourself a favor and track one down, or roll the dice like me and take the plunge.

What I listened to:

Muddy Waters - Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (MQA)
Bob Dylan - House of the Rising Sun
Passenger - 27
Justin Bieber - Love Yourself
Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (MQA)
Groove Armada - Hands of Time
JJ Cale - Troubador

This is my third Woo amp and by far my favorite. I owned a 6SE for two years, then sold it for a WA22 (which I still have). The 6Se had a nice warm sound, but the WA22 really took it up a notch, especially for balanced sources. The former owner of my WA22 raved about the WA5LE he had acquired, and I kept my eye open for a deal. I located this unit, which is a pre-2015 WA5.
 
There are very slight differences between pre-2015 WA5 versions and the current version offered by Woo. I verified with Woo that, except as indicated below, the WA5's circuit design, features, and construction has remained unchanged since the amp's introduction in 2008:
 
- inputs (the pre-2015 has 4 RCA inputs, the 2015+ offers only two RCA and one XLR pair of inputs but note - the XLR input is not actually a balanced design but just there for convenience.
 
- impedance and level switch - The pre-2015 amp gives you three basic output options using a selector knob: high imp, low imp, and a high power setting for the XLR output (suitable for the AKG1000). The 2015+ version deletes the high power setting and instead adds two toggle switches for power and impedance, which enable a slightly more tunable headphone impedance matching.
 
- switches: the pre2015 amp used round knobs for the input and output selector switches on the front of the amp. The 2015 plus switches over to flat switches which are easier to turn.
 
- parts upgrade: the pre-2015 offered the option to upgrade to ultra premium internal parts: (V-Cap input coupling Teflon caps, Jensen decoupling caps and voltage filtering caps, Black Gate bypass (6SN7 cathode) caps for an extra $1250, the current version includes these as standard 
 
- packing: Woo originally shipped the WA5 in wooden crates with foam inserts - they now ship in double boxed cardboard boxes with foam inserts. The wooden boxes are quite impressive, but they add to the shipping weight (and therefore the cost).
 
The WA5 LE differs from the WA5 in that it deletes the speaker terminals and ability to drive speakers, and the audiophile parts upgrade is an option. Compared with the upgraded parts included, the WA5 basically costs an extra $950 for the ability to power a pair of high efficiency speakers.
 
MY GEAR
 
I used the following gear to listen to the WA5:
 
- Sony HAPZ1ES digital player
- Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 21 DAC (fed with a highly modified Logitech Squeezebox and power supply, for streaming Tidal)
- VPI Prime turntable with an EAR 834p phono pre amp
 
WHAT I HEARD
The WA5 was....one of those jaw dropping moments in hi fi for me. I've owned high end tube gear for a number of years powering speakers, and the Woo WA6SE was my first tube headphone amp. The step up to the WA22 was noticeable - but really more for using balanced sources - and the WA22 seems very finicky about tube choices in order to maximize the tone. The WA5 was simply magnificent regardless of source, and regardless of tube choice. I started with the stock tubes, but swapped the 300b's for some Genelex tubes, swapped the 5AU4's for some Sophia Princess 274's, and used Sylvania and RCA 6SN7s. The better tubes improved things, but not to the extent they did on the WA22.
 
Immediate reaction using the HD650s and LCD3s - sheer dynamics and power, amazingly controlled and extended low end, and a rich and open midrange. The WA22 paired nicely with the HD650, but the WA5 took everything up several notches, and helped to expand what has been called a darker top end on the HD650. The more impressive pairing was the LCD3. This amp just sings with the power and the control that a high power amp like the WA5 provides - I felt like I hadn't really heard the true character and virtues of the LCD3 until I hooked them up to the WA5. The low end was noticeably extended, the top end was as well, and the combination was magical. The LCD3 has a slight glare with the WA22 - very tube dependent, but the WA5 eliminated it.
 
Tonight, listening to both phones, the word that comes to mind is "exquisite."  On the LCD3, the WA5 brings a realism and tone that are so honest and real. The retrieval of detail is wonderful. Switching to the HD650, I lose some of the microdetail, attack and low end bass extension, but the musicality and tone are still there - warm and open.
 
The thing about the WA5 is that it so changes the character of the phones, I feel that only with the WA5 am I hearing how they truly sound. On the 6SE, I heard the nice Woo character traits, but the phones were not as dynamic or vibrant, especially the HD650. And the LCD3 has a glare and haze that disappears on the WA5. On the WA22, the HD650 pairs wonderfully, and the gap between the WA5 and WA22 is closer than on the 6SE. But with the LCD3s, things change radically - the WA5 shows me why I paid $2k for these phones. With the HD650, the WA5 tells me the Sennheiser is not veiled or dark on the top end as much as everyone complains, it just needs more power to come to life.  
 
My amp had to go back to Woo for repairs when it first arrived from my seller - among other things, they replaced the volume switch, selector switch, a tube socket, and reinforced some solder joints, and inspected the amp overall, plus replaced some defective tubes. In that time, I had a chance to return to the WA22 and enjoy its virtues, which are many. Upon return of the WA5s, I spent more time listening through a pair of ProAc mini monitors I had acquired. Even though the WA5 puts out 8 wpc and the ProAcs are 89db efficiency (and 8 ohm impedance which does not dip much), the match was a great one - the WA5 lets the ProAcs image and soundstage effortlessly. I wasn't expecting much as  speaker amp, but the WA5 delivered handsomely - enough such that I don't miss my older higher powered Air Tight 120wpc monoblocks.
 
Quibbles? Just a few:
 
1. The amps are large - they will fit on a standard rack but take up the whole shelf. As a desktop HP amp, these are like having twoWA22s
2. The amps are heavy - 45 lbs in each wooden box shipped, which costs about $130 to ship to Woo.
3. 300b tubes aren't cheap - the Genelex upgrades cost about $325/pr, and there are far more expensive options.
4. Ok - this is reaching, but none of the Woo amps offer remote control. This is really only an issue if you are using as a speaker amp.
5. the umbilical cable is a pain to hook up if you don't have easy access to the rear of the amp panel, such as when putting into an enclosed cabinet.
 
I'd love to hear comparisons with some other highly regarded HP amps, like the Cavalli, or the Violectric, but I am guessing the WA5s belong in the rarified air of amps, where the differences are those of tone, not capability.
 
All in all, a most impressive and magical amp, and easily the best I've heard from the Woo lineup (I have not heard their exotic monoblocks), and the ability to play speakers through them helps to justify the significantly high price.

The Tri-Vista 21 was a limited edition DAC sold in late 2004, early 2005. It was massively overbuilt - great power supply and output stage, and ran extremely long life 5703 milspec tubes, which are good for 100,000 hours. The unit is hefty, 20 lbs, and it has toslink and SPDIF inputs, and RCA outputs. The power supply is heavily regulated and has great chokes - Musical Fidelity built this unit to a spectacular degree. The feet of the unit feature LEDs that light up first orange then blue to signal when the unit has reached ideal warmup.
 
Compared to DACs of the day, the Tri-Vista outpunched its rather modest price - you had to spend about $5k to get DACs that bettered its sonic quality. The DAC upsampled redbook to 192k, and it dramatically improved redbook sources. If used with a CD transport, it favored high quality transports. Like all DACs of that era, it had no DSD support, nor could it take a USB input.
 
I recently brought my sparingly used Tri-Vista out of storage to use with Tidal high res streaming - thinking I would use it for a short while as I shopped for a more "suitable modern" DAC. But research demonstrated that for Tidal, which is limited to redbook quality, the Tri-Vista was ideal, and none of the modern DACs could significantly improve on the sound quality. I was bowled over by how much the Tri-Vista sounded on Redbook compared to contemporary DACs, so much so that I rethought my strategy of upgrading the DAC.
 
I'd still like a one-box solution which could handle multiple modern digital inputs, tidal and music streaming/network support. But those are either crazy priced ($5k and higher) or require multiple units specialized for either DAC and streaming.
 
The Tri-Vista therefore chugs along quite well. It easily surpasses my A&K 120 DAC for redbook, and it performs as well as (and sometimes better than) my Sony HAPZ1ES on redbook sources.
 
So it will stick around for a while, until I can find something that is sonically superior and more full-featured. If you can locate a clean used one (I see them for around $800-1k), don't think twice - it's alright.

I switched to the VPI Prime after a few months with a Pro-Ject Carbon Debut table - a great entry level table that provides a glimpse of great vinyl but left me wanting much more. The step from the Pro-Ject to the VPI is a massive step. The Pro-Ject retails for about $700 with needed upgrades; the VPI Prime retails for $3800 plus cartridge - I went for the $750 Ortofon 2M Black. Look for deals, however, as I was able to get the two for $3700 total - still over 5x the cost of the Pro-Ject.
 
Once you've recovered from the shock of that massive price tag, you might hesitate to call the VPI Prime a "bargain" until you realize it is competing with turntables that are typically in the $8000-14,0000 price range. The closest step below the Prime in the VPI product line is the VPI Scout - about half the cost (safely about $2k with Ortofon 2M Blue). My dealer told me the leap to the Scout was noticeable, but the leap to the Prime was a step into the big leagues.
 
 So what do you get for your nearly $4k that you won't find in the Scout or Pro-Ject or any entry to mid level turntable?
 
First is bass response and bass detail. I'd say it's like adding a bass boost, but that doesn't capture it - it doesn't create a missing low end, it reveals the low end that was always there. I've always complained that my LCD-3's lacked bass slam and attack, but hearing the VPI Prime, I realize now that's not the case - the problem was my source. You want to hear real energy driving bass that you can feel? With a slam and an impact? That's what a high end table like the Prime provides - the real energy of the bass.
 
Second is dynamics and detail - the kind of micro detail that made you choose headphones over speakers in the first place. Take a cut like Crosby Stills Nash and Young's "Find the Cost of Freedom" or the Violent Femmes' "Add it Up".. With CSNY, there are four very distinct voices there, and while the Pro-Ject differentiates them, the VPI lets you hear each one in its space, with all the micro detail like breathiness, intake, and tone, in a way that entry level tables can't quite master. On Add it Up, you can feel the raw scrape of the guitar strings and the drums.
 
Third is background - by reducing LP surface level noise and transmitted vibration, the VPI Prime lets the music emerge more naturally from a black background instead of fighting to come through the haze of rumble and surface noise. That brings out the detail and nuance.
 
Last is the sort of drive/energy/rhythm that you typically hear live, but which can be difficult to replicate at home. Guitars "growl" more, the unique tone of instruments are more readily perceived. They aren't totally absent on the Pro-Ject, they are just more jumbled together and sort of lost in the mix, and a great table like the Prime pulls them out and sets them in their space, and presents a more coherent overall picture. Want to dive in and focus on one instrument? Easy. Want to sit back and take in the collective glory? Easy.
 
Downsides? Really just one - the arm sits on a needle-like pivot point - no bearings on the tone arm - you can literally lift the arm right off just by picking it up. That means when you move the arm over the record, or lower it, it is a tad wobby at first and not stable like on other tables. VPI has a low cost upgrade that takes out some of the wobble - you send your arm in for the upgrade. The upside of this design is that you can buy multiple arms with different cartridges and swapping would be easy. Me - I'll be happy with just the one arm. I will also say that the table benefits from a super thick - like 3" thick - maple block foundation, to deaden any transmitted resonance. Finally - no dustcover, though you can buy an aftermarket version for about $300.
 
I owned a nice VPI table twenty years ago, and the progress that has been made in the quality of the arm, the platter, and the motors are clearly evident. I loved my old table, but it can't compete with today's technology and design. I swallowed hard when I handed over my credit card number to place the order - I have less than 60 records (I foolishly sold my 1000 record collection many years ago), but the VPI has me returning to local record stores and thrift shops and really loving music again in a way I hadn't in the past ten years.
 
 
Well purchased, then.

I've been into vinyl previously but in the mid-90's, sold my high end VPI table and never looked back. I ended up recently with a bunch of new records and nothing to play them on, and decided to test the vinyl waters again - there is much more interesting and better sounding choices now than there was ten-15 years ago when record companies were fleeing record sales. Now it seems everyone is into vinyl - one positive thing I can thank the hipsters for.
 
Reviews all pointed to the Pro-Ject Carbon Debut as the "it" entry-level table - the minimum you had to spend to get the quality that equals or perhaps surpasses good digital. With a headphone only system now, I needed more than just the out-of-the-box system that comprises the Pro-Ject- it comes with a great tone arm, a decent platter, and a good starter phono cartridge, but no phono stage.  
 
I found a good buy on a used model, which had the upgraded acrylic platter ($129) and upgraded Speed Box motor ($129), all for the same price as the standard model ($399), It came with the Ortofon 2m Red cartridge, but I needed a phono stage so after much online research, I narrowed down to two choices - Schiit Mani or the Hagerman Labs Bugle 2. Fate intervened and I managed to source a great deal on a used iFi iPhono unit, normally $400 but used for $220. It was a lot to spend in some senses, but super glad I bought this, as it raises the level of performance far above what can be found for $200. It came in handy later too when I needed to adjust the capacitance/loading to reduce some of the siblance I heard initially.
 
Out of the box, the Pro-Ject sounded - well... average. Not the equal nor the better of my more expensive Sony HAP1ZES player. I played with the VTF, adjusted the load capacitance, and it helped bring the sound closer to what I was expecting. But...still heard some top end haze, bass was just "ok", and depth and soundstage felt compressed. Not the vinyl sound I remembered, and I was surprised at the surface noise on records too - even after a good scrubbing on a vacuum cleaning machine.
 
Reading up, I suspected the 2m Red was the culprit - it's a starter phono cartridge that sells for $100 and while it gets good reviews, those who have gone up the Ortofon 2m range reported much better sound. The Blue 2M was $230 - seemed odd to spend almost half the table's cost to upgrade the stylus, but I did it and was rewarded handsomely. Surface noise dropped considerably. Bass was significantly increased, much more impact, slam and heft. Everywhere else was improved - soundstage, rhythm, bounce, top end... the Red felt like it was smothering so much of what the Blue was revealing. I know you can go much higher in the Ortofon range, but for me, that will await another table upgrade first (probably a VPI scout).
 
So, with the benefit of an upgraded cartridge, the platter and motor upgrades, and a killer phone stage, I'm into the Pro-Ject setup to the tune of about $800 and change. There aren't many tables I've found at that price new, though a few used. With each upgrade, the Pro-Jct seems to reveal more of its capability so I am impressed that it has kept up, and with these upgrades, I finally get the amazing vinyl sound I recalled from my older system. I can also see what a better table is likely to get me - more of everything except surface noise.
 
So I think the Pro-Ject is a great starter table, but don't think you can drop $399 and be done -more likely it will cost you $800 all in. Save your pennies and buy the better phono stage first along with the cartridge upgrade, before doing the platter and speed box upgrades.
 
I listened to this on my Woo Audio 6SE (tube upgrades), powering either the Audeze LCD3 or Sennheiser HD650, and some rather spendy cables (Cardas headphone cables, Acoustic Zen Ref II Silver interconnects, Cards Golden Ref AC cables, and Foundation Research AC filters - probably $3k in cables - these were holdovers from a much more exotic hifi system sold off after converting to headphone only - your mileage may vary based on your own cables and filters)