bringgeld, I have had some experience with the Cary SLP98 in my home system. With all respect to the Cary, I would say safely that it cannot be in the same league with the Herron, given the number of experienced guys who adore the Herron. Same goes for the Luxman units, although they are beautifully made. |
Where is BPoletti now that you need him? He is "Mr. Herron" around here. |
Chuck, Do you prefer the VTPH2 to your solid state phono stage, the one we've both heard?
BPoletti, I do not in any way begrudge you your love of the Herron phono stage. Was just pointing out to the OP that you are obviously the most knowledgeable person on the subject of all things Herron. I'd love to compare the Herron VTPH2 to either my own highly tweaked Silvaweld SWH550 or to a K&K Maxxed Out.
Bdp24, In the good old days of Harvey et al, I owned a Decca SC4E and then a Decca London. I did like the London a lot, but I cannot recall what I thought of the SC4E back then. A few years ago, I resurrected the SC4E and gave it a listen; the results were to say the least not favorable. I am still open-minded on Decca, because of my fond memories of their wide open sound and midrange clarity. Can you say more about Harvey's recommendations for loading, besides adding 1000pF? Did he use 47K or some other resistance? I also feared that the older high mass designs like the SC4E could do damage to LPs. Maybe heavy viscous damping, as with the Townsend, ameliorates that issue. |
Just a technical note that will be obvious to most: I take it from reading these posts that the VTPH2 is set up for medium output MC cartridges (e.g., >0.4mV output). As such, the phono load resistance is probably set for some low value (compared to the 47K ohm standard used for 99% of MM cartridges and sometimes even with MCs), probably between 100 and 1000 ohms. (I gather also that Keith Herron will alter the load R to satisfy his customers.) But if the built-in load resistor is in the 100 to 1000 ohm range, then you cannot just add a SUT in order to use an MC with "low output" (<0.4mV, for example). The best course of action, if you think you want or need to use a SUT would be to inform Keith Herron regarding your choice of cartridge, and let him tell you what works best. You'd definitely have to use a 47K or similar load R at the input of the phono stage, if you couple the VTPH2 with a SUT.
For whoever asked, I am in Bethesda, MD, not on the West Coast. |
Bpoletti and Rsrex, I stand corrected. I went to the Herron website, and I do see that the VTPH2 sports separate MM and MC inputs, plus the load at the MC input can be easily varied by using plug-in resistor modules. FWIW, I recently was rather surprised to find that my Ortofon MC2000 "likes" a 47K load (vs 1000R or 100R) into my Atma-sphere MP1 phono stage, which has enough gain to deal with its very very low output without the aid of a SUT. I may be a convert to "infinite loading".
No one asked, but the Atma MP1 phono is world class, too. |
Bdp24, OK, but Mr Herron did not originate the notion of un-loading MCs (by using a high value load resistor). Far from it. I doubt he would claim this idea for himself in the first place. Allen Wright (of Vacuum State), JCarr (Lyra), and Ralph Karsten (Atma-sphere) are just 3 others who advocate this approach. And I am sure none of them would claim to be the first to think of it, either. This is not to say that Keith Herron is not a smart guy. |
I agree. We're very fortunate in that regard.
I recently found and purchased an Ortofon MC2000 cartridge. When I first auditioned it, I neglected to note that my Atma-sphere MP1 was set for a 47K load on the cartridge, which would never have been my first choice for the MC2000, since it has 3 ohms internal resistance. However, I was blown away by the sound; it was very very "open" and wide in bandwidth and very dynamic. After playing 2 or 3 LPs, I realized my "error", and I re-set the load to 100R. The MC2000 still sounded excellent, but much of the magic was gone. Prior to this experience, I had not even investigated the possibility of loading LOMCs in this manner; now I cannot wait to try it with some others I own. |
I do tend to wander off topic in my posts. Sorry. |
What is "infinite loading"? Surely there has to be a load resistor between the grid of the input voltage amplifier tube and ground; in the absence of any other resistors in parallel, and in the absence of a SUT, that resistor is the load seen by the cartridge. It can be higher in value than 47K but not infinite. |
