Raul, I am not absolutely certain, but in re-reading the OP, it seems to me you can't blame all the problems on an incompatibility between the Grado cartridge and the new Denon TT. Seems he had issues with other cartridges as well. Depends I guess on what phono he is using in his first paragraph. But I agree, if the Parasound has a volume control (and sufficient phono gain), then there is no need for the Cronus to play LPs.
Cartridge for Denon DP 3000 NE
Hello everyone,
I decided to upgrade my turntable in part because a persistent hum associated with the white cartridge wire kept defeating my best efforts, & that ProJect Carbon Debut tonearm wasn't readily re-wireable. Anyway, I got a very good deal on a new Denon as above. I attached my Ortofon 2M Black with some difficulty because it doesn't fit easily into the Denon shell. But I got it in, calibrated. All good. Until I noticed one channel played very faintly. I checked the anti-skate, vertical tracking & stylus force ... nothing had any impact. I swapped the Ortofon for a Grado Gold. That played both channels, but with a terrible hum, which I could not eradicate. Finally I put in an old Ortofon OM which I'd got with my first turntable. That played fine.
Incidentally, (or not), I use a small Parasound phono stage as well, which connects to the aux 1 on my Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II. Connecting directly to the Cronus phono jacks made no difference in how the Ortofon 2M played, but with the Grado Gold the hum disappeared, but it also failed to play both channels. With the Ortofon OM there was a slight hum when connected directly to the Cronus, but which disappeared entirely played through the Parasound.
So I guess my question is, before I go & buy an expensive cartridge that doesn't work right, are there cartridges that simply aren't compatible with a unit such as the Denon? My Ortofon 2Ms (I have the black & the red) were getting due to be replaced at this point anyway, so I don't mind investing in a new one. I just want to be certain it will work correctly.
Many thanks....
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Hi, the Parasound doesn't have volume control, so I still need the Cronus. I bought a Denon DL103R (got a great deal on one), & it played perfectly: both channels, no hum or buzz. Because the Ortofon 2Ms really didn't fit into the stock Denon headshells, I bought a couple of inexpensive ones that were flat bottomed. First experience is that the Black 2M now lost gain on the right rather than the left channel using the aftermarket head shell. I'm going to have to check the wiring & try again. But very happy with the Denon so far;;;;; |
@andykatz The next time you experience a signal drop, pull out (i.e., disconnect) the headshell and take a look at the spring-loaded conductor pins on the tonearm side. I have the same turntable and found on occasion that the spring-loaded conductor pin on the tonearm side will stay retracted in the tonearm, thus not making contact with the fixed-position headshell conductor pins for the right channel 100% of the time I exchange headshells. It's conceivable to me that the same problem could occur on either channel, thus potentially explaining your experiences with some of the troubles you've been having. To remedy, I simply keep a toothpick handy to 'jimmy' out the conductor pin. It's spring-loaded, so it typically pops right out. |
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