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Equalization for vinyl nirvana

Hi all,

I have a question for the Audiogon and vinyl community: do you think equalization is helpful for getting good results with vinyl playback? I ask because I'm a vinyl newbie. Recently added a nice turntable and phono preamp to my rig and have slowly been collecting the recommended audiophile jazz, blues and rock albums that I like. But with few exceptions, most of the time I'm underwhelmed by the results. Lack of bass and midrange fullness is usually the problem. Sure, I could look for another amplifier, subwoofer, better cables... but I think a simpler, more affordable solution would be to get some Eq in the loop. So I just put an order in for a Schitt Loki+ 4-band equalizer. Figure it's a low-cost way to test the theory. 

Do any of you have similar experiences or related wisdom to share?

I'm also curious about the Sunvalley All Purpose Phono Eq that Herb Reichert loves, that has adjustable eq curves (https://www.stereophile.com/content/gramophone-dreams-42-sunvalley-audio-sv-eq1616d-phono-equalizer), as well as the Decware ZRock2 eq (https://www.decware.com/newsite/ZROCK.html).

Thanks for your help!
Josh
joshindc

Showing 2 responses by oldhvymec

oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
It use to be the same everywhere.

The guy would come to work and say, I changed the CART on my TT and I couldn’t believe my ears.. 100% of the time..

MM carts with a stylus change 50% of the time. :-)

THEN the RtR guys said try this new Tape preamp, it made my turntable sound great, while I was doing some recordings. People learned how to LOAD carts correctly EVEN MM carts, it made a world of difference in reproduction. This was in the mid 70s for me. Same with RtRs you get the bias correct.. its a world of difference in playback.

Head or Cart same idea, the phono section on an old Pioneer, Marantz, HK, or Mac sure sounded good back then.. Because they did.. Nothing fancy..

So what’s up with todays 15K rigs sounding anything BUT mucho good, onbre’? I think it’s the same thing.. CART and set it up with a good matching phono stage. Simple tone control on you preamp will be all you need..

Brite digital STUFF for comparison? Your ears are OK? no heavy roll off on the highs right.... ;-)

Regards
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
You know Master M has a point.. you can EQ a room mechanically too.

IF the dynamics are GONE on one recording and not on the other it pretty obvious that’s a recording issue. If it’s lacking in the vinyl playback ONLY, there is a gear problem. If your music just varies from recording to recording irregardless of the source, AGAIN it’s the recording.

SO OP what is it. JUST Vinyl and just some records? or All your records and depending on the source SOME recordings?

Back to Brokenwood Mysteries. New episode!

Regards
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