Help my analog sound as good as my streaming


Hi all - total newcomer here, really enjoying the forum and looking for some advice.

Relevant details: Pro-ject Debut Carbon EVO w/ stock Sumiko Rainer cartridge, into a Hegel H95 via a Parasound Zphono XRM. It sounds great-ish, but doesn’t blow me away like Qobuz via Bluesound Node 2i into the Hegel DAC. I’ll acknowledge that this entire system has a lot of room to improve in the eyes of many here - while I suppose I’ll eventually want to upgrade, I am absolutely thrilled with the streaming sound for now. 
Question: is the cartridge the weak link here, or am I expecting too much out of the PDC EVO? If the former, does the Ortofon Bronze seem a good option?

Many thanks for any suggestions/thoughts!
coys21

Showing 1 response by michaellent

Go for the cartridge! I have a Project EVO carbon 10. I now use a Sound Smith cartridge. Had the Grace F9e. They are similar in design. Peter worked with Sumiko/Ortofon to help them develop phono cartridges years ago. Find one in your budget. You will be amazed. You do not need to change to DD turntable. Each type has its advantages.
Couple of things though:
lt’s Really important to coordinate the compliance of the arm with the compliance of the phono cartridge! On their site, Ortofon has a little program that will help you with that. Input the compliances’ to find the resonance of the two components. if you’re OCD find the formula to actually calculate that. You can find the Exact residence for two.
Secondly, The rake angle and VTF must be ‘perfect’. Make adjustments by SQ after checking with instruments. I have found that using playing cards to adjust the rake angle works very well. Even the thickness of a single playing card will make a difference. Experiment! Check out the videos on these topics on Sound Smith on YouTube. Peter is very knowledgeable and willing to share what he knows.
Almost everybody here says that for the same amount of money, analog sounds better. honestly I don’t know because I don’t stream. It’s the people here that have said that, not me.
Play analog!
Michael Lent