If you're listening to new music produced/mastered digitally then you don't need vinyl at all.
If you're listening to original records produced? mastered and pressed in analog era then you don't need digital at all.
I get it and agree. Too many great rock albums from the late 60s and 70's not to get the vinyl right! |
FWIW, I realigned my moving coil AT150 MLA and I got the balance right but it is definitely harsh in the treble. I think I am done fussing with it.
atmasphere, it was good to see your comment about the Grado Gold as it is on my short list of lighter weight MM cartridges. I am also considering a Sumiko Pearl or maybe a bit higher up that line. Another manufacturer I have been looking at is the Nagaoka 110 or 150.
I like the smoothness of my Ortofon ProS40 but wish it was a bit more lively..... |
ihcho, Sorry, typo, I meant AT150mlx.
I have played with the Jolida voltage gain and impedance switches but maybe I have missed a good combination. It just keeps coming up a bit thin and well....shrill.
So maybe the cartridge has deteriorated over time. There are not enough hours on the stylus for that to be the problem.
In the meantime my Orton Concorde ProS 40 is playing just fine, given what it is. |
Hi luisma1,
I appreciate your thoughts!
I was a fanboy for Technics back in the day, but since the SL1200 I have changed out speakers, amps, preamps, transports, and DACs.
Just seems to be a fair ask at this point in my system evolution to consider what an upgrade in turntable (and cartridge) could look like. My 1000 plus albums are waiting...
Thanks,
Dsper |
I don't know how knowledgeable you are with analog but I did not know ANYTHING and I'm learning.
Hi liusma31, I have read a lot but not sure how much I "know" about analog and turntables. Tonearms, cartridges, and compliance and their interrelationship is not working knowledge for me. I just recently downloaded an old Absolute Sound simple cartridge alignment tool from the net and tried it. I can hear an improvement with a better focused sound and suspect that I got the stylus more to the center of the record groove. Live and learn! Dsper |
The best upgrade you can do for your old Technics after full rewire is a top quality perfecty matched MM cartridge and a phono stage. Your AT is OK, did you ever change tonearm internal wires? This is a weak point of all old Technics, you have to rewire it. Also there are much better cartridges than AT MLX series.
Hi Chakster, Just to be clear, can you please describe what you mean by full rewire? Is it more than just the tonearm rewire? I was thinking KABUSA could rewire the tonearm but never got to it when I dove into digital. Not sure I can do the the tonearm myself, but for what, $30, I can buy the wire and try. Not a lot to lose and I could always still send it to KABUSA. Also, understand your thoughts on a new cartridge. The AT 150 MLX seems a bit slanted to the treble and a bit thin to my ears. I also have Ortofon Concorde S40 that I find is too dark and closed in to my ears.
Any specific suggestions?
Thanks for listening, Dsper |
Ok, its on its way to KABUSA; we'll see what happens. |
Hi,
FWIW, I got the Technics SL1200 Mk 5 back from KABUSA with the tone arm wire and interconnects rewired.
The sound is much improved, and well worth the $250, because it is much more smooth and there is less treble harshness.
Having said that, while I need to listen some more, I am pretty sure that my DAC and transport still provide superior sound.
Thanks for listening,
Dsper |
ihico wrote "
I have AT150mlx with..." I am using an AT150mlx that is probably too heavy for the light weight Technics tonearm. It might have 100 hours on it from about five years ago. I suspect that I have to do a better job of aligning it as the channels were not balanced and will try it again. In the meantime, I am using an Ortofon Pro S, that was outfitted with a better stylus by KABUSA. Its depth of field is better than my digital but the width is much worse. Not sure that it is appreciably smoother than my DAC.
My phono pre is a Jolida JD9 modified with better op amps and capacitors. Those two mods made a big difference. However, I should take another look at what tubes I am running in it. They could be part of the problem... I had an Oppo 105 modified by Ric Schultz and thought it was lifeless in my system; which was Maggie 3.6, Coda CS amp, and PL Prologue Premium preamp. I moved to a Hegel HD25, which was much better than the Oppo due in part to better bass response. I switched to Thiel CS5 speakers and the Hegel did not play nice with the Thiel tweeters. I then switched to a Theta ProBasic III, based on advice from another Thiel owner, which proved to be much more musical and smoother than the Hegel. I added a PS Audio PWT and the musicality improved even more. Thanks for listening, Dsper |
@ihcho
If I were you, I would buy another brand new cartridge and test the overall setup. @atmasphere
The one thing that isn't getting mentioned here is that your cartridge is beyond its freshness date.
You guys are correct! I took your advice and purchased a new Sumiko Oyster Amethyst cartridge. Don't ask how I exactly decided on this cartridge. I knew I wanted a moving magnet and the weight and height seemed like a good fit with the Technics table and KAB rewired arm. There was a review in Novo Press where the cartridge seemed to compare pretty well to more expensive Sumiko cartridges... I set the cartridge tracking force at 2 grams, impedance loading at 47 kOhm, and capacitance loading at 100 picofarads. A night versus day improvement from the old
AT150mlx. Better bass/foundation, better drive, and the treble is much better. It is a little bit shrill on a couple of albums but I suspect that it needs more time to break in or it could just be the albums. Right now I am listening to an old Sonny Rollins remastered in 1987 on the Prestige HiFi label. Much less snap, crackle, and pop with the new cartridge. So the gap has closed appreciably between my vinyl and digital, which is now a PWT and Mojo Audio Mystique V3 DAC. The vinyl sounds more immediate and the digital is smoother. Maybe that is the vinyl having a better live presence? Now I have to listen a while. FWIW. Thanks for listening, Dsper |
@atmasphere
Okay, as usual, I learn from your posts.
So, upon more playing around, here is what I did:
1. Left the load impedance setting on the phono preamp at 47,000 ohms
2. Finally found the cartridge capacitance spec on the Sumiko web site (did not come with spec sheet in box with cartridge). Realized I had it set at 200pF so I reduced that to 150 pF on the phono preamp
3. Also found the spec for cartridge height and realized I measured it short, so I adjusted tone arm height accordingly.
The result seems to a bit less treble harshness and the bass is tighter.
Does this make sense to you or am clearly not understanding what you posted?
Thanks for listening!
Dsper
.
|
@atmasphere
Tonearm cable is Cardas Double Litz 1 X 21.5 coax that is supposed to be 33 pF per foot.
I took the phono preamp setting down another 50pF and will listen to determine if I can tell a difference.
Thanks!
Dsper |
@vinylvin
I have the fluid damper but have not gotten around to installing it because I am still sorting out the best WAF for the table! |
@lewm9
What is it that your Wife does not Accept?
I "inherited" a full wall of Harden Cherry shelving/entertainment center that the wife wanted out of the main floor. Pretty stuff and all hardwood. BUT, it does not translate well for the turntable (in addition to reducing the space I have to maneuver speakers). Anyway, just no good spot to place the turntable. Right now it is sitting on a pair of Large Advent Loudspeakers in front of the shelving unit. This arrangement was a recent brain child of mine that will not be well received when the queen of the castle returns home in the next few days. |
@atmasphere
OK- so 3 feet of that is 100pf. If the cartridge spec is for 150pf the phono section should be set to 50pf.
@lewm The 12 AX7 used in a common topology typically will add about 50 pF or more to the capacitance seen by the cartridge
The cartridge specification is 100 to 200pF and the phono preamp uses 12ax7 tubes so it appears that I need go to 50pF if not zero, I left all of the capacitance switches in the off position. Sounds a bit fuller, more impact on leading edges of notes...I think...?! The real problem is I still do not understand what I am really doing when I change the phono preamp capacitance setting. Can anyone explain, if you have the time, or direct me to some good written material that I can review? My brain just freezes up trying to understand the basic electrical concepts associated with this subject. Thanks for listening, Dsper |
