2. analog
  3. 181910-139726

New to vinyl question

I recently added a turntable to my system, mostly so I could play old records of my father's that formed my early introduction to music. I got what I think is a pretty good turntable, a Music Hall Stealth with an Ortofun Blue cartridge. I'm playing it through my Rogue Sphinx 2, hooked up to a Mytek Brooklyn Amp through Focal Aria 926 speakers. None of this equipment is the highest end available, but it's always sounded great when streaming from my BlueSound Node 2. When i first played some records, particularly jazz and classical, I really enjoyed the sound, though in not sure I prefer it to streaming digital in all contexts. I definitely think the vinyl sounds great for acoustic instruments and vocals, particularly female vocals. But after a little time playing some old Cream and Hendrix records (in new or like-new condition), I noticed pretty significant distortion particularly in the bass. I'm wondering if this is some issue of improper setup or just an artifact of analog reproduction. The sound I'm hearing on the bass lines in particular sounds like clipping i think. But I'm not playing at high volume and it doesn’t happen when I play the same track from a streamed source at the same volume. Any ideas for what I'm heading? I'm hesitant to expand my record collection until I get the issue figured out. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. 

grateful_dad

Showing 1 response by mrotino

mrotino
66 posts
 

Grateful_dad,

Funny I just got back into vinyl after about 35 years and purchased the same exact turntable based on reviews and my price point.  It was between this and a Rega Planar 3 but the Rega just seemed a bit flimsy compared to this so my gut was to get the Stealth.  Plus it would be much easier to return the Stealth than the Rega.  The Rega may sound great but I didn't have the opportunity to listen to both side by side so made a decision.

My digital and other equipment is much more expensive but i wanted to try something not too expensive to get a feel for vinyl.

I'm pairing my Stealth with an IFI phono 3 black at 48 db with no issues.  I checked the VTA and it was spot on based on the factory alignment which was 7.5 on the VTA tower gauge on the Stealth.  I had the blue at 1.8 grams and my turntable came with a digital stylus gauge as well.

I hear no bass distortions and some albums are better in the bass than others that I have but no bass distortion or bass anomalies.   I'm really enjoying the sound of this turntable and it's a nice change from my digital.  The only nitpicky thing I've noticed is the bass doesn't seem as powerful and extended as my digital recordings for the same recordings.  But from what I understand vinyl will not match digital in the bass department since the bass grooves take up the most real estate on an lp and therefore the engineer has to make some choices when cutting the bass lines and some bass may be lost or diminished.  Digital doesn't have that problem.  That may not be obvious to people who've listened to vinyl primarily for the past 30 or so years but from someone that has only listened to digital I notice the bass is a bit better digitally.  I'm sure a better turntable, cartridge and phono stage may improve the bass a little but I believe it is the nature of the lp medium.

I've also since purchased a Nagaoka MP 200 cartridge and I have to say it is a definite improvement over the 2 m blue.  The Blue is good but the MP200 is a clear step up and for the reasonable cost exceptional.  I'll keep this cartridge for some time now as it seems to really synergize well with this turntable.

The turntable does have adjustable feet that you screw to adjust each height to level the turntable.

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