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Rocky return to vinyl

I've recently moved from an integrated amp with no phono stage (Jolida 302B) to monoblocks and a preamp with phono -- Marantz 2s with a Marantz 7 pre. I've had an old Rega Planar 3 in retirement for a long time. It has what I gather to be the less respected RB200 arm, and I got a Shure M97xE, based on recommendations here at Audiogon. Most of my collection now is CD. My LPs are mostly high school stuff, and I got the inexpensive Shure just to take a small step into the world of vinyl with my new-to-me Marantz amps. As it so happens, the one LP I have that I also have a CD copy of is Earth, Wind, and Fire -- an anamoly in my listening, but fun and the CD sounds pretty good. (I have a Music Hall CD25.) Now, when I converted to tubes a couple of years ago, I got the impression my preference for tubes probably would translate into a preference for vinyl. And it still may. But I was VERY disappointed when I put on that LP. The instruments sounded muddled and congested, especially in direct comparison to the CD. I've tried a couple of more albums, but they all fall way short of what I'm used to from my decently recorded CDs.

I'm assuming the most common response I'm going to get here involves my spending several hundred dollars. But could I just be missing something basic? Should the difference with this Rega/Shure setup be THAT different from the Music Hall CD player?
judasmac

Showing 1 response by jayboard

jayboard
301 posts
 
Ditto to Rob's comments. I have many older rock/pop LPs that just aren't recorded very well. Many of those have a rolled-off, congested sound, like you describe. OTOH, some of my older LPs sound very good. So, do make sure you try a variety of LPs, and maybe try some audiophile-type pressings, before drawing final conclusions. BTW, to me, one of the virtues of vinyl that seems to come through regardless of the overall quality of the recording is that the contours of notes, how they rise and fall, sounds natural.

Other than that, VTA is definitely something to play with, as Spooky suggested. The core of my TT is an old Planar 3 like yours. It came with a thick-ish (maybe 3/16") felt mat. I switched to a thinner felt mat, which definitely opened things up. (I use a different mat now, but there's nothing wrong with felt, and you may be able to find a thinner one for little or no money.) Also, putting my Planar 3 on a good vibration control device also made a significant difference in openness and clarity. This is running into real money, but probably less than stepping up in the level of cartridge or tonearm you have.

Best of luck!
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