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 5 responses by judasmac

Okay. You've restored my hope. This feedback has encouraged me to keep tinkering. That's part of the fun of this hobby anyway, the tinkering.

One thing I realize that I miss about LPs is the side -- you know, side A, side B. Sides had distinct personalities. Sometimes you're in the mood for one, sometimes another. Some albums I listened only to one side. A side of what used to be a 45 minute album is more manageable length than a full 65 minute CD to get your mind around. I oftentimes don't know the last half of my CDs very well.
All right, while I have your attention, let me ask this. Let's say I too get hooked on vinyl. What are the obvious upgrades for me? Tone arm? Cartridge? I'm talking anything radical here. Let's say, under $500.
All right, after having let my TT sit there in frustration for a few weeks, I went out and bought some LPs. Used, but seemingly in good shape. The first thing I put on was an album I hadn't know about -- Helen Merrill and John Lewis from 1976, i think. A big, big improvement in sound. Merrill's voice (as usual) sounded gorgeous. Most of the others sounded very good too, though there were a lot of pops and crackles on some of them.

So I'm still in the hunt. Now, the pops are quite annoying, and I assume that they are either the result of dirt or damage, and I won't know which until I clean them. Correct? Folks around here seem to strongly urge a vacuum record cleaner. Fine. I found a link to a DIY cleaner that was basically an old TT with a canister vacuum cleaner and a modified crevice tool.
http://www.teresaudio.com/haven/cleaner/cleaner.html
Any experience with this or something similar? Any reason I couldn't pick up an old TT, buy a crevice tool to fit my Sears vacuum, modify it, and save the money on a Nitty Gritty?

Now, apart from cleaning, the question is what to try next to improve the sound, which could still be improved quite a bit, I suspect. I'll try some of the tweaks and adjustments recommended in the thread above.

Why the hell does Rega make its arms without adjustable VTA??
Thinking about a DIY RCM, but I'm not going to do it unless I can do it cheap. Question is, how much of a vac do I need? You can get a new shop vac starting at $35 and the price of course goes up from there. Measured in "peak hp", they start at 1.5 peak hp. Regular floor vacs start at $50 and power is measured in amps - they start at 9.5 (I'm looking at the Sears website). How much power do I need to make it worth my while? Or maybe I should just decide that I'll be an air-dry guy.