Sumiko F4 with 103R sounds flat???


I have a Sota Sapphire turn table, with Sumiko F4 arm. I am really disappointed. It doesn't come near my CD sound stage.
I am new to audiophile. Try to keep it basic, but what might be wrong?
route30

Showing 2 responses by ekobesky

Your phono stage might be wrong. What are you using, and what settings are you using for gain and loading?
At this point, it sounds like you want to keep it simple -- yet you have a rather tweaky analog front end with step-ups, a low-output MC cartridge, etc.

You also said the sound from your analog rig is not even close to the sound of CD. Perhaps you just like the sound of digital better, and no turntable will ever satisfy you, at least nothing that costs a reasonable amount and does not require more tweaking than rebuilding one of your Porsche's flax sixes. S

I think you have two options here:

(1) As others have said, find a local analog expert and pay him to come to your home do a professional setup and/or offer some advice. This could be expensive, and it could lead to additional expense. It may or may not be worth it. There's no way to tell until it's done.

Or...

(2) Get rid of the Sota, Sumiko, Denon and Cinemag. Get a simple analog package (with MM or high output MC cartridge) instead for occasional enjoyment of stuff you can't find on CD. My top recommendations are the Rega P3 and Technics SL-1200Mk2. Get it professionally setup by the dealer and buy a record cleaning machine.

If the sound is REALLY bad, cartridge break in, VTA adjustment, etc will have little effect.

But before you do any of that, tell us about the rest of your system. What are you running the Cinemag into? Speakers?