I wouldn't think that a 4 yr old turntable and a cartridge with 600 hours would be "ruining his records".
Read about life span of Elliptical tip first, comment after.
Time to upgrade my turntable?
I'm thinking about getting a new turntable to replace my 4 year old Pro-ject Debut Carbon with an acrylic platter and 2M Blue cartridge (with about 600 hours on it). My budget right now is about $1000 but would consider spending a bit more for right turntable. Currently my system consists of a Sansui B-2101 2 amp (200 wpc) powering ADS L1290 speakers (the speakers will be upgraded shortly to ADS L1590's when I find and replace a couple drivers). I am using a Yamaha DSP A1 as the preamp (I like the DSP sound fields that imitate jazz clubs and concert halls). I do have the matching Sansui C-2101 preamp but it is not currently in line. I also use a DBX 3BX DS impact restorer and expander/compressor.
I listen to classical music and jazz.
What would you suggest? I might prefer to stay within the Pro-ject line as I could reuse the acrylic platter (if one is not provided with the recommended turntable). Perhaps the debut pro or X1?
I listen to classical music and jazz.
What would you suggest? I might prefer to stay within the Pro-ject line as I could reuse the acrylic platter (if one is not provided with the recommended turntable). Perhaps the debut pro or X1?
Showing 5 responses by chakster
I’m thinking about getting a new turntable to replace my 4 year old Pro-ject Debut Carbon with an acrylic platter and 2M Blue cartridge (with about 600 hours on it). My budget right now is about $1000 but would consider spending a bit more for right turntable. Your elliptical stylus tip is probably worn out with 600 hrs on it, replace the stylus with higher model (advanced profile). If you want to upgrade the SOUND this is all you need to know and it’s written by ORTOFON: "Cartridge is the key factor in high fidelity reproduction of phonograph records. This is logical, since the cartridge, via the stylus, makes the first and only contact with the record. It is the unit which transforms groove undulations into electrical signals. The stylus has to move (to the left and right, up and down) at very high speeds, deal with extremely high forces, yet maintain surface contact at tracking forces consistent with low record wear, and ensure high channel separation for stereo reproduction. It is cartridge performance, therefore, that determines basic sound quality before the signals are amplified and played through your loudspeakers. Advanced stylus profile (natural diamond) distributes the stylus pressure over a much wider contact area within the groove than is possible with conventionally shaped diamonds. This provides greatly reduced wear on both record and stylus at the recommended tracking force. In addition, the advanced stylus profile (such as FineLine, Replicant-100, Shibata, LineContact, Stereohedron, MicroLine or MicroRidge…) also provides better tracking ability and lower distortion at high frequencies in the critical inner turns of the groove. Compared with other stylus materials the advanced profiles do cost more, but the extra expense is fully justified by the resulting superior performance and extended life." |
Stylus life! This "article" above is nonsense, because each stylus profile is different, we have Conical and F.Gyger and the life span difference between them is HUGE! CHECK RELIABLE SOURCE SoundSmith: "We believe that styli should be checked carefully by microscopic exam by someone who knows what to look for at 1000 hours, as that is the typical maximum life for a properly aligned stylus before record damage begins." Apparently according to Jico (manufacturer of the highly regarded SAS stylus), the amount of playing time where a stylus will maintain its specified level of distortion at 15kHz is as follows:
"This is not to say that at 500 hrs a SAS stylus is "worn out" - but at that stage the wear has reached the point where distortion at 15kHz surpasses the level specified by Jico for a new stylus. (Which I believe is 3%). Some manufacturers have traditionally defined a stylus as being "worn out" when it starts to damage the record... in these terms the figures provided by Jico can at least be doubled, and in some cases quadrupled. In pure sonic terms on pristine vinyl a top notch elliptical can do as well as all but the very best Line Contact / Shibata styli, but will ultimately be surpassed by the better MicroLine styli. However in terms of reduced wear on both stylus and records - the entry point is the Line contact / Shibata category. In terms of playing back worn vinyl line contact stylus types also have an advantage in that they can contact "virgin" unworn vinyl. Narrower side radius = improved tracking and reduced high frequency distortion." |
This Technics SL-1200GR or SL-1500C would be a nice upgrade. It might be more than your budget but you set 'em and forget 'em! Right, between GR and 1500c I would add new mk7 which is exactly $1000 with warranty, sometimes it cost even less! The problem with some audiogon posters is complete lack of knowledge about Technics products and other Japanese Direct Drives, most people brainwashed by belt drive propaganda. |
Ortofon can be expected to claim the cartridge is the most important element. But the best cartridge in the world will sound terrible if the turntable and arm are not well enough engineered to retain the stylus in precisely the correct orientation in the groove. People do not use GRAMOPHONES these days, modern turntables are very well engineered and tonearms are nice, even those cheap Rega and Project are good toys. Platter will make far less difference than a cartridge for example. Any modern phonostage can work nicely with MM, even Schiit mani for $100. Better cartridge will make any mediocre system better. |