Hello,
This is my first post, so please be gentle with me if I screw it up since I have many questions. I have recently upgraded my cartridge, phono preamp, pream and amp and need help setting it up to its best possible.
Let me start first with what I am working with:
- Pro-Ject Debut III turntable
- Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridge
- Pro-Ject Acryl-it turntable platter
- Pro-Ject tube box s2 phono preamp
- McIntosh C28 preamp
- McIntosh MC 2505-2 power amplifier
- McIntosh SCR2 speaker control relay
- Legacy Focus speakers
My first question would be regarding my arm's counterweight. I am using the counterweight that came stock with my Pro-Ject Debut III that worked well with my old Ortofon OM5E. Now that I have the M3 Bronze, I was able to get the tracking force right on my tonearm, however, the counterweight is almost falling off the back of the tonearm and if I want to close the cover of the turntable, it hits the counterweight. Also, even when the tracking force is correct on my scale, I was never able to balance the tonearm on its own. Does anyone know what counterweight should I be using instead so it doesn't hang so far out of the tonearm?
My second question is regarding the settings for capacitance and impedance of my Pro-Ject tube box s2 phono preamp. I don't have enough experience to be confident I set it up to its best capacity. It sounds great as far as I can tell, but I don't want to miss out on the best possible quality. The M3 Bronze is rated for 150-300pF capacitance so I went and turned on the pin for 220pF instead of the 100pF recommended by Pro-Ject for the M3 Red. Again, it sounds great but I want to make sure I am utilizing my equipment to the max of its possibilities.
The third question is regarding impedance on the Pro-Ject tube box s2 phono preamp. The cartridge's specs say its impedance is 1.2 kohms, so I tried it with the 1kohms pin #5 turned on and it didn't sound good so I turned it off. I have read that MM cartridges don't need pins on for impedance, is this the case or am I missing out on the right setting for impedance for my cartridge?
The fourth question is regarding the Pro-Ject tube box s2 phono preamp's gain settings. The preamp has gain settings for 40, 43, 50, 53, 60 and 63dbs. Is there a rule of thumb of what to use? Should I use a low, medium, or high gain on my preamp? What works best form my entire setup?
My fifth question is regarding the Pro-Ject tube box s2 phono preamp subsonic button. Do you recommend it off or on?
My sixth question is regarding whether I should use the Pro-Ject tube box s2 phono preamp or not. My McIntosh C28 has low-level phono RCA inputs and its own gain and bass trim adjustments. I have read that some people highly recommend improving the source quality, and using the external tube box is best. Again I just want to make sure I am not duplicating unnecessary processes or missing out on the quality of McIntosh's preamp. Right now I have my turntable plugged to the Pro-Ject phono preamp and I am running it into the high-level input for the tape on my McIntosh C28 preamp.
And last but not least, my seventh question is about the gain settings on my McIntosh MC 2505-2 power amplifier. Based on my setup described above, what would you recommend for my gain settings, is there a rule of thumb of what to use? Should I use a low, medium, or high gain on my power amplifier? What works best form my entire setup? My speakers are rated to work with 30-700 watts at 4 ohms so I am not sure if I am feeding enough juice by staying in the mid-gain setting of the amplifier or if I should increase it to the max. I want to make sure I am sending enough power without sacrificing quality. What I understand is that the MC2505-2 has a maximum power output of 100 watts RMS continuous, 50 watts per channel operating simultaneously, into 4 ohm, 8 ohm, or 16 ohm loads. Harmonic distortion is less than 0.25% at rated power output from 20Hz to 20,000Hz.
I know this is a mouthful with so many questions but I will really appreciate your comments and recommendations for my specific situation.
