Wanted a Turntable for Christmas, ended up with a headache.......

gene9p · « **Reply #120 on:** 7 Jan 2016, 07:19 pm »

The seller has great feedback and is also a member of vinyl engine.com. He was very helpful and informative. Soudsmith is a short trip from my home if it ever needed retip. I felt it was worth it to make a deal and I am glad I did. Great guy, great deal,great cartridge.

TKonrad.NOLA · « **Reply #121 on:** 11 Jan 2016, 12:12 am »

Well, the seller of the Concept has stopped responding. I guess I have to move on to plan B. Music Direct has demos and photo shoot models of the Concept and Scout Jr. Soundstage Direct has an original Scout with the acrylic platter.

bacobits1 · « **Reply #122 on:** 11 Jan 2016, 12:18 am »

There's one FS on here.

Frankly, I think this whole thread has been a waste.

TKonrad.NOLA · « **Reply #123 on:** 11 Jan 2016, 12:26 am »

Yeah I saw that but I'd sooner go to a dealer unless the transaction is local.

sunnydaze · « **Reply #124 on:** 11 Jan 2016, 05:04 pm »

Quote from: DigitalDude on 11 Jan 2016, 12:26 am

Yeah I saw that but I'd sooner go to a dealer unless the transaction is local.

Too bad. I often see incredible deals on lightly used excellent tables, by reputable sellers.

neobop · « **Reply #125 on:** 11 Jan 2016, 05:58 pm »

How about this, recommended by TAS and Stereophile:
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MHMMF51L

http://musichallaudio.com/music-hall-mmf-5-1-turntable/

neo

TKonrad.NOLA · « **Reply #126 on:** 13 Jan 2016, 02:49 am »

Well, I called Seth today at Soundstage Direct and ordered a certified pre-owned VPI Scout Jr. Also ordered a Schiit Mani. Lets see what happens next.

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #127 on:** 13 Jan 2016, 04:46 am »

Congrats, a very nice table that came pretty close to the Scout in my brief listen at Capfest. I suppose you just dumped the whole plug 'n play concept then? I think you'll do fine, just remember to post questions, you'll have them and the guys (and gals Laura) here will answer them. Just thinking, did you buy a cartridge pre-mounted?

TKonrad.NOLA · « **Reply #128 on:** 13 Jan 2016, 09:16 am »

Quote from: Letitroll98 on 13 Jan 2016, 04:46 am

Congrats, a very nice table that came pretty close to the Scout in my brief listen at Capfest. I suppose you just dumped the whole plug 'n play concept then? I think you'll do fine, just remember to post questions, you'll have them and the guys (and gals Laura) here will answer them. Just thinking, did you buy a cartridge pre-mounted?

Will any interconnects do, or do I have to have a pair with a ground wire? I need to buy two pair before the table and phono stage get here.

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #129 on:** 13 Jan 2016, 01:17 pm »

The main thing with phono cables is that you want low capacitance, otherwise any RCA cable will work as VPI tables don't use 5 pin DIN connectors, they have an RCA junction box. You can either buy a purpose built phono cable that has a ground wire bundled in, or like me just run over to Home Depot and get a small roll of stranded wire and some small crimp on spade lugs and make your own ground wire in about 30 seconds. That leaves you with finding low capacitance cables, some manufactures publish their specs, others do not. You're looking for something south of 50 or 60 pf per foot, the lower the better. Mine are 58 pf for the total 3' length, ZU Wilde, discontinued but still available on eBay as overstock.

gene9p · « **Reply #130 on:** 13 Jan 2016, 03:41 pm »

Quote from: Letitroll98 on 13 Jan 2016, 01:17 pm

The main thing with phono cables is that you want low capacitance, otherwise any RCA cable will work as VPI tables don't use 5 pin DIN connectors, they have an RCA junction box. You can either buy a purpose built phono cable that has a ground wire bundled in, or like me just run over to Home Depot and get a small roll of stranded wire and some small crimp on spade lugs and make your own ground wire in about 30 seconds. That leaves you with finding low capacitance cables, some manufactures publish their specs, others do not. You're looking for something south of 50 or 60 pf per foot, the lower the better. Mine are 58 pf for the total 3' length, ZU Wilde, discontinued but still available on eBay as overstock.

I am using audio art from the table to the phono and audioquest diamond backs to my pre amp with no ground wire. No problems or hum using a Zephyr cartridge. A piece of speaker wire can be used as a ground wire if necessary should you have any laying around. The pure copper is ideal for ground wires.

gene9p · « **Reply #131 on:** 13 Jan 2016, 03:43 pm »

got a Gingko cover from elusivedisc.com and a Musical Surroundings Phenemona II plus phono stage from GeneRubinAudio.com. With the Zephyr this baby is sounding fantastic!!

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #132 on:** 14 Jan 2016, 12:56 pm »

So continuing on with the got a headache part of this thread, received my VPI Traveler last night, spent the hour or two setting it up, only to find the bearings on the horizontal plane are binding too bad to even play a record. Gr8. Will call VPI today to see if there might be a remedy.

TKonrad.NOLA · « **Reply #133 on:** 15 Jan 2016, 06:04 pm »

My Scout Jr was scheduled for delivery yesterday and of course I was at work, so I had it delivered to the UPS Store near me. I just picked it up, got it all set up and I love it. However, I have a hum issue. Not the type to pay $300 for interconnects with a built in ground, so I am gonna make a ground wire myself.

emorrisiv · « **Reply #134 on:** 15 Jan 2016, 10:55 pm »

I respectfully disagree about phono cables.
They need to be shielded.
I recommend making your own. You can buy microphone wire at Parts Express for next to nothing.
They also gave a selection of RCAs to choose from.

This wire sounds great and is much quieter than ICs.

I would spring for the Soundsmith counterweight gadget (can't remember what it's called).
This makes azimuth adjustments much easier.

putz · « **Reply #135 on:** 15 Jan 2016, 11:56 pm »

Quote from: emorrisiv on 15 Jan 2016, 10:55 pm

I would spring for the Soundsmith counterweight gadget (can't remember what it's called).
This makes azimuth adjustments much easier.

It's called the Counterintuitive. It's $50 and money very well spent if you have a VPI table. Also helps with VTF. Not sure how well it works on the cheaper "plug and play" VPIs. Ask a dealer if you have one of those models.

What I'd love to see is a Fozgometer rental program. They're not cheap and its normally only needed when you set up a new table or change cartridges.

dmckean · « **Reply #136 on:** 16 Jan 2016, 02:35 am »

I'm pretty sure someone made a phone app that has the same functionality as the Fozgometer, but I'm unable to find it right now.

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #137 on:** 16 Jan 2016, 02:16 pm »

The Counterintuitive won't work on the gimbal arms on the Scout Jr or Traveler, it's for the JWM unipivot arms only.

I agree that shielded phono cables are necessary for some installations. I haven't tried microphone cable, but it might work well, it's designed for small signal transmission. A good, cheap alternative is ZU Oxyfuel, which is designed for small signal transmission in the Mghz range. I think it's still available on ZU's eBay page for about $30 a pair. It's a nice sounding cable that lacks a little in ultimate resolution, but sounds much better than your run of the mill oem shielded interconnects from Radio Shack etc.

neobop · « **Reply #138 on:** 16 Jan 2016, 02:58 pm »

You can also buy Belden 1505F coax at Parts Express and other places. This is double shielded stranded copper RG59. It's 17pF/ft. and relatively thin and flexible, much thinner than most RG59. I just bought some to make a DIN tonearm cable, but I haven't tried it yet. It is highly recommended for whatever that's worth.

You can use just about anything for a ground wire as long as it conducts electricity. You don't usually need ends on it either, but you might want to tin the ends to keep it from shedding. Have some old 18GA speaker wire or similar? Often when you cut an inch or two off the end you'll see new looking copper, but that doesn't really matter either as long as you can measure "reasonable" resistance.
neo

Letitroll98 · « **Reply #139 on:** 16 Jan 2016, 04:15 pm »

Funny, the Traveler table came with a ground cable with spade lugs that don't fit the grounding post on the table. Go figure. They have also upgraded the Shure VTF gauge they previously included to a cheap Chinese digital VTF gauge and replaced the paper alignment protractor with a very nice plexiglass one.

However they were no help whatsoever with the tonearm bearing problem. It seems to move freely when not mounted on the table, but when on the table it sticks in the horizontal plane. My guess is there's something wrong with the way the cables are dressed and they're pulling on the arm, but I couldn't figure it out and VPI would only refer me back to Music Direct saying that they had a bad batch of tables. Piss poor tech support, I would have much rather trouble shot the problem than ship the table back. Music Direct was great, shipping out a new table and promising to check the tonearm before shipment while paying for the return shipping. Unfortunately they're out of my preferred silver color so had to order the replacement in red, it's a discontinued product so that's how it goes. Arrives Tuesday, we'll see if the problem is endemic.