[ad9000]

Returning to analog after a long spell - I bought a barely used NAD 533 table from a pp in my area for $280 with an NAD phono pre and installed Grado Ref Platinum cartridge. It sounds just ho-hum as is (a bit thin and boxy - I suspect tracking adj. and phono pre are mostly to blame?) I can sense that there is hidden potential with a few tweaks/mods. I'm hoping the regulars here can provide some recommendations, though I don't want to go down an endless hole with this thing..
Here is what I'm guessing would be probably the most critical elements to deal with (not necessarily in order) - please correct me if I'm barking up the wrong tree(s):

properly adjust tracking
new phono pre (open to any suggestions tho the Slee Amp 2 SE sounds intriguing - overkill?)
replace interconnects with gold-plated jacks (I have Audience Au-24 and Anti-IC interconnects on hand)
replace mat
feet/cones?
a record cleaning system is in my immed future, but that is a whole other topic that's been well covered in other threads here.

Thanks in advance.
Associated gear: Portal Audio Panache amp, Reference 3A Dulcets, Denon 3910 player w/full Audience mod, Anti-cables, 1800+ slabs of vinyl waiting to sing again.

[lcrim]

Hi:
Welcome to AudioCircles and the Vinyl Circle.
The NAD 533 is a Rega clone.  I think it is a rebadged P2 or maybe P3.  It looks to have the RB250 arm.  What I'm getting at is that the range of tweak products for the Rega will work for your NAD.  In its unaltered state, the arm doesn't allow of much adjustment - there are those that see this as an advantage. 
As far as a better phono section, the Hagerman Bugle is an inexpensive opamp based that has a terrific word of mouth.  Hagerman has a Circle on this board.

[Jampot]

Icrim is correct, it is a planar 2 clone. I have one in my office and the arm is an oem rb250 with red plastic 'bits' where the Planar 2 had green! The other significant difference (at least here in UK) is that the NAD has an mdf platter against the glass of the Rega, so an after market platter may be worthwhile rather than just a mat.

I don't think the Slee gram amp is overkill at all - see Eric the Red's enthusiastic thread in this circle!

Good luck and good listening.

Jim

[Nels Ferre]

Your  NAD 533 is a re-badged Rega Planar 2. The only difference to the best of my knowledge is that your NAD uses a MDF platter as opposed to the glass platter on the Rega.  It does indeed use the RB250 arm. The Planar 3 (and P3) use the RB300.  I prefer the RB250: it uses the position of the counterweight to set tracking force. The RB300 uses a spring to set tracking force. For $280, you did very well. 

I have owned a Planar 2. If I owned it again, I would make a few changes:

1.  Replace the platter with an acrylic platter (and no mat.)

2.  Upgrade the plastic end stub and counterweight assembly.  There are all sorts of aftermarket options from reputable sources. Some have an offset hole in the counterweight, some do not. The models with the offset holes are designed to lower the center of gravity of the arm, and improve tracking ability. These are the ones I prefer. Some say the centered hole models sound better.  This is easy to do yourself.

3.  As far as a phono stage, I've heard great things about the Graham Slee units from people I trust, although I have yet to hear one. Another option would be the JoLida JD-9.  It is fantastic sounding unit and super quiet. Reasonably priced too: you may never feel the need to upgrade.  Its compatible with loads of different cartridges.  Whatever you end uo with  the NAD phono stage is definitely a bottleneck. Its a budget unit. ($129)  It works, but you won't know what a nice setup your 'table can be until you give it the heave-ho.

4.  When funds allow, the Dynavector DV-10x5 really loves that Rega arm, a match made in heaven.  I am biased however, not  big fan of Grados here. Also Grados tend to hum when used on your turntable, as the motor is not shielded. The hum will intensify as the arm reaches the label area. I'm not sure if the wood bodied Grados (like yours) are prone to this, the others definitely are. The Dynavectors do not hum.'

5. There are motor and bearing upgrades as well that are reported to improve performance.

6. The wiring in the arm can be upgraded as well. That RB250 is a sweet arm, damn near impossible to beat without spending lots more money. I still use one on my SOTA Star, although I am starting to itch for an upgrade (SME possibly.)  In any event, any money you spend on the arm is not lost, as you can move the arm to a new 'table, should you ever decide to upgrade.

You will also need a tracking force gauge and some way to verify correct alignment of the cartridge. This can be found free on line at Enjoy The Music.  I use the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs Geo Disc.  Many other options exist here.

Do a search for the Vinyl Anarchist. He has a great site and is pretty hot on the Rega models.  He has info on most of these upgrades on his site.

[Jampot]

Heck Nels, you have me reaching for my wallet now

Jim

[ad9000]

Thanks very much for the replies. Since my original post, the Grado and NAD phono pre are gone via Agon. I feel like I have a decent "blank canvas" to work with. I am still undecided as far as cartridge and phono stage. I plan to upgrade the platter, counterweight and arm wiring when funds allow, though they may be done one step at a time. I also plan to incorporate some of the tweaks described in previous threads.   
As far as cartridges, I appreciate the recommendation of the Dynavector 10x5 by Nels and may go that route when I can afford to. In the meantime, I may look for a more affordable alternative. Any thoughts/experience with the Denon DL-160? (entirely different animal, I'm sure) I had a Denon 103 years ago and was feeling a bit nostalgic for it after I read some positive comments elsewhere on the Rega RB250/DL-160 pairing.

[Toka]

I can't comment on how it works on that 'arm, but the DL-160 is great. Tracks well, works with (most) MM phono stages, w-i-d-e soundstage.

[JimJ]

lol @ "Vinyl Anarchist"

Vinyl Anachronist...

I don't have any experience with the DL-160, but I have its little brother, the DL-110 now...excellent cartridge, I like it a lot. Probably going to upgrade to the DL-160 in the future.

[gooberdude]

Welcome back to analog!!

I only use Anti-IC's on my entire phono signal chain, they are just awesome...  Try and use eichmann Bullet plugs where you can, they are dope for smaller signals like TT's and Ipod cables & they wake up the Anti-IC's compared to the neutriks.

If interested in a good performing mat, Herbie's Way Excellent is the only i've tried that i liked better than the stock felt.

IF the Grado cartr is thin, you have an alignment issue or the preamp sucks...my guess is that its your alignment.   Grado's aren't thin, they are usually fat & full of life.    Be sure the Azimuth, VTF & VTA are set properly.  With your arm & cartr set-up properly your preamp will perform to the best of its abilities.  Grado = big bass usually.

Sounds like you are ready to rock, just need to tweak the set-up.   

If you are listening with the lid attached to the hinges, remove it ASAP & listen.  If things improve a bit, keep it off when playing. Bad vibrations from the lid will hurt the sound you hear on such a light TT.

You can improve on this A LOT by removing the hinges & screws altogether.   Keep the lid on with a tiny ball of Plasti-tak in the 2 front corners of the lid (closest to you)...this will keep it in place.   When listening, toss the lid aside (gently).    If you have kids around, don't do this.      

A while back i purchased a $20 digital scale on ebay that reads to the 1/10th of a gram.  It seems to be quite accurate.   Just make sure you get one with a plastic deck on it, no metal.   getting the settings right is the correct way to achieve analog satisfaction.  For years i tried to buy gear to offset my inability to properly set-up a TT, at least that's my 20/20 Hindsight point-of-view.

The last thing i can fully recomend is cleaning the diamond on the stylus with a tiny piece of Magic Eraser, by Mr. Clean.   $4 will buy you 7 life-times of clean styli...

If the diamond tip is black now, use Magic Eraser a few times..dust dipping it into the foam.  Once you can see the tiny white or clear diamond, just dip in the ME before and after every session.   Its the bee's knee's for diamond cleaning...just be careful.



gd

[Nels Ferre]

I can recommend the Denon DL-110 as well. I have one on my table now, as I need to send my Dynavector DV-20XH off for a rebuild.  The Denon is a fairly light cartridge. It comes with a metal weight that you may need to use to balance the arm. (It fits between cartridge and headshell.)  At any rate, the Denons are really excellent performers, and perform at a far higher level than their modest prices would suggest.

Magic Eraser for styli- I'd never thought of it. They do a great job of household cleaning. I'll have to try that at some point.

Also for cables, you may want to try the Belkin Pure A/V cables, fantastic for the $$.
You can search for them at www.pricegrabber.com. A 4' pair comes in less than $17 plus shipping. Nice cable, great price.

Here's the manufacturer link:

http://catalog.belkin.com/PureAV_detail.process?Product_Id=178506

[JimJ]

I've grown fond of http://www.knukonceptz.com stuff. I recently took one apart and the build quality was a hell of a lot better than similar Phoenix Gold interconnects I had.

[eric the red]

Do yourself a favor and buy the Graham Slee Amp2 SE phono stage from somebody who has a return policy on it (like you'll want to return it ). And if you decide for some reason you don't like the Amp2 or get the upgrade bug, you'll be able to sell it in about 5 minutes on Audiogon. Trust me, you'll be stupified how good vinyl sounds between the Slee and a good cartridge on that deck. Vinyl rocks!

[ad9000]

gd, I would have given the Grado more of a chance but hum was a problem - I don't know how the previous owner dealt with it. As it turned out, "parting it out" worked to my advantage toward funding a new cartridge and/or some other upgrades.
I use Anti-Cables and Anti-IC's too. I will have to try some with the bullet plugs.
Eric, I am about ready to dive in on the Slee Amp2 SE  - you may just have pushed me over the edge.

Thanks again to all.

[Nels Ferre]

Let us know what you did and how it worked out for you.

[eric the red]

here's a decent deal that just came up on the dynavector that everyone here raves about http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1183938272

[Nels Ferre]

That is a nice deal on the Dynavector.

I know you are hot on the Graham Slee unit, but this is a great deal on the JoLida JD-9A Phono Stage:

http://store.tivocommunity.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=EA&Product_Code=1313&Category_Code=

Dynavector DV-10x5>NAD 533>JoLida JD-9A....that's would be a great set up, certainly far above what you started with.