Couple of turntable set up questions...

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #20 on:** 1 Dec 2007, 06:30 am »

Buddy...

Quote

Man! This is BIG! Levi is getting his groove back!

He's "spinning" out of control....

Levi · « **Reply #21 on:** 1 Dec 2007, 07:57 am »

There are lots of TT out there, my head is spinning.

Levi · « **Reply #22 on:** 1 Dec 2007, 08:04 am »

Hey Buddy, you probably already knew it is all about the source. You can have the best TT rig out there but if the actual media is poorly recorded...

Micheal Fremer's CD is a well recorded CD.

Wayner · « **Reply #23 on:** 1 Dec 2007, 12:19 pm »

There are as many poorly recorded CDs as there are vinyl. Just because someone records "digitally" doesn't mean it is going to be good.

Wayner

P.S. The Grado Gold only lasted an hour before I ripped it out of my VPI. Back to the Audio Technica AT440MLa. IMHO Grado SUCKS.

Rocket · « **Reply #24 on:** 2 Dec 2007, 03:09 am »

Hi Wayner,

Just discoverd that my denon dl103 mc cartridge needs to be replaced. I really like this cartridge but it is almost xmas time and I cannot afford one at this stage.

I have placed a bid on a second hand at440 cartridge and I think I can purchase it for well under $100au. In Australia the cartridge sells for $220au.

I've read a few threads about this cartridge and everone seems to rave about. Truth be known I've bought a couple of dud products and imported them to australia from the recommendations of AC members.

Have you had an opportunity to compare a denon dl103 with the at 440 cartridge?

Thanks for your advice.

Regards

Rod

ps i have a bluenote piccolo turntable and phonostage.

Wayner · « **Reply #25 on:** 2 Dec 2007, 01:49 pm »

Rod,

No I haven't compared the 2. I have compared the Grado Gold and the Shure 97xe with the AT. In an earlier post, I bitched about the Grados. They are finicky and I have lost my patients with them. Although I have heard a Grado in a Harmon Kardon T30 that sounded wonderful. The Grados need the right kind of arm that apparently, I don't have. The Shure is a big bore. It has no excitment to it at all. The AT440MLa can bring the house down, when proprely set up. Some have accused it of being a bit on the bright side, but after yesterdays discovery of how to perfectly set the VTA and enjoying the cartridge in my VPI all evening, I have to say, wow!!!!

The real problem with cartridge recommendations is the installation and alignment of the cartridge. Do many have the right tools to locate the stylus in the correct location for their table. Do they set the VTF correctly? Is the VTA set right and is the tone arm capable of anti-skating and does it really work. Perhaps someone will buy an AT and do a crappy job on the install and after an hour of listening will come to the conclusion that the cartridge is not good. The table is a very geometrical device. Unforgiving if not set up correctly.

In my 38 years of vinyl, I have developed many tools. The more I learn about the table and try to improve, the better it sounds (usually). I have taken an old Empire 598 to a level that that would rival many high priced tables only because I started to figure out what was wrong with it and make corrections. No table is perfect.

As for the fear of buying a cartridge you may not like, I have a drawer full of them.

Wayner

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #26 on:** 2 Dec 2007, 02:25 pm »

Quote from: Wayner

As for the fear of buying a cartridge you may not like, I have a drawer full of them.

Ditto here, Wayner

GBB · « **Reply #27 on:** 2 Dec 2007, 05:52 pm »

Quote from: Wayner on 27 Nov 2007, 09:57 pm

Grado's are good cartridges with the right turntable. They do have tracking issues that some table/arm combos expose. Perhaps there are better choices out there.

Like others in this thread, I've also got a drawer full of old cartridges including a Grado 8MX that was very well reviewed years back but I never quite warmed to. I recently dove into the direct drive experience and bought a used table and wanted to get it playing music right away and not risk a "good" cartridge until I'd confirmed that the table was working well and I liked the sound. So I hauled out the Grado and got it up and running. During the setup, I did a bit of searching on the web and found out that quite a few people have suggested that Grados work a lot better when loaded with 10K ohms instead of the standard 47K ohms. My phono stage allows easy change of the loading and I can confirm that the Grado sounds a lot better with 10K ohms. The bass seems to get more solid, the high end seems less tizzy, and soundstage opened up a bit. I wish I'd known about this back when this was my main cartridge.
I also found out that the sound quality was very sensitive to the cable going from the turntable to the phono stage. I presume this is related to subtle changes in the cable capacitance - again another sign that the Grado is sensitive to loading.
So don't write off those Grados until you play with loading.

---Gary

Wayner · « **Reply #28 on:** 2 Dec 2007, 09:17 pm »

Good advice, Gary.
I haven't totally given up on the Grados, yet. I will not let these beasts do me in. I will conquer when I figure out what the real problem is.

Have a good one!

Wayner

TheChairGuy · « **Reply #29 on:** 3 Dec 2007, 03:39 am »

Quote from: Wayner on 2 Dec 2007, 09:17 pm

I will conquer when I figure out what the real problem is.

Real solutions to underdamped nature of Grado's (in order of importance):

1. Arm damping.....fill your AQ arm with 50000 cst silicone (a top the arm pillar under the plastic cover), sit back and enjoy. If you need some - just PM me - I've got enough for 75 arms here

Quote from: Audioquest literature

The PT9 is a medium mass arm with adjustable VTA, LC-OFC litz wiring, a fixed and damped headshell, removable DIN tonearm cable, and adjustable pivot damping which allows higher effective mass and compatibility even with cartridges lacking internal damping, such as Grados or Deccas.

The adjustable pivot damping allows the arm to behave as though it has additional mass at higher frequencies without affecting the moving mass at low frequencies. If an arm has too much weight or resistance, it has a hard time tracking the record grove properly. The advantage of a heavier arm is that it prevents the movement of the stylus in the groove from affecting the movement of the tonearm. The included damping oil lets you decide how much damping the arm will exhibit, and thereby maximize the arm's performance for a given cartridge.

2. And, if possible, change to better styli - all the Grado's right up to the $300 Platinum use a bonded, not nude, stylus (large profit margins for Grado from the Green on up). The difference in the Grado's quality of sound from both a shape (line or Shibata) and nude stylus change is very large.

Problem conquered

John

Levi · « **Reply #30 on:** 3 Dec 2007, 04:18 am »

There goes my TT budget. Thanks for all the TT recommendations.

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #31 on:** 3 Dec 2007, 04:44 am »

Quote from: Levi on 3 Dec 2007, 04:18 am

There goes my TT budget. Thanks for all the TT recommendations.

I don't understand this photo?

SET Man · « **Reply #32 on:** 3 Dec 2007, 05:22 am »

Quote from: Levi on 3 Dec 2007, 04:18 am

There goes my TT budget. Thanks for all the TT recommendations.

Hey!

Whoa! Levi are you saying that you've got yourself a Mac?

If so... as a mac user. Congratulation! Welcome to the world of Apple Mac computer bro!

Ok, let's not hi-jack this thread and turn it into Mac talk.

Take care,
Buddy

Levi · « **Reply #33 on:** 3 Dec 2007, 05:45 am »

Thanks Buddy. Yes, I bought a MacBook Pro.

mjosef · « **Reply #34 on:** 3 Dec 2007, 05:49 am »

I don't think you can spin records on that thing...