[MichaelHiFi]

My first post ever to a vinyl circle I felt compelled to express my experience last night and ask a few questions.

My current setup sounds great considering the speakers I drive - a pair of Def Tech BP2000's - home theatre at it's best ten years ago. I'm primarily a two channel guy however and I've been slowly working towards that magic feeling of having to feed the band in my living room. I've been using a Squeezebox 3 - slightly modded with PS and internal DAC - to stream EAC burned media direct to a pair of NuForce 9 SE V2 amps.

Last night I drug out one of my turntables, a Technics SL1300 direct drive and plugged it in to a Onyko PR-SC885P pre/pro which also feeds the Nuforces via balanced connection. In this manner I was able to perform a direct comparison of these 2 radically different media's. Hey this was fun!

The outcome somewhat surprised me. This is based on only a few cuts of some old Fleetwood Mac but my ears have become extremely sensitive to certain nuances of audio so here it what I/we heard. My dad was in attendance.

First when playing the Technics I noted the soundstage had shrunk back into the speakers with almost no central image. This was familiar.. hum. Ah yes, the Onkyo takes over with it's built-in room correction. I turned that off and things got much better with staging although not as good as the SB3 combo. Going back and forth however revealed this to me. The SB3 just had more air, more depth and more solidity in it's presentation.  It was far closer than I would have imagined. We're talking vinyl through a pre/pro to amps vs computer to SB3 straight to amps! I found the highs more extended on the SB3 but sweeter on the vinyl. Voices where a little more fleshed out on the vinyl as well. The base response was a toss-up as the Def-Tech amps take over - unfortunately - leaving my NuForces only to perform down to about 150Hz. Of course the noise floor from the SB3/Nuforce combo is non existant while the noise floor of the Technics combo was quite high. But given the look of this turntable, the power cord looks to be about 20awg and the interconnects are what interconnects were in the early seventies, I was surprised how well it played.  I would have no problem spinning my vinyl collection when the mood arises. .

I know this is a vinyl circle and may be somewhat biased. I still believe the very best sound comes from vinyl so please try not to flame my arse. I'm looking for some low budget suggestions to improve my vinyl experience.

I have two other turntables. A Gerard Zero 100 and some other creature at least as old but I forgot the model. God only knows what cartridges reside in those tone arms.
Here's my question. Would it be worth it to change out the power cord and interconnects on this Technics turntable? Is it worth doing anything to this turntable or the forementioned Gerard?

We did enjoy listening to that album last night and we do have a fairly good collection of vinyl. I'm more convinced that the tube DAC I've been lusting over should be on my short(er) list.  I also feel that I should leave a turntable on top of the Adona rack!

Excuse my newbieness in this forum..

[Upstateaudio]

How old is your cartridge?   You may try replacing your cartridge.  Some relatively budget choices include Grado Black (budget), Shure M97XE (a little more expensive) or Stanton 681EEE.

[Upstateaudio]

Welcome to the wonderful world of vinyl.

 aa

[TheChairGuy]

Hey Michael,

We are biased here in the Vinyl Circle...but we're not biased because of nostalgia....nor do I think any of us are into heaping more work into our daily routines (as playing vinyl is less convenient than digital sources).

It's because vinyl serves music better, all in all, glitches and bitches be damned 

Your turntable is primarily a mechanical device that creates an electrical impulse......excellent isolation from feedback and airborne is paramount to getting the sound pure.  IKEA has birch cutting boards for $20-25....1-4 of them under your table would likely make it shine.  Sure, changing out IC's and maybe a new cartridge will gain you some benefit, but I'd make sure your table is well isolated first.

There are years of prior posts for you to review to gain insight on how to improve your Technics...there is lots there to peruse.

Skip the Garrard......I understand the tonearm (tho it looks hi-tech) is actually a, ahem, a ZERO 

Ciao, John

[MichaelHiFi]

How old is your cartridge?   You may try replacing your cartridge.  Some relatively budget choices include Grado Black (budget), Shure M97XE (a little more expensive) or Stanton 681EEE.

Hum.. how old is my turntable? 
I guess that's a pretty good start! 

I've got some DH-Labs BL-1 interconnect cable leftover from another project. Perhaps I should staple some RCA's on the end of it and replace those awful looking stock IC's?

And what about that power cable? Would that make as much a difference as it does on my other components?

Thanks for the advice. I'll get searching.

[macrojack]

I'm using a Technics SP-10. It's a step or two up the line from your 1300 but similar vintage and similar design. I think isolation will help your cause. A new cartridge likely will as well. Careful calibration could yield some improvement. And more than anything else, a worthwhile phono section would provide big improvement.  I think that is your weakest link if the cartridge is still healthy.
Modifying the cabling will net little if anything.