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Got A Turntable...What Next?

I inherited my deceased dad's vintage TT , speakers and
large classical vinyl collection. He died in 92 and the stuff was still in his basement in perfect condition just
like he left it.I am now taking care of my 87 year old
mom with Alzheimers and decided to get his rig back up and running. I brought over an old receiver with a phono stage
and a friend lent me an AT cart just to see how things sounded. Now its three months later and the system has grown with used gear as shown below.

Thorens TD-125 w/SME 3009 II
Shelter 501 mk2
PS Audio GCPH
Decware SE 341.2 (6 watt) tube w/ NOS Amperex Holland
Altec Lansing "Laguna"
http://www.vintage-audio.com.ua/en/cat/68/1469.html

I am really enjoying the vinyl experience again, have a cleaning machine and i am doing it the right way.

My questions are:
I want to upgrade to a better sounding system.....should i keep any of my present gear? I feel the speakers are the weak link, they have a wonderful mid-range but lack a little in high end and bass.
Any opinions? My budget is 8-10k. Used gear is fine.
I listen to mostly classic rock, blues and some classical.
128x128edtyre
ihcho's avatar
ihcho
612 posts
 
I will first see if the turntable is setup properly with the tonearm and cartridge -- vertical/horizontal position of the tonearm, cartridge position, and tracking force/anti-skating. Also, I will think of having some isolation device.
Assuming your cartridge is a decent MC, I would make sure whether the needle is either worn out or bent.
Your preamp seems to be decent enough, so as others suggested, I will think of upgrading to a more powerful amp.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
rauliruegas
13,051 posts
 
Dear Edtyre: For a tube Phonolinepreamp I can say: Atmasphere.

Rgeards and enjoy the music.
Raul.
restock
831 posts
 
Does your SME have a removable headshell or not? The removable one has a slightly higher effective mass and may work borderline with the Shelter.

I don't have any personal experience with low mass arms and thus have only limited recommendations - I think Raul might even have some better recommendations for high compliance cartridges.

Worth trying would be the Shure V 15 VxMR, Cartridge Man Music Maker,
Audio Technica AT440ML...At least for a start!
edtyre's avatar
edtyre OP
7 posts
 
Restock:Mine has a removable headshell.
The first cart i tryed was the AT440ML. The Shelter has much better sound its like night & day.
restock
831 posts
 
The 3009 with removable headshell is borderline ok. Given the effective arm mass or 9.5g and specs of the Shelter (8.1g, 9cu compliance) you get a resonance frequency of about 12.5Hz just a little outside the ideal range.

The Shure V 15 VxMR is very often matched to your arm (and difficult to get), but the Shelter is a very good cartridge and even with a poor match may be better than many MM cartridges.
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