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Help: New Rega P3 & Grado Platinum; No highs


This is my first table and it seems terribly simple
to set up but alas, I am defeated. The sound coming
out of this combo is muted, dull, and with no high
frequencies. Switch to my CD and things seem
right again.

What I did:

I aligned the Cart with the cardboard alignment gadget
I set the bias and tracking weight to 0
I balanced the arm to just above the LP using the weight
I set the tracking weight to 1.5
I set the bias to 1.5

Result: dull, lifeless, mushy sound with no highs.

I increased the tracking weight and bias to experiment
but it didn't help. After two 3 hours I decided the right
thing to do was to search for a rope and hang myself but
I couldn't find one so I had a shot of tequila and went to
bed instead.

I also notice that the tone arm lifter level doesn't rise
high enough to push the arm up so I have to slowly
drop the arm on an lp. This seems like it *could*
easily bend the cantilever so I would like to know how
to fix this as well.

I'm in Seattle so if there are any local analogue experts
reading this, I'd love to chat on the phone.

Thanks
Tom
eastside_guy
plato
1,543 posts
 
I'm not familiar with the Classe 30 preamp, but shouldn't there be a way to set it to the higher-gain MC position and still select the 47 k-ohm impedance load? If not, I'd bet this would be be an easy modification to perform. Perhaps you should call Classe and ask them about it. Most MC phono preamps can be set to 47k as far as I know.
jimbo3
304 posts
 
Tom-

If you are looking for good phono pre-amp with selectable gain and selectable impedance, I have an Acurus P-10 that I'm considering selling. Great pre-amp at a very reasonable price. Email me if you would like the details. First, check out your output and impedance specs on the cartridge to see if it matches the MC or MM phono input on the Classe pre as Plato suggests.

Good luck
Jim
david99
1,467 posts
 
Tom,you may want to upgrade to a stand alone Lehmann Black Cube solid state phono-preamp...can be had used for $350-$400 and has all the settings you need.
sdcampbell
2,136 posts
 
To all posters above: I talked with Eastsideguy last evening, and eliminated a few possible causes of the problem he describes. Of interest to me was the fact that a friend of Eastside's had brought over an old Stanton turntable with a $50 Shure cartridge, and this setup sounded "great" when connected to the system. Based on Eastside's comments, I am beginning to wonder if he's gotten a defective Grado cartridge -- at this point, I can't attribute the problems he's experiencing to the turntable or preamp. Anyway, Eastside and I will probably get together this weekend and do some trouble-shooting to see if we can find and fix his problem. I'll make a final post when we find out what the problem is.
eastside_guy OP
29 posts
 

Time for me to speak. We were up late again last night.
But this time it was to enjoy my P3 with my friends
modest Shure m95 cartridge. My P3 really took off when
I swapped the cartridges. I mean WOW!!!

We listened for a good 2-3 hours. That Shure had no
business sounding that good! I think my Grado 1.5mv
has too low an output for my classe preamp.

I called Grado and got their answering machine. The
dealer I bought the Grado from had a verbal squabble
with Grado over something un-related to my purchase
and now he isn't carrying Grado anymore so I have to
talk directly with Grado about a cartridge swap to a
4.8mv. Any one have any connections with Grado and
can help me out?

Thanks for the call last night Sdcampbell..

Tom
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