2. analog
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Is this the best analog has to offer?

As I have mentioned in these forums, I recently made a serious return to vinyl with a Michell Gyro, OL Silver arm, Shelter 501 cartridge and Sonic Frontiers SFP Signature phono stage and the purchase of every new jazz records from the 50's- 60's that I could still find around ( a few hundred)

I've been listening to this setup for a couple of months now with around 50 hours of burn -in on the components and while direct A/B comparisions of the same material on CD to LP lead me to the conclusion that LP is better, it is not as significant a difference as I had expected.

I'm wondering whether I still have some things to further adjust or whether there is a weak point in my system. I purchased the HIFI NEWS test record and have tweaked the cartridge adjustments as much as I think is humanly possible. The biggest complaint I have about the sound of the LP's is that they are rather "dry" "zippy" and "buzzy". Brass instruments sound more "plastic" than metal (Maybe this is the sound of the vinyl?) I know I'm not using the best audiophile terms to describe sound but it is how it sounds to me. This is not true on all records. Some are far beter than others.

On the other hand I can definitely say the LP's do have more detail and sound stage than the identical material on CD. The LP's are so much more detailed that I hear flaws in the master tapes that I never realized were there from the CD. I suspect that my disatisfactions with LP sound are really the inadequacies of recordings from this period that are masked by CD's and not flaws in the LP. The fact that some LP's are far better than others also suggests to me that the difference in original recording quality is more important final recording than medium but I'm not sure.

I would also comment that in my opinion a well recorded jazz CD made in 2003 sounds far better than an average LP recorded in the 50's or 60's. Of course, I suspect a well recorded LP from 2003 would sound the best of all but since hardly any exist it is a moot point.

Any suggestions on what to try would be appreciated!
128x128jyprez
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
Adjusting the VTA for different records? Get real. Like Pbb said,

once the equipment starts being more a problem than a solution you are clearly into dysfunctional audio high-ender territory.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
The emperor has no clothes.
jyprez's avatar
jyprez OP
241 posts
 
Thanks for all you responses. Let me provide some additional info in response to some questions.
First: My interconnects are 1.5M audioquest Ruby - same as I use with the CD player which is a California Audiolabs Icon MK2 with HDCD.
Second, I must confess,I don't know how to adjust for or account for capacitance or load. I have a general idea of what some of you are talking about but if you could suggest something more specific, this would help.
Third: Tubes in the SFP phono pre are NOS Mullards and in the CJ linestage are RCA NOS. I purchased them from Vintage Tube services a few years back and they always sounded great with the CD player - (way better than the stock CJ crap).
Fourth - several people suggested cartride tracking force and VTA adjustments. I have a good Shure tracking force gauge and set force per the Shelter specs to the best sound in the range (towards the 2g max sounds best to me). I do not have any VTA adjustment. The arm seems pretty level to me as is. If I add a vta adjuster, it will increase the base height and I think it might need to be lower. Also, virtually all records seem to have warp at least equal to the thickness of the thin VTA shim so I don't see how this adjustment can be so critical.
Fifth,I live in central CT and would welcome the a visit fromor to a fellow audiophile who might help me tweak my system. (I also get around the country on business - Chicago,Dallas etc)
Finally, I didn't say that CD's of the same recording sounded better than LP's. In fact, despite this slight "dryness" to the sound, the LP's sound better - but still not as good as I would have hoped or as good as a new, well recorded, audiophile cd of current jazz - a fact which simply suggests to me that audiophiles should pay more attention to the quality of the original recording than the medium it is reproduced on.
Again - thanks for the help!
twl
3,251 posts
 
I'd say your lack of VTA adjustment is likely the problem. This cartridge likes to be "dialed in", and getting it right with just "luck" with no adjustment is probably so unlikely as to be impossible. I never installed a Michell armboard, but it may be possible to make it a little lower. I'd highly recommend trying to get the armboard lower, and adding the threaded Adjustable VTA collar that OL sells. It makes more of a difference than you might suspect. You have a very good system there, and it should be adjusted properly to get the best results.
newbee
4,767 posts
 
Jyprez, I did a Google check and found a brief article about turntable set up which might peak your interest and add some to your knowledge of basic turntable set up. If you are interested, its an Audio & Music Bulletin. The web site is WWW.xs4all.nl/~rabruil/ttadjust.html. I also found some comments on other sites about the Shelter 501. Hope you can figure out how to make your system work for you.
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