2. analog
  3. 1423760958

Maximizing My Turntable Experience - input reqeust

hey all,

i'm open to drinking the vinyl kool-aid and just purchased an entry-level audiophile Pro-ject Debut Carbon table that arrived last night.

My current setup:

Acram 135 DVD multi player
Oppo 105 BlueRay that i'm starting to load high res files onto to obsolete the Arcam.
Musical Fidelity A-5 Integrated Amp
B&W 804s

Im looking for that experience that digital cant provide. while there were moments of that during the initial listen, the majority wasnt there yet. the sound stage was not huge, but certain ambient room noises between the notes, and particularly acoustic guitar was awesome.

I havent completed the cartridge calibration yet so i'm hoping some good will come from that. Cartridge is Ortofon 2M Red.

the system exposed a very low hum that wasnt dependent on volume. i'm not quite sure what to expect from dropping a $400 player into a several thousand dollar system. fully aware of the weakest link theory.

any suggestions from your experiences?

cheers
128x128kevindh
zd542
5,339 posts
 
How many hours is on the cart? They need anywhere from 50-100 hours to break in, and the sound changes a lot while break in is occurring.

As far as the hum goes, I know the A5 has a built in phono stage, but does it give you any type of adjustments at all? If you do have them, there's a good chance they're inside and you'll have to take the cover off the amp to access them. If you have them, lower the gain and that should reduce or eliminate the noise. If not, you may have to try a different cart.
czarivey
5,946 posts
 
getting and listening to the records is the best kool-aid for analogue experience.
mr_m
1,900 posts
 
The adjustments and cartridge break-in are critical for vinyl playback.Your choice in a entry level is a good one, but at this price point if you are expecting to get total analogue bliss, you are going to be sorely disappointed. I went this route too, when I got back into vinyl some years back. It took a lot of up-grading to get what I expected of it. Started at about $800. Over the years that amount grew to over $5000 just for a turntable, arm, cartridge,and phono cables. Good luck.
kevindh's avatar
kevindh OP
7 posts
 
thx for your input. much appreciated!

I suppose what I'm looking for is some guidance based on what i have. I have decent equipment. better than the average bear for sure, but by no means exceptional amongst this audience.

will this table, arm, and cartridge get into the ballpark with the rest of my rig as-is with break-in? should i consider an acrylic plate, speed controller, different cartridge to better match my rig, etc.? or no matter what i do, it will be the weak link.

is that an answerable question?

for you to better calibrate to me, i'm quite pleased with the listening experience with my Arcam, FWIW.

Cheers
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