New2Analog - Table Setup Help?

I may get flammed for this but the emperor has no clothes.
It does sound like some setup issues. Setup is critical for proper performance, do what you can there to get the best out of that table. That being said I doubt that table with that phono and cartridge can yield the results your seeking. It won't even be able to match an entry level CD player. What I fear then might happen is you will get disappointed and give up on analog. Unfortunately the price of admission for wonderful analog (airy, etc) sound is a bit steeper than the cost of that table. With this table you can become familiar with setup and do more research before deciding how best procede.

Some wonderful 'Gonner posted this link a while back on TT set-up and I think it has a lot of smart info. I've been tossing the link around a bit and will here also.

TT Set-up

Hope this helps!

We will see, as I am taking this inexpensive entry table to a very seasoned analog guy, and putting it in his system, for proper setup, and comparison to CD and his table. If you are correct, and I need to spend $1000+ to get a good initial setup, when buying from the gon, then I may choose to not step too far into the Analog pool.

From what I have heard, this table should give me some of the benefits of Analog/Vinyl, but as stated a couple times, I am sure there is something wrong. We are getting clearly distorted music. Once that is corrected, I will make some decisions.

Jeff,

Here are some basic tips.

1. Get the tracking force approximately correct

2. Check alignment of the cartridge in the headshell. To do this, adjust the cartridge in the headshell until the sides of the cart are parallel with the lines on the protractor, whilst the tip is on the spot (download a protractor here)

http://www.vinylengine.com/cartridge-alignment-protractors.shtml

3. Now recheck the tracking force. Preferably use a stylus tracking force gauge eg Shure, Goldring or a digital scale

4. Adjust the bias (anti-skate) to the same as the VTF. If you can get a copy of the latest HIFi News test record, then you can do this by ear.

http://www.needledoctor.com/Hi-Fi-News-Test-Record

5. On your TT, I don't think you can adjust azimuth or VTA (except with washers)

6. Try a different cartridge. For your setup, a good high output MC or a MM would do. Don't spend too much as your TT looks like a basic Jap belt drive TT.

To be honest, this Denon is only really a starter TT. I'd personally be tempted to sell it and get something half decent. Even a cheap Rega P3 with a decent cart would see this one off easily. If you've never set up a TT before, then I would get a solid plinth TT (ie not suspended chassis, such as Thorens TD160 TD150, Linn LP12 etc).

I hope this helps.

Charlie

Mayby my expectations were wrong, but I bought this table, simply to see if I would enjoy the sounds of vinyl over my traditional cd system. For less than $200, I had a simple turntable solution to try things out. I was not going to spend $500-1500 on a solution until I knew that I would enjoy listening to vinyl through my system. I have many concerns, (Hissing and snapping dirty scratched records, short time to turn a record over, added complexity to my system - just to name a few). I have heard great analog playback, and I like it, I am trying to get my entry level experience to a place I like, then will look for the $500-1000 table/cartridge/arm, and the $300-500 phono-pre.