2. analog
  3. 1220828587

Typical upgrade path from VPI?

I've had my Scoutmaster w/Sig arm for a couple months. It came with a Shelter 501 MkII cartridge setup by Elusive Disc. I've since had it re-setup and between that and break in, it improved.

I've recently added a 3g headshell weight (as per suggestions). Unfortunately, my main complaint still lingers: lack of midbass. I can switch to a CD (Benchmark DAC among others) and midbass seems fine, but absent on the TT. I get LOW bass (if there's low bass on the recording, I hear it as if I have a subwoofer), but mid-upper bass is weak.

It could be the Shelter, I realize this. I am willing to try another cartridge, and in searching threads on this, I read a lot of comments suggesting that the JMW tonearm (even sig version) is only so good (i.e. don't buy an expensive cartridge).

If one wants to bring things to the next level, are there compatible tone-arms? I also read complaints about the pivot tech of VPI, which suggests another TT may be something to consider.

So I'm curious as to what other brands of TT I should consider.

My system:
Rhea Signature phono
ARC Ref 3 preamp
Theta Citadel 1.5 amps
Speakers are still being auditioned (Dynaudio, Rockport in the running).

Thanks
madfloyd
madfloyd OP
411 posts
 
Thanks for the response, Carter.

I did purchase quite a few RealTraps (too much actually, have to sell a bunch). I have only 4 of them in place - they turned out to be too cumbersome - my room looked like a junkyard with more of them. They didn't solve the problem (helped somewhat though).

I have tried other speakers in the room without the same issues. I have a pair of Genesis 6.1s in another system that I tried - worked great. My old speakers (which I still have) are Von Schweikert and I've always thought that they had pretty flat bass response and they work in the room (I don't like their lack of high freq detail though). Also have auditioned Rockport Miras which didn't overload the room either.

I too have a spike around 80hz. I'm auditioning Dynaudio C2s over the next couple days (receive them tomorrow). My guess is that they will be a tad anemic in the midbass, but I do like the detail so I'm going to try them anyway.

All this to say that you are right about soundproofing not being sound treatment, but while my room is not perfect, it's not that bad either - the Aerials have 4 bass drivers per speaker - simply a crazy amount of bass for my situation.
johnss
569 posts
 
Madfloyd,
without knowing what the actual response is from your TT you are just guessing. Buy a NAB broadcast test disc, play it back and measure the output voltage from your pre amp at each test frequency. Once you know what the response is, then you can figure out what is needed to solve your problem.
madfloyd OP
411 posts
 
Umm, that just went over my head. What's a NAB test disc, and how do you measure output voltage from a preamp?
narrod
1,064 posts
 
Don't worry about it. You don't need to do any of that to set up your system. It helps but is not essential. If you are not hearing the mid-bass problem with your digital but do hear it with your analog it is not a room issue. Fix the core problem and then consider your room. It will only make things better.
hukkfinn
28 posts
 
From Narrod's post: "If you are not hearing the mid-bass problem with your digital, but do hear it with your analog, it is not a room issue."

BOOM! Exactly correct. Thank you for saying what I was thinking.

Madfloyd: you said, "I can switch to a CD and midbass seems fine, but absent on the TT."

So let's stop talking about basstraps. Madfloyd, have you purchased a cheap cartridge yet? You have been well-advised to check the performance of your Shelter with this simple action. You have me interested now. I look forward to hearding your result.
Hukk
More to discover