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Brand new to vinyl: Help!

I am brand new to vinyl, but quite established in digital (CDs, lossless streaming, etc.).

I made the first foray to vinyl by purchasing an entry level turntable - Pro-Ject Debut Carbon DC Esprit.

I am using an Ayre pre-amp with phono stage and also Ayre amp.

While I am happy I have it up and running, I don’t think it sounds as good as my digital setup (Directstream DAC).

So what can I do to improve, short of buying a much more expensive turntable?

Things in my mind:

1 - Since it accepts DC power, buy a linear power supply

2 - Since my Phone stage on my preamp only accepts XLR three-pin connector, I bought a male RCA to male XLR cable from Amazon, less than $20. Do I need a better interconnect?

3 - Upgrade the cartridge (it comes with Ortfofon Red something)

Thanks!
128x128thyname
jsm71
141 posts
 

@thyname, are there any high end audio shops within driving distance? I don’t recall if you said what part of the country you live in. If we knew that, the locals or those familiar could tell you where to stop in.

Most high end shops will absolutely have one or more higher end tables set up with good gear. The intent here is not to entice you to buy but to hear what a good vinyl setup is capable of. Go listen to a few setups before spending any money.

If you discover vinyl is a path worth pursuing, invest with pieces that can transfer to a better table. Start with a better cartridge. I think stepping up to just the Ortofon 2M Blue won’t transfer all that well to a quality table. I recommend at least the Ortofon Bronze, the Hana MC, or the Audio-Technica AT-OC9ML/II , all under $500 but could be used on the better table. You also have to let cartridges break in, including the 2M Red. I have one of those myself and it’s not bad for the price. Some require upwards of 100 hours of play to fully reveal all they have to offer.

I did pretty much the same thing, although at a somewhat higher initial price. The value priced table I bought came with a better MM cartridge, but I bought an even better MC cartridge knowing I could continue to use it when I bought my "good" table (Technics SL 1200G).

Oh, and cables do make a significant difference as your gear should be able to exploit that. What model of Ayre preamp are you using? Must it use a balanced connection for the phono section? Investing in a better cable would also be a transferable purchase to a better table someday. I have a Morrow PH5 cable on my new table. It’s not their best, but it’s in line with the Technics quality. I’m not sure if Morrow can terminate with a balanced connection on the one end, but they should be able to.

thyname's avatar
thyname OP
3,107 posts
 
Thanks @jsm71 !

Another update: I had my dealer come over at my house and install the new cartridge - the Ortofon Bronze - yesterday. I just wanted to make sure it was done right, alignment, weight and all - he brought all tools.

While there was a noticeable improvement (better bass and midrange, and slightly less "bright") to the stock Cocept MM cart, it was not eye popping. Still, I am happy I did it, so that I don't have to upgrade anything now for a while.

In terms of the cables, the Clearaudio Concept comes with "captive" interconnects (they cannot be removed from the turntable). I did buy from Audiogon some good quality gold connector adapters (RCA to XLR) for $35 plus $6 shipping.

And yes @jsm71  my phono stage is built in my Ayre pre-amp - K-1xe. It only accepts balanced connectors on its phono stage inputs.

Truth be told, I have made so many changes with my new analog setup now in such a short period of time, that I should really sit down and simply listen to music for a few weeks without any additional tweaks. I have bought quite a few records locally and through Amazon now, so plenty of (familiar) music to listen to.

Thanks everyone for your help!
jsm71
141 posts
 
Yes, enjoy and I haven't seen a cartridge yet (or speaker) that didn't improve some when broken in.  
thyname's avatar
thyname OP
3,107 posts
 
Any recommendations for a record cleaning machine? I bought one of those brush cleaners from Amazon, but I think I need a more robust one. Thanks
lewm
13,110 posts
 
thyname, A bit of icing is missing from your cake if you are trying to convert the single-ended output of your turntable into balanced mode for your Ayre.  The Ayre phono section will sound best when fed with a true balanced signal. This is not so arcane as it sounds, because all cartridges are inherently balanced devices.  To achieve a single-ended signal from a cartridge, typically the "ground" pin of the cartridge is connected to the shield of a single-ended cable, along with the turntable/tonearm ground connection.  Your hard-wired IC is probably configured this way. A typical single-ended phono stage works fine this way. 

In contrast, a balanced signal consists of two halves, one "plus" and one "minus".  To get the most out of that output with respect to feeding the Ayre, you would want each half of that balanced signal from the cartridge to be carried on a separate conductor where the two conductors are identical.  The typical XLR on a balanced IC carries the plus half on pin2, the minus half on pin3, and the grounds (turntable, tonearm, etc) separately on pin1. Thus, for carrying the phono signal in balanced mode, you want to connect the "ground" pin of the cartridge (which by convention is really the minus half of the signal) to pin3 of an XLR, keeping it separate from TT/tonearm ground (which goes to pin1) and carrying it on its own conductor. The Ayre sounds best this way. (I used to own an Ayre phono stage; I tried it both ways.)  The hard-wired single ended IC on your new TT kind of makes for a problem in achieving that goal.  (There's nothing "wrong" with it, because most phono stages are SE circuits.  You happen to own a rare true balanced phono section.) But meantime, find out if you enjoy vinyl using your new set-up as is, which does sound like a big improvement over the original.  What I am talking about here is, like I said, icing on the cake if you want to go the last mile.  With a little surgery best performed by a knowledgeable tech, you could make the change to optimize the balanced connection, if you perceive you will be moving forward with vinyl.
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