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Ugraditus is calling....again. Phono stage?

There is likely nothing wrong at all with present phono stage but you know how it is.

Present analog front end consists of.

Nottingham Analog Spacedeck with Spacearm.
Shelter 501 mk3 cartridge with maybe 250 hours on it, regularly treated with Lyra.
Dynavector P75 mk3 phono stage.
Feeds into Lyngdorf 2170 via Nordost Red Dawn RCA cables.

My thoughts were that possibly the Dynavector is the weakest link and would pay most dividend on an upgrade but.....

What do I perceive I am lacking right now?
Really hard to say as this is highest quality analog front end ever owned.
Possibly lacking a little in sheer scale and dynamics? Bass is very very good, instruments are well separated and defined.
Just as an overall presentation I feel it lacks that final wow factor as a whole.
Not sure if that makes any sense?
Please comment honestly especially if you feel it is another area that may reap larger benefits. Or if should just leave well alone....lol.

Oh btw I am fairly sure it is setup correctly in regards to vta etc, at least to the best of my abilities right now. And yes setting it up correctly from initial purchase did make considerable gains in sq.
128x128uberwaltz
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
I also have an SME series 3 but that maybe too light?
@analogluvr, on paper a reasonable case could be made both for and against that combination, IMO, so it may very well be worth trying the ART9 in the SME III.

A case that could be made for it would be that if the ART9’s compliance at 10 Hz is in fact in the rough vicinity of 30 the 5 gram effective mass of the SME III (according to its listing at vinylengine.com), together with the 8.5 gram weight of the cartridge, would result in a resonant frequency of about 7.9 Hz. While an arm having higher effective mass would result in a resonant frequency somewhat lower than that, and therefore further from the 8 to 12 Hz region that is generally considered to be optimal.

A case that could be made against it would be that many people have reported great results with the ART9 when used in medium mass arms.

In any event, best of luck if you decide to purchase one.

Best regards,
-- Al


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uberwaltz OP
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What would be the real world difference between art9 and art7?
Art7 is a lot lower output at just 0.12mv.

What real benefit could one expect from that over the art9 ?

Please bear in mind I am no mc cartridge expert only experience is the shelter 501 that came with my tt.
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almarg
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Hi Uberwaltz,

By just about all accounts that I've seen the ART7, like the ART9, is an excellent cartridge.  However, its very low output will definitely be a problem for many phono stages, in terms of noise.  Specifically, its rated output of 0.12 mv is about 10.5 db less than the 0.4 mv rated output of your Shelter cartridge.

I don't know how the volume control on your 2170 is calibrated, but presuming it adjusts volume in discrete steps, and if you can determine how many db each step corresponds to (perhaps by contacting Lyngdorf) I would suggest the following experiment:  Set the gain on the PH-10 to max (65 + 6 = 71 db).  Listen to some music, preferably something that has wide dynamic range, and turn up the volume control to the loudest setting you would normally use.  Then stop playing the record, increase that volume setting by about 11 db, and see if the hiss level becomes bothersome.

It might also be worthwhile to perform the same experiment at 65 and/or 68 db settings of the overall gain.

Also, the following post by Pani dated 2-27-2015 in one of the major ART9 threads will be of interest: 
Dgarretson, I have not heard the ART7 so I cannot comment on its sound per se. Its heartening to know that it can be amplified without SUT. Here is an email that was sent to a friend of mine by Audio Technica:

Mr. Rodrigo Thomaz from Audio Technica send me follow reply to this question:

Hello,

If you prefer to listen to multiple orchestrate classical music, we recommend the Non-magnetic Core Moving Coil cartridge  AT-ART7. It can reproduce more sensitive sound of each instrument.

However if you prefer more dynamic music like jazz/pop music, we recommend you use the Magnetic Core Moving Coil cartridge AT-ART9. It will deliver much more presence with rich low mid frequencies.

Hope this can help. Kind Regards, Rodrigo Thomaz
Best regards,
-- Al

uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
Thank you Al
For my tastes in music I truly think the art9 would be a better fit regardless after reading that reply from AT.

However that is a very useful test to see if at any future stage I could contemplate a true lomc in my present system and will perform it to satisfy my curiosity and increase my depth of knowledge on what is and what is not possible for me.
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almarg
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P.S: Although I doubt it would happen, it’s possible that running your Shelter cartridge with the PH-10’s gain set to 71 db might result in distortion on musical peaks, due to an overload condition in either its circuitry or in the circuitry in the 2170 that precedes its volume control mechanism. If that were to happen, though, the resulting distortion should be pretty obvious, and would be present even at relatively low settings of the volume control. As I said I doubt that would occur, but if it does you could perform the experiment just with the 65 and/or 68 db settings instead.

Best regards,
-- Al

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