Agreed, but the problem is I like the tables. The mmf7 I bought years and years ago and its mint. It was seemingly well recepted by all reviewers and was said to compete with some tables twice the price or coming very close. The eroica h is no slouch or pos cartridge at almost a grand (800). Its a line contact as well which is supposed to do better with the sibilance etc. There is zero play in tone arm and the cartridge, although set at factory, is dead on. It has about 100 hours on it and original to table. The pro ject classic sb has the hana el on it and is a high quality turntable. Fremer in his review of it did not note a sibilance issue. He was actually surprised how little it gave up to his ridiculously priced reference turntable. He seemed very pleased with it. To me it's a fantastic table for the price and I doubt I could do too much better even spending near twice its 1500 buck price. As I have said at nauseam....I only have an issue with a handful of lp's. Most of my records sound great. And as my test so to speak concluded, I still think it's the pressing. It Is not bothersome enough for me to get rid of what I have and spend more money than I can prudently afford. It is sometimes annoying though obviously.
I'm putting to rest worrying about sibilance
I just ran a test on three different turntables I own. I played various recordings, each of which exhibit sibilance to some degree, mostly female vocalists. The three tables are pro-ject the classic with the hana el, music hall mmf7 with factory mounted eroica h, and my brand new thorens td 240-2 with the ortofon om10 also factory installed. My dilemma began with constant worrying about the first table (the pro-ject) as I thought I was hearing a bit of sibilance only on certain records. So I played the very same records, mostly used from thrifts etc, on all three tables and adjusting volume or gain for each. Well, I found that all three table and cartridge combinations exhibit the sibilance in the same parts of songs on each recording. My findings are that what I perceive as higher sibilance on the hana can be contributed to its (imo) better high frequency response. In other words, the other tables and cartridges had the sibilance, but to a lesser prominence, but it WAS there. So my conclusion is that it Is just inherent in the lp medium to some degree, and more so with used records. I have farted around enough with the hana el and I am no longer going to fret over it. I would have a hard time believing that all three tables and cartridges are that badly aligned etc to all cause some sibilance here and there. All three were checked and seem to be dead on. The only table I personally installed cartridge on was the pro- ject (hana el) also, three preamps were tried during testing, my marantz pm14s1 built in, a musical fidelity lx lps, and a pro-ject tube box ds2. Lastly the hana el was adjusted when installed to align with the cartridge body and not the cantilever (just easier imo) using a proper protractor, and the vta was adjusted so that the hana is a bit ass down, as I think the hana sounds right like that. So there is my conclusion. I’ve been reading forum after forum about the sibilance issue somehave, but I think I feel better after doing what I did as described above, and refuse to drive my self nuts any longer!😁
Just to add, the listening was first performed on the other 2 tables, the mmf7 and thorens, again both have factory installed cartridges, also checked by me. In doing so I ruled out the hana inscribing the record grooves with the sibilance in the event its mis aligned, which it is not....
Just to add, the listening was first performed on the other 2 tables, the mmf7 and thorens, again both have factory installed cartridges, also checked by me. In doing so I ruled out the hana inscribing the record grooves with the sibilance in the event its mis aligned, which it is not....
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- 84 posts total
- 84 posts total