The vinyl experience has been quite a learning curve and is indeed frustrating. A couple of years ago I purchased a Rega Planar 3 turntable and found that my digital sources sounded better. My power supply was part of the problem and so a power conditioner and an electrician installing an isolated line made an amazing difference at a cost of close to $2000. My speakers Audio Physic Step Plus, amp and integrated Line Magnetic 216A. I got a lot of enjoyment from this system, but started to crave more.
As I have gone further down the rabbit hole in search of better sound, specifically more power from drums, I upgraded my turntable to a Music Hall 9.3, added a new phono stage, a Lehmann black cube, went for a moving coil cartridge. Ortofon MC Quintet Black S, into a Rogue PreAmp and the sticking point, a used amplifier with more power, an Adcom GFA 555. Yeah, I know it's old.
After installation I had a couple of great weeks, but at some point noticed a fuzziness in the bass. Muddled and distorted. At first it sounded like I had something on my stylus, cleaned it with a brush and continued on. I do listen to some older recordings purchased from the resurgence of new/old record stores and so, maybe the recordings weren't too good or were dirty even though one shop does a lot of ultrasonic cleaning. I have an Okki Nokki that seems to help.
So, I went through the back and forth of connecting back and forth from the Line Magnetic and Adcom, finding that the LM sounded better. Also in the loop is a JL Audio sub that is connected to the Adcom. To eliminate its influence I have turned it off during the comparison process.
I contacted the person that set up the turntable for me, took a couple of pictures of the stylus that weren't so good and when my installer said to take a picture from the side of the stylus, after enlarging it with a jewelers loupe, there I saw the tiniest little piece of dust lodged to the stylus. By now I had ordered a Onzow Zerodust and between that and a brushing, got the little bugger. Problem solved, or so I thought.
A week or so later, the fuzziness returned, and I have become obsessive about a clean stylus. So, a question to the forum would be...are some styli more susceptible to picking up dirt and dust? Also, to my limited knowledge, is it possible to replace a moving coil stylus?
This is driving me crazy as, once again, my digital sources are sounding better than my "vinly", and my digital sources aren't necessarily that great. I'm not anxious to get a new amp only to find the problem persists. To me it seems to be in the turntable. Will check its alignment once again, but I don't think it's out of whack.
To sum up my experience with vinyl, I have spent a good amount on power, isolation (table and rack), record cleaning machine, and the latest phase, stylus cleaning (cheapest of the lot). When it's good, it's great, but oh, what a commitment. Frustrating is the word.
As I have gone further down the rabbit hole in search of better sound, specifically more power from drums, I upgraded my turntable to a Music Hall 9.3, added a new phono stage, a Lehmann black cube, went for a moving coil cartridge. Ortofon MC Quintet Black S, into a Rogue PreAmp and the sticking point, a used amplifier with more power, an Adcom GFA 555. Yeah, I know it's old.
After installation I had a couple of great weeks, but at some point noticed a fuzziness in the bass. Muddled and distorted. At first it sounded like I had something on my stylus, cleaned it with a brush and continued on. I do listen to some older recordings purchased from the resurgence of new/old record stores and so, maybe the recordings weren't too good or were dirty even though one shop does a lot of ultrasonic cleaning. I have an Okki Nokki that seems to help.
So, I went through the back and forth of connecting back and forth from the Line Magnetic and Adcom, finding that the LM sounded better. Also in the loop is a JL Audio sub that is connected to the Adcom. To eliminate its influence I have turned it off during the comparison process.
I contacted the person that set up the turntable for me, took a couple of pictures of the stylus that weren't so good and when my installer said to take a picture from the side of the stylus, after enlarging it with a jewelers loupe, there I saw the tiniest little piece of dust lodged to the stylus. By now I had ordered a Onzow Zerodust and between that and a brushing, got the little bugger. Problem solved, or so I thought.
A week or so later, the fuzziness returned, and I have become obsessive about a clean stylus. So, a question to the forum would be...are some styli more susceptible to picking up dirt and dust? Also, to my limited knowledge, is it possible to replace a moving coil stylus?
This is driving me crazy as, once again, my digital sources are sounding better than my "vinly", and my digital sources aren't necessarily that great. I'm not anxious to get a new amp only to find the problem persists. To me it seems to be in the turntable. Will check its alignment once again, but I don't think it's out of whack.
To sum up my experience with vinyl, I have spent a good amount on power, isolation (table and rack), record cleaning machine, and the latest phase, stylus cleaning (cheapest of the lot). When it's good, it's great, but oh, what a commitment. Frustrating is the word.