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Soundstage gone

Hi guys,
I was really happy with the sound I had from my system until I decided to upgrade my turntable to MC stage. What I had: Linn LP12 with Lingo 3, Akito tonearm and Adikt MM cartridge. The amp is MA2275, speakers B&W 802. Recently I upgraded TT with Radical power supply, Urika MC internal phono stage, Ekos tonearm and Kandid cartridge. My amp has only MM phono stage, so tried to plug the cords from the table into other available inputs: CD2, tuner or DVD. The sound was amazing but the soundstage almost gone. I was shocked. There is no more splitting sounds between speakers and all the records plays as mono. Is there a way to fix that? Forgot to mention: I have a dedicated power line and my cables AQ Hurricane, AQ Oak.

lviv
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,199 posts
 
You need a properly matched step up transformer to run a MC cartridge to a MM phono input. Running any MM or even worse MC cart to line level rather than phono input is not a correct setup so bad results should be expected.

You might be best off sticking to a MM cart.  Getting a MC cart setup correctly with a pre-amp not designed for that can be tricky. 
lviv OP
5 posts
 
The cartridge is brand new, I've got upgraded TT last week and in dealership store was sounding great. Just now listened a few records and I would hear the little bit sound separation but not as used to be with MM stage. Don't want to experiment putting two phono stages together.
tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,588 posts
 
Is there some reason you don't want the dealer to help you with this?  That would be your best option.
cd318
2,636 posts
 
@Iviv,

I’m not surprised you’re in shock. Going from the Akito arm and Lingo power supply to the Ekos and Radikal should have been a substantial upgrade.

The Linn’s always been a highly sensitive deck. It’s all too easy for it to get a knock, or for something to move in transit.

So check if the suspension is working as freely as before. If not, it may need a reset and you must contact the dealer who can also check out the new cartridge.

I know it's a pain, and I hated doing that myself but I don’t suggest touching anything yourself. You shouldn’t need to.


lviv OP
5 posts
 
I have no issue to talk to dealer and I already did. He doesn't know the root cause. Some technician said it requires time to break-in, some suggested to move speakers. I thought maybe somebody experienced similar issue before. From what I've learnt now I have to use new sound from completely new turntable. Now it's coming up question: was it better to have excellent soundstage or amazing sound without or degraded it.
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