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Better Cartridge/Turntable advice for old-school Hip Hop music

Hi Audiogon forums,

I’m Kevin and even though I have been a long-time reader, this is my first post and you guys would probably squinty your eyes looking at the title. 

I recently upgrade my turntable and was quite disappointed with the way the new system sounds, and how inexperienced I am in choosing a table/cartridge combo that does not suit my music genre, so I really look forward for your input to help me improve my system. Here is my system profile:

  • - Vintage Thorens TD125 Long-Base with 12-inch Jelco 850L arm & Audio Technica VM760SLC MM Cart – Table has been fully serviced by Dave @VinylNirvana so it is working correctly. 
  • - Joseph Bookshelf Speaker RM7XL
  • - Rogue Audio Magnum 1st generation
  • - EAR 834 P Phono preamplifier
  • - REL Sentor II Sub-woofer 
  • - Speaker/IC/ power cable are in either Cardas Golden Preference or Cardas Clear

TLDR My problem: after upgrading my modern Audio Technica LP7 (with stock cartridge) to the newer Thorens with ~10x more expensive cartridge, my Hiphop records sound less amusing. 

More specific on the problem: 

After paying almost $4k on upgrading the table, ALL my Hiphop records sound MUCH slower in speed, rapping vocal became less powerful, which I know for the genre, speed and power would be the 1st priority, hence in general the music became less intriguing. 

What has been improved is that general tonality, soundstage, are all became greater in terms of space, definition and clarity, instruments became much more musical and natural sounding. 

The new Thorens TD125 triumphed the old AT LP7 for all other genres: rock (Beatles, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Stones, RadioHead, etc.), soul (Isaac Hayes), jazz, funk, blues, etc… are all sounds so good for me at the moment. 

I’m truly satisfied when putting on these other genres but unfortunately, 70% of the time I would be listening to HipHop records (A Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, De La Soul, Dr. Dre, Public Enemy, Gang Starr, Outkast, UGK, Wu Tang, Nas, Kanye West, you name it). P/s: I’m really into psychedelic, complex layering Hiphop records.

So, what should I do now? Where does the problem come from? I don’t know if a vintage table could not do well with more modern Hiphop music, or it’s solely because of my bad cartridge choice?

I still currently keep the AT LP7 to listen to Hip Hop, but I prefer to only keep 1 table due to space constrain. I still have a spare fund of around $1k to upgrade a better cartridge, but it MUST be able to rock my Hiphop beats better than the stock cartridge on the AT LP7.

Could you guy kindly advise me some solutions for my problem?

Thank you very much and take care!

Kevin



hoangkhoi1207
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,695 posts
 
Agree with noromance:

Play around with VTA.

Only owned one 12" arm (SME) and though theoretically it should have been less "touchy" than the like 9" SME versions I also used/use - it wasn't.

DeKay
noromance's avatar
noromance
10,039 posts
 
Try the VTA adjustment. you may be surprised.
Did you add the Jelco after you got it serviced? If so, the suspension might need readjustment.
What is the turntable mounted on? Try adding a slab of marble or a sheet of glass underneath with metal or ceramic cones instead of rubber feet.

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Hoangkhoi1207, Nothing wrong with that turntable. More than likely your old table had a peak in the bass you got use too. 
You are looking for some bop. I can understand that. You need a second subwoofer and some expert set up help. Once you have a sub on both sides you can raise the crossover point a bit and turn the volume up a little on the subs giving you a little more mid bass and some bop for your drop. If you ever upgrade your speakers go for Klipsch Cornwall IV's 
a brilliant Hip Hop speaker if there ever was one. Check out D Angelo's Black Messiah. Killer record:)
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,039 posts
 
@hoangkhoi1207

Its Impossible to build any sort of audio equipment that favors or excludes any kind of music genre- to electronics and turntables, its all just a signal. If someone found a way to favor a certain genre of music with a speaker, turntable or electronics they would be a millionaire overnight!


The fact that other things sound good is telling you something.


I had an original Beastie Boys LP- the one that has non-vocal instrumental tracks on it. It was stolen, years later got re-issued. The reissue stinks- didn't have the punch and drive of the original. I suspect that you are used to hearing a certain EQ that is common with the genre- it might be that is all you need.
noromance's avatar
noromance
10,039 posts
 
Maybe the AT LP7 was running fast!
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