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

VTA is changed by adjusting the height of the arm. Use an allen key on the base of the arm pillar. Start with arm parallel to record. Raise pillar for brighter more incisive sound. Lower it for darker. It may vary between records but play around with it.

VTA will never change a bad sounding cartridge to a good sounding cartridge. This is all about minor changes that you can barely hear. Look at the diamond of your cartridge under a macro lens and if there is nothing wrong I don't think you can tune the sound by VTA adjustment. 

I don't know what do you expect from your speakers. This can be a problem, maybe you need a high efficient speaker instead ? Bookshelf without SUB means no deep bass.  

If some of your friend can give you another phono stage to try then definitely try it. 



 

Hi guys,

This is an update for this old thread as I have found the weak link in my system. Thank you guy for all the inputs but eventually i could not have much time to figure what caused the problem in my system. 

TLDR above: my systems sounds great on many genre, except for hiphop it lack the speed & lively feel. 

@chakster you were definitely right but I have no one around to borrow another phono stage until now!

Accidentally a few days ago my friend needs help on ripping a vinyl so I switched out my tube phono preamp - the Yoshino EAR 834 - replacing with his phono REGA Fono A2D (very simple, cheaper phono). And guess what, WOW! The music comes to live: I played some hiphop records and BOOM, the bass kicked in more powerful, the speed was faster and paired well with the rapping, no more laid back, no more "too chill" kind of mood. I lived with the REGA for the past week. 

I also recently bought a pair of monoblocks - the Bel Canto REF1000M Mk. 2 - I put them into the systems, and again, the speed of the music was slowed down, and the fast pace is not there any more, however, it drives me crazy as the new sound stage from the monoblocks are just so huge and clear, detailed are picked up nicely on every LP i put on, regardless of genre. The monoblocks drives my speakers so effortlessly that I don't even need to crank up the volume yet still having the feeling of beautiful music surround me. Yet again, it does not provide the speed and pace for hiphop - the genre I listen to at least half of the time. 

I read up an old review on positive feedback on the mk.1 of these monoblocks and the reviewer have the same view: "I'd say the Rogues (amps) do it in a slightly more aggressive manner, while the Bel Cantos are more laid back" and "Ain't Built For Speed". Damn it!

So my new quest: what could I do to improve my situation? I have a new pair of Joseph Audio Pearl coming in hence the new purchase of the (2nd hand) Bel Canto monoblocks. Should I upgrade my phono preamp (I'm current took my friend's REGA mentioned above and compared to the rest of the systems the REGA phono is the quite lower end)? Or should I sell the Bel Canto and look for another pair of monoblocks? My budget is around $4k and I prefer buying used equipment, since audio dealers here in Singapore does not let you bring home and demo the electronics they are selling, so no point buying new from them. 

Thanks a lot guys for reading my long post!
Kevin

Have you tried the AT stock cartridge on the Thorens?

Another suggestion if you’re selling the bel cantos to try Hegel or Pass Labs amp. 
You can go the integrated route as well. Also worth trying one of the Sutherland phono stages, as well as Chord Huei and McIntosh MP100.