VPI HW-19 with Graham 1.5 arm Question/Suggestions
Greetings everyone,
I have a very handsome, black oak, late model VPI HW-19 Mark IV with a black Delrin Aries platter. The tonearm is a Graham 1.5 Basic tonearm sporting a Benz Micro MC Gold cartridge with elliptical stylus. The tonearm cable is Audio Art IC-3 Classic phono cable DIN to RCA.
The sound is good but rather lightweight, neutral and nimble but polite, one might say meek with tight but lean bass. It is not strident or shrill, or analytical, or bright. Most of the turntable and phono upgrades I read about suggest that they will make the sound have more clarity, be more precise, more accurate, tighter, and lower the noise floor. These qualities are not necessarily what I want.
I would like the sound signature to be warmer, fuller, richer, more colorful, or more romantic.
I am considering many options, including new phono cable, new footers, a platter mat (presently records sit directly on the Delrin platter), a different record weight-stabilizer (presently using a VPI Delrin screw-down clamp), a new shelf, and of course a different cartridge.
I welcome any suggestions from anyone on how to warm up or enrich the sound quality.
@larryi , both Graham and Basis realized the error of their ways. Graham created an opposing magnet system as a secondary bearing and Basis added a second bearing to stabilize its arm. They are no longer unipivots. They are bipivots. I hate to be so...abrupt, but the Moerch arm is a bad joke from a tonearm design perspective. Get yourself one of the arms above and you will never look back. |
Melm, I set vta by ear, and to some extent there are tonal changes. But, overall, I do agree that one should not make large vta changes for that purpose. On a nine inch arm, I change the pivot height no more than 1mm or so from the arm being parallel to the record surface; this represents a fraction of a degree in vta/sra change. |
Melm, I set vta by ear, and to some extent there are tonal changes. But, overall, I do agree that one should not make large vta changes for that purpose. On a nine inch arm, I change the pivot height no more than 1mm or so from the arm being parallel to the record surface; this represents a fraction of a degree in vta/sra change. |
I lived with an HW19 MK4 for years and “lightweight” is the last word I would use to describe its inherent sound. It is a robust sounding table and one that some would call TOO warm sounding. I also used the Graham on a TNT 6 and there was no deficiency in amount of bass. So, I would look elsewhere for the reason for the thin sound that you are hearing. I do like dover’s advice re loading. Having said all that, you don’t mention what speakers you are using. You provide an incomplete picture for anyone or give truly useful advice. If you were to state, “I bought a HW19 MK4 and I lost the great bass and warmth that my system had previously”, then, OK, something might be up with your tt setup. However, if your speakers are bass deficient then no turntable or cartridge setup will make up for the deficiency. What speakers are you using and is the turntable/arm a recent addition to your system?
Sent from my iPhonswssssse |
Very similar to my early setup. I used an AT OC9/II ML with a Herron VTPH 1-mc and was very satisfied. The performance of the table was improved by swapping out the springs for AudioQuest Sorbothane pucks. The AQ pucks I used don’t seem to be available, but there are Sorbothane pucks that ARE available through ebay.. I think the stiffer the pucks, the better.
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