Seeking opinions on the Luxman PD151 and EQ500 combination

woots

congrats. 

that Sumiko Songbird cartridge has excellent specs for an elliptical stylus. Is yours the Low Output or High Output version?

https://sumikophonocartridges.com/product/songbird-low-mc-phono-cartridge/

if you know it's condition/playing hours, I would consider keeping it, even if it means selling your existing setup without a cartridge, or installing a new cartridge to increase potential buyers.

Do you have the few inexpensive tools and skills to mount/align cartridges? If not, YET, I encourage you to learn to do it yourself, the more your collection grows, the more important and satisfying it is.

I prefer DD, but it sure seems like a terrific belt drive choice, gotta love a platter weighing nearly 9 lbs, one of the things that made my Thorens TD124 so great (wish my wood floors were not so springy, it’s bearing was too sensitive to vertical vibration).

Stereophile Review of PD151 II

"What matters is the result, and even when I held my stethoscope against the top plate adjacent to the motor, I couldn’t tell whether the motor was on or off. It’s that quiet." read that again, that’s amazing.

I would buy the optional heavier counter-weight now while still in production. You never know what you might collect, and if you ever sell it in the future,

"The tonearm comes with a standard counterweight suitable for cartridges weighing up to 10gm, while a heavier weight—part number OPPD-HW2—is available as an option for cartridges that weigh between 9gm and 19gm. I used two cartridges during the review, an Ortofon Cadenza Blue and Luxman’s own LMC-5, and found the standard weight suitable for both. Luxman provided an extra headshell, the OPPD SH2, which allowed me to switch easily between the Ortofon and Luxman cartridges with minimal recalibration."

And I’d buy a spare headshell, to have two OEM, as well as another brand like Pat’s or vintage with azimuth adjustment.

Best to check and learn about it’s arm height adjustment, also from the review:

"The pin that locates the headshell vertically in the armtube will typically have some play, making precise, repeatable azimuth setting difficult, and the way the collar holds the headshell into the armtube can change the front-to-back angle of the headshell depending on how much the collar is tightened. I found that with the Luxman arm, tightening the headshell collar firmly resulted in the headshell surface being about 1.5° out of parallel with the armtube. This isn’t really a big deal because you can easily compensate by raising the height at the back of the arm, but it’s something to be aware of when adjusting the stylus rake angle."

"Luxman says that all four feet should be lowered at least slightly to allow the isolation function of the feet to work as designed."

this surprised me, did yours come with the optional dust cover?

"The OPPD-DSC151 dustcover is offered as an optional extra; at nearly $800, I guess it’s nice that Luxman gives you the option of going without it if your budget is tight. That’s a lot of money for a dustcover"

"Summing up
There’s a funny New Yorker cartoon by Alex Gregory in which a man is showing his friend his vinyl-based stereo and says, "The two things that really drew me to vinyl were the expense and the inconvenience." If that’s how you feel, the PD-151 MK II may not be the right turntable for you. Turntables can be a bit diva-like, sounding off some days and demanding attention and tweaking. The PD-151 MK II is the opposite of that. And while it isn’t exactly cheap, it’s affordable by current hi-fi standards, and it is convenient and easy to live with. Once you have it set up and dialed in, you can expect it to be about as unfussy and long-lasting as turntables come. It just plays your records superbly, without fuss, bother, or artificial pizzazz. It looks beautiful, feels beautiful, and is beautifully made; but most importantly, it also sounds beautiful."

This is exactly what Lewm had in mind in his post above.

@elliottbnewcombjr @lewm 

I did get the dust cover.  It pops off easily while playing.  I think the Sumiko is Low Output, as I recall.  I did buy this with less than 50 hours on it so I didn’t really have any choices.  I figured that I would get to know the ins and outs on this unit and broaden my horizons with a different cart down the road.  I was able to set this up and get it going in a decent amount of time but make no mistake I am a novice’s novice when it comes to adjusting, etc.  So, you can count on me to ask some questions from you guys, the experts.  I do think it is a skill that has high upside based on how the growth of TT’s have been in the last 5-10 years. I had my heart set on a Vertere audio TT but am really happy I paused and went this route.  I’m actually pretty shocked with the musicality of the two pieces versus my ARC and My Project which I will be keeping.  I appreciate all of your feedback and this really happened fast with a phone call that this was available. 

Just so you know, I am not an advocate of dust covers except to keep dust off the platter when the TT is not in use. When playing LPs, my dust cover(s) are somewhere else in the room, never on the TT or over the LP. This is because I think a closed dust cover creates unpleasant colorations. Not everyone agrees. You will have to make your own decision on that, so it is good that you have a removable dust cover. The key word is "removable", not just raised up for playing LPs. As to alignment, I think the obsession with it is way overdone, but I do try to be as accurate as my tools permit and leave it at that. VTA is a matter of taste, like cartridge loading. Go with VTA that sounds OK to you and you'll be fine. For me that means I level the TT arm wand so it is parallel to the LP surface. And boom. To further my nihilist approach, I do not think you can predict the sound of a cartridge from any published spec or even from the aggregate of all the published specs, so long as the specs are not obviously awful.

OP,

Glad you got the dust cover, you were lucky to get that call and smart enough to get a few quick answers and jump on a great opportunity, one you will forever appreciate.

I see that the word ’low’ is printed on the top of the Sumiko Songbird cartridge body, (high version if it doesn’t say low) which is not visible after it is mounted (unless it shows thru the slots). Low or High, I would keep that cartridge and move it to a spare headshell to play on the new Luxman.

If you have room, perhaps keep the existing TT, put a MONO cartridge on it, ready to go. I learned here, and it is more than true, playing Mono LPs with a true Mono cartridge is a little/lot/hugely better depending on the specific Mono LP. Recording techniqes and manufacturing were excellent in the 40's and 50's, the distinction of individual instruments and voices, lack of noise, is always better and sometimes far improved on some of my Mono LPs.

Lewm,

I also am an advocate of ’do your best’, ’good enough’ ’avoid attempting perfection’, ’don’t let the over-priced thingy scare you’ and encourage people to acquire the few inexpensive tools and skills (practice until confidence is gained) to mount and align their own cartridges.

Arm parallel ’when playing’, i.e. stylus in the groove, cantilever flexed by the specified tracking weight. One of the two included allen wrenches fits a set screw that allows arm height adjustment, not as easy as a hand tightened lever, but simply trial and error until it’s "close enough for government work".

OP’s dust cover has hinges. Even though I don’t like the appearance, I would play it with the cover left up, and verify the table remained level when the cover’s weight was in that position. You, like my friend with his PD444 (also has hinges), would not use the hinges and carefully lift off and replace the dust cover which is what I must do with my JVC dust cover. Mine has cutouts designed for hand held movement, the Luxman cover does not. Of course I’ve tried to hear/prove differences, I simply cannot get the idea of reflected microphonics out of my imagination, so up or off it is: off my visual preference despite the inconvenience.

I agree you cannot predict sound qualities from specs, however wide channel separation and tight channel balance are cartridge performance measurements directly relating to good/better/best capability to create the pseudo imaging 2 channel sound involves/requires. If a company can repeatedly manufacture and achieve those parameters, that is remarkable.

I have slight preferences among my half dozen cartridges, and choose one over another for specific music, or just to hear it for a while. I have never had a cartridge with great imaging capability not be a keeper. My friends bring their cartridges here, I can play with all 3 arms in the grooves, and simply switch the SUT input to choose which signal is active, so back and forth comparisons within seconds is possible here.

I made a chart for hours played, forgot I made it. If I stop thinking ’damn that thing sounds great’, that’s when I ship a cartridge in to be checked for wear, and I’m lucky enough to live 35 minutes from Steve Leung at VAS.