2. analog
  3. 1232902020

Vinyl sounds a bit thin and slightly strident.

The analog side of my system looks like this:
Benz Micro Ebony H Cartridge(Broken in). VTF around 1.9g.
No Headshell weight.
VPI Scout/JMW-9 Signature Arm(Wired w/Nordost Valhalla)
Cardas Neutral Ref Phono Balanced.
Audio Research PH-2 Balanced Phono Pre
Cardas Neutral Reference IC's
Audio Research LS-7 Preamp w/Electro-Harmonix Tubes from ARC
Cardas Hexlink 5C
Mark Levinson No.331
Purist Audio Design Aqueous Bi-wire
B&W Nautilus 803S
I recently purchased a used Sony 9000ES SACD player and noticed I could listen for extended periods of time and I just kept wanting to play music because it is a great sounding player and very engaging and realized that I'm having a hard time getting as involved with my vinyl rig and I've concluded that the big contributing factors are a lack of bass weight, mid-bass bloom and the top end is a bit strident.
Has anyone else had a problem such as this? And what device(s) should I tweak or change in order to alleviate these sonic characteristics? I suspect my overhang may be off and a contributing factor due to just using the stock VPI protractor. I want to get a Wally Tractor soon.
Any thoughts?
n803nut
chashmal
605 posts
 
I concur that you should adjust the loading first, then go on to the other ideas. I bet that's it. Or maybe you just like the digital sound more. Could be. Some folks go that way.
cerrot's avatar
cerrot
1,700 posts
 
I just did a major tweaking of my TNT Jr. as my cd was bettering my vinyl. Got the Cardas golden reference, new cleaning fluids & brushes, reset the phonostage loading, capacitance & gain, got a digital tracking scale to zero in VTF; spent hours on VTA but found the biggest thing was perfectly leveling the player. The VPI arms really need a perfect level. My TNT Jr. now blows away my Esoteric X03 SE.
jj2468
280 posts
 
I own a Sony 9000es SACD and I've heard many VPI Scout combinations.

The problem lies elsewhere than the Scout, which is capable of much more musical output than the Sony 9000es. 1) Examine your cartridge and tonearm setup. 2) The Benz leans toward the warm side of the scale. You may want to try a denon 103, but I don't think the cartridge is the source of your complaint for the most part. 3) Eliminate those Cardas cables, all of which are veiled. Many folks use those cables to tame strident gear. The golden reference is good, but so is the Speltz anti-cable for a lot less dough. Sell the cardas, buy Speltz, Zu or make your own cables (see Parts Connexion) and buy vinyl with the difference. 4) IMHO the Audio Research gear leans toward the strident side. I've not heard the Levinson, but I prefer tubes, so that tells you my bias.

In any event, the VPI should sound significantly better than the Sony. Good luck, Jeff
learsfool
1,215 posts
 
The VPI stuff can be pretty bright, you might try a British table such as Rega or Nottingham. Nottinghams in particular are quite dark.
n803nut OP
21 posts
 
Thanks for all the responses everyone, this is why I love the 'gon. I'm loading the cartridge @ 2.5K each leg of the XLR and I popped out the 220pF caps so it's only the cable capacitance in the circuit, It's been a while so I can't fully remember the justification for this move. So, I got aggressive with raising the VTA today and a lot of good things happened so I'm very hopeful. It dawned on me demagnetizing the cartridge may help because it's an MC but I want to get something passive such as a test record to do that. I have a handful of titles on 180g but I haven't bought a lot of them. I have to keep in mind I play quite a bit of used 120g vinyl mass market stuff because I'm fortunate to have a record convention come to town every 3 months and I can pick up LP's/12" singles of stuff I wouldn't think of paying full price for. Either they're titles unavailable on CD or albums containing only a track or 2 I care for. I may just have to give a different set of cables a try too. Thanks again guys!
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