Vinyl sounds a bit thin and slightly strident.

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!

One thing to do right away is get rid of those ARC supplied EH tubes. These are almost as horrible as the Sovtek. You will not believe how significant Telefunken, Mullard, Amperex, etc., 6922/6DJ8 tubes would make on the LS7. The midrange textures, decays and smoothness in the mids will be quite a surprise.

I owned the PH2 for many years and loved it. It may be solid state, but this is an outstanding phono stage. And it is balanced which seems kinda strange that you are driving it into the LS7 which only has single-ended inputs. Are you using adaptors to/from the PH2? If so, I highly suggest that you look to change to the PH1 which is essentially a single-ended version of the PH2. Stay away from the PH3 - it might sound "right" at first hearing but a return to the PH2 shows how natural this product is.

The Cardas Nuetral cables are great from a tonal neutrality perspective but they remove so much of the spatial aspects in the music that comes through with other cables. As colored as the Cardas Golden Cross ICs can be, one of these between the LS7 and the amp could also be a major sonic effect that you are after.

John

What are you listening to though? Columbia or RCA from the mid-'60's to 70's? That would do it! If you have some London/Decca's such as Argenta's Espana, etc. and they sound thin and strident than something is wrong. I have a Scoutmaster/Dyna combo and I'm extremely happy.

I am confused about the fact that you helped matters by raising the VTA. Contrary to Tpsonic's advise what you need to do, if you feel the sound is strident, is LOWER vta, by LOWERING the back of the arm. With all due respect to well meaning posters, I would question some of the advise given so far.

The Cardas Hexlink 5C is a very full bodied sounding cable, that while not the last word as far as detail is concerned, will only help a system that is a little strident. Strident itself the Cardas is not. I would keep it; certainly for now.

Here is where the problem with incorrect use of descriptive audio terminology causes problems: I have read many times how Benz cartridges are on the romantic side of the spectrum. I have tried two Benz cartridges (Ruby 2, and Ruby H), so I can only speak to what I heard with those two cartridges. What I heard in both cases was a sound that, yes, had a dusky, some would say, dark or golden sound, with a lot of detail. But it was not a full bodied sound at all; if anything, it was thin sounding. Worst of all, the highs were not well integrated with the midrange, and tended to call a lot of attention to themselves. Voices were much more silibant than with the Vandenhul, Shelter, and other mc's that I have used. I can definitely see (hear), how someone might characterize sound like that as strident. In both cases the tonearm used was a ET2, a tonearm known for being itself, if anything, a little rolled off in the highs. So, I would look at the cartridge itself, and not just it's setup as the possible culprit. A fuller sounding cartrideg with well integrated highs might be the ticket. Sumiko Celebration, Koetsu, Grado...?

Just one man's opinion.

I have a TNT Jr. with HRX motor, an original JMW-12, and a Ruby 2. You have an excellent table and cartridge, so it should make beautiful music. Maybe I'm biased, but I don't think the problem is with the choice of equipment.

My general approach is: start with the most simple fix and work up from there. So, I would first double check to be sure that the table is perfectly level. If it's not, the whole presentation will be off. Next, I'd try lowering the VTA, which is easily done and the solution may be as simple as that. (To second Frogman, LOWER the VTA). Next, I would try a different cartridge loading. Perhaps try these simple things, in order, and then report back?