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Dialing in my analog rig - Need help

I took a giant leap forward in sound quality this past weekend after deciding to check the setup that was provided by the dealer. Hell, I watched him and thought he covered everything. I was largely unhappy with the sound of my newly acquired rig. I am now only slightly unhappy as I discovered the following.

Being that it was a used Turntable/cartridge with no manual I downloaded the manual and performed the following. What I found was that my cartridge was way out of alignment according to the jig provided by VPI. That was a painless fix I than checked the levelness of the tonearm as it pertains to the platter. What I found was that the tonearm was set (or never set) all the way at the bottom of its adjustment. Doh! So I cranked that up to "level with platter". Was that how former owner had it set? Then there was the alignment of the head shell and of course that was off too. Now I was on to the tracking force which I defaulted to slightly more than 2 grams. The gauge I have is kind of crude compared to what the dealer was using but then the dealer seemed to miss a few items anyway...

As I mentioned earlier in this post, although being very unhappy it has gotten a LOT better. Many smiles have practiced over the last few days but one thing that still plagues my setup is the graininess or lack of smooth sounding highs. It's detailed as hell but vocals still have a "grain" to them. Nice staging and a goodly amount of air. I just seem to lack the smoothness I thought would be natural to vinyl.

Setup is;
VPI Scoutmaster, Dynavector XXV Mark II which feeds a PS Audio GCPH phono stage then direct to a Pass Labs amp. MBL 121 speakers. No preamp yet - still looking.

What's next?
128x128desalvo55
plato
1,543 posts
 
Three things... experiment with different interconnects especially between the GCPH and the Pass amp. Different speaker cables and power cords could make a difference too, so try every possible combination of the 3 types you have available. It's tedious but it can pay off.

Get a high quality tube line stage.

Make sure your AC power is clean and try not to mix analog and digital sources on the same outlets. Good luck.
desalvo55's avatar
desalvo55 OP
256 posts
 
Thanks Plato for your suggestions.

My AC is taken care of. Dedicated circuit 10AWG cyro'd romex to Furutech or Teslaplex receptacle (depending on setup). Digital and analog front ends to Power Plant Premier, amp to wall. I should rotate my power cords, mostly home brews but excellent wire and connectors.

The phono cable the dealer sold me was a "Blue Heaven". I think that's a Nordost cable? I'm afraid to look it up cause it might not be what I might have wished for. It was one of those "I'll take that turntable and oh, I need a phono preamp and a cable". Kinda dumb I know. I had no expertise so I was at the dealers mercy.

I was actually thinking about a solid state preamp such as the Pass XP20 although the Calypso line looks intriguing as does the Lamm LP2.

I won't do anything preamp wise until I get my new speakers which are in the final stages of being built - about 2 weeks out. I need to get a handle of a dialed in analog system and a broken in pair of speakers before deciding on preamp. Me thinks at this juncture tubes may be the ticket but my amp is a Pass X350.5. May not be a good match for tubes or so I'm told...
mcdonald43
52 posts
 
I have the same table and cartridge. It is somewhat fiddly to setup and requires significant patience. I ended up with a MintLP protractor, a 3g headshell weight, a Soundsmith Counterintuitive azimuth weight, a good stylus force gauge, and a copy of Michael Fremer's 21st century vinyl DVD. the MintLP is the best way I have found to get the overhang and alignment correct. The headshell weight to get the resonance where I wanted it. I run 1.85 to 1.95g tracking force. The counter intuitive makes tracking force and azimuth adjustment easy and intuitive. The DVD offered a visual approach to the setup process on the VPI table. There is plenty of performance there, but a lot of patience and adjustment in getting there. Especially when using the MintLP good enough never is. There is also plenty of help here in getting things set up. Your system is sufficiently resolving to produce audible changes with small adjustments.
Have fun !
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,399 posts
 
After all adjustments are checked and double checked...and are correct, try using some damping at the arm. Adjust by dropping in the oil, one drop at a time. The sound will get better and then one too many drops, and the sound will deteriorate. Take out that last drop with a Q-tip, and you're good to go.
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