Maximizing My Turntable Experience - input reqeust

How many hours is on the cart? They need anywhere from 50-100 hours to break in, and the sound changes a lot while break in is occurring.

As far as the hum goes, I know the A5 has a built in phono stage, but does it give you any type of adjustments at all? If you do have them, there's a good chance they're inside and you'll have to take the cover off the amp to access them. If you have them, lower the gain and that should reduce or eliminate the noise. If not, you may have to try a different cart.

getting and listening to the records is the best kool-aid for analogue experience.

The adjustments and cartridge break-in are critical for vinyl playback.Your choice in a entry level is a good one, but at this price point if you are expecting to get total analogue bliss, you are going to be sorely disappointed. I went this route too, when I got back into vinyl some years back. It took a lot of up-grading to get what I expected of it. Started at about $800. Over the years that amount grew to over $5000 just for a turntable, arm, cartridge,and phono cables. Good luck.

thx for your input. much appreciated!

I suppose what I'm looking for is some guidance based on what i have. I have decent equipment. better than the average bear for sure, but by no means exceptional amongst this audience.

will this table, arm, and cartridge get into the ballpark with the rest of my rig as-is with break-in? should i consider an acrylic plate, speed controller, different cartridge to better match my rig, etc.? or no matter what i do, it will be the weak link.

is that an answerable question?

for you to better calibrate to me, i'm quite pleased with the listening experience with my Arcam, FWIW.

Cheers

On the hum, ZD has good advice, but do the isolation drill. Disconnect the leads from the cartridge then the table to find which one is the culprit. It is possible the cartridge itself has a fault. You also should double-check your ground connection between the table and your outlet ground. Normally the ground lug on the preamp is sufficient, but ground faults can pop up in surprising places.

To find the magic, both Czarivey and Mr_M are correct. Get a good protractor (Pro-Ject makes one), a strong magnifying glass and verify your alignment is correct. It's a very fussy adjustment but makes a world of difference. Spend the time necessary to get it right.

Next, get record cleaning supplies. All records must be cleaned before every play, including new ones. Note that new records need a different kind of cleaning (mold release removal). Then find some material you like. A new record is usually best but not absolutely necessary. There are lots of great choices out there. Spin it and float away.

Congratulations, good luck & happy listening!