2. analog
  3. 988951165

Am I on the right analog track?

I recently rejoined the big round plastic music spinners group and I am curious if I made some good decisions. Yea, I know that �how it sounds� is how you tell but I will get to that later. I wanted a lower priced but quality turntable and I found a good price on a Project Perspective with a Blue Point Special cartridge. This combination had good reviews and a lot of happy thoughts so I took the dive. The folks at HCM Audio set it up the cartridge for me since I have never done it. I put the pieces together, set the tracking force, and spun it up. It sounds alright. A little more rich, a little more harmonious. But a heck of a lot more work. Being handicap does not help my mood as I need to keep bouncing up and down but I don�t think that I am that bitter. So, I purchased some of those 180g music frisbees and a Nitty Gritty cleaner, some last products. But I will have to tell you, I really expected a lot more. So I must be doing something wrong. I mean, it is not rocket science and I did all the voodoo dances that I know of. But maybe I am missing something. Did I just get my expectations too high? I am an analytical engineer, techie type so I would normally tend towards more detail that goldeness. I am running this table through Harmonic Tech Truth Links to a Nad Silverline preamp with the add on phono. I have the sensitivity set high on the phono preamp so I can compare it easier with the CD�s. Maybe that �beyond the reality of real music� detail of digital has tainted my taste buds so that I prefer sterility to wholesomeness. But I just expected more. And here�s the real clincher to this odd tale. How do I know if I got it all set up right anywise. Do the turntable police show up and cite me. Is there more to the meaning of music on vinyl than I can perceive. IS THERE A WAY TO TELL??? It was a snicker when I realized that the little string with the weight on it was to be over that little post on the back of the tonearm and not to just hang from the little springy goody. Silly me! Dale
mcne
sc53
718 posts
 
Hi, I agree with the previous poster who recommended you listen to some excellently recorded LPs, the 180 gram versions, before judging your TT setup. I have tons of vinyl and a top of the line Linn turntable system, and some records still sound hideous, very thin and brittle or with other obvious shortcomings. Really good recordings on heavy vinyl are another story, however; that's when you get the best out of your TT system. My old LPs just mainly sound like crap, but I played them to death 30 yrs ago and they sounded fine on my "system" then, so I got my money's worth.
frap
213 posts
 
Dale,It is very difficult to get out of the record grooves the data stored inside of them. One of the easiest things to do is to play an LP wrong. For $200.00 one can buy a CD player that will get you about 90% of whats on the CD. With LP, there are a whole lot more factors coming into play. The phono section of your NAD in no way can compete.(yes I have owned NAD equipment and like it for the money) Let me put it another way. If I were to do an LP rig on the low budget end, I do not think it could equal the current sound of low priced CD players with good sound. You really do need an above average phono stage, to exceed current CD performance. Just my take on it....Frank
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
I agree 100% with Frank. Need above average phono stage (which I do). My cheap college years' Yamaha TT with a Sumiko Blue Point (properly tweaked) would beat a $300 Technics CD player (year 1993). I recently bought a Cambridge CD player and was amazed at what it can do for the money...let's see how far I can go when I get done with modifying my Technics table. It's going to be really interesting.
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