Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

HiFi Guy said:
Ortofon and Audio Technica are the two largest cartridge manufacturers in the world. Youā€™ll see more reviews and more owners opinions. It doesnā€™t mean they are the ā€œbestā€ or even good in some instances. McDonalds is the largest fast food establishment in the world, yet their ā€œhamburgersā€ donā€™t even taste like beef. Go down the street to a privately owned place and you may have the best burger youā€™ve ever eaten. Or maybe you like McDonaldā€™s. Thatā€™s cool too, as long as you are happy.

Also realize that Ortofon makes cartridges that start at $39 or so to many thousands of dollars. Most of them I wouldnā€™t bother to piss on if they were on fire. But the SPU series? Iā€™d love one of those. The OM or 2m Series is light years away from an SPU.

Grados are a funny thing. They arenā€™t ā€œaudiophileā€ in my opinion, and yet they are the highest in fidelity that Iā€™ve found that are both affordable and have a reasonably priced user replaceable stylus. Music lovers love them. Techie types? Not so much.

Youā€™ve previously mentioned moving coil cartridges. Think about this. Letā€™s say you buy an expensive moving coil cartridge. Do you really want to worry that your stylus is wearing out every time you listen to music? It will cost $300 and up to have the cartridge retipped. Or just figure $150 every year or two for a replacement Grado stylus. Music is supposed to be enjoyable. Itā€™s not fun if you are stressing about it.

To plan for the future? In audio? Youā€™ll have to learn the hard way like I did. Make mistakes. Expensive ones.

Or you can benefit by heeding the advice of those with far more experience than you have. Accept the advice you are freely given here. You are drawing from a group with literally over a century of experience that has no attitude, no agenda- we just want to help people.

Audiophiles listen to gear. Music lovers listen to music. Thatā€™s the difference between most of the Ortofons that Iā€™ve heard and Grados. But thatā€™s just me. If you want an Ortofon I believe @Chucktshoes offered to give you his. As references to my approach, @mcherry @Colonel_Angus and @AnthonyI have heard my system at various points. I think they all liked what they heard.

Only you can find what makes you happy. Iā€™ve found what works for me.
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thank you for the super in depth explaination

(also i am a music lover and a techie type so i guess i fell for the hype of a lot of other people... trying to be scientific leads to me being baffled)

also based on what @Lee Newman said i just kinda like the idea of upgrading and want something great for rock, hip hop, pop, and electronic music (since the only real upgrade i can think of for now is the cartridge)
 
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duke86fan said:
thank you for the super in depth explaination

(also i am a music lover and a techie type so i guess i fell for the hype of a lot of other people... trying to be scientific leads to me being baffled)

also based on what @Lee Newman said i just kinda like the idea of upgrading and want something great for rock, hip hop, pop, and electronic music (since the only real upgrade i can think of for now is the cartridge)
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Holy heck, after reading this thread I just pulled the trigger on the Grado gold. That is officially next weekend's project... During which (gosh I hope so...) I'll also be setting up new speakers! Whoo-hoo!

>> Does anyone have a link to a how to? (Not on the speakers, on the cartridge -- I've never done it and am going from an Ortofon blue on a Debut Carbon). And is this an hour project or....? Finally, do I need to buy the digital scale?

As a quick note on digital: I went the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge, NUC, and roon -- and while I'm not fully complete yet it is a heck of a way to go. I do have a ton on a NAS (that I have to get copied over) but added Quboz and Tidal for the interim and will likely keep one. At this point Quboz feels a little more my jam -- and while I've not done any critical A/B listening MQA seems.... Meh? *

I did expect Room to have more detail then just an import of AllMusic -- which is handy, but not exactly the revolutionary richness I thought I'd read so much about. Caveat: all only on my phone as for whatever reason I've been tocheap to buy a tablet.

*Caveat 2:. My amp, cables, are all a work in progress so take any sound comments with a grain of salt :)
 
HuddieLedbetter said:
Holy heck, after reading this thread I just pulled the trigger on the Grado gold. That is officially next weekend's project... During which (gosh I hope so...) I'll also be setting up new speakers! Whoo-hoo!

>> Does anyone have a link to a how to? (Not on the speakers, on the cartridge -- I've never done it and am going from an Ortofon blue on a Debut Carbon). And is this an hour project or....? Finally, do I need to buy the digital scale?

As a quick note on digital: I went the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge, NUC, and roon -- and while I'm not fully complete yet it is a heck of a way to go. I do have a ton on a NAS (that I have to get copied over) but added Quboz and Tidal for the interim and will likely keep one. At this point Quboz feels a little more my jam -- and while I've not done any critical A/B listening MQA seems.... Meh? *

I did expect Room to have more detail then just an import of AllMusic -- which is handy, but not exactly the revolutionary richness I thought I'd read so much about. Caveat: all only on my phone as for whatever reason I've been tocheap to buy a tablet.

*Caveat 2:. My amp, cables, are all a work in progress so take any sound comments with a grain of salt :)
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I put a how to on the pro-ject thread when I did the exact same switch myself! Give me a sec and Iā€™ll hunt down the link. make sure to buy a pack of plastic tweezers, theyā€™re key to not breaking your fragile tonearm wires!
 
HuddieLedbetter said:
Holy heck, after reading this thread I just pulled the trigger on the Grado gold. That is officially next weekend's project... During which (gosh I hope so...) I'll also be setting up new speakers! Whoo-hoo!

>> Does anyone have a link to a how to? (Not on the speakers, on the cartridge -- I've never done it and am going from an Ortofon blue on a Debut Carbon). And is this an hour project or....? Finally, do I need to buy the digital scale?

As a quick note on digital: I went the Mytek Brooklyn Bridge, NUC, and roon -- and while I'm not fully complete yet it is a heck of a way to go. I do have a ton on a NAS (that I have to get copied over) but added Quboz and Tidal for the interim and will likely keep one. At this point Quboz feels a little more my jam -- and while I've not done any critical A/B listening MQA seems.... Meh? *

I did expect Room to have more detail then just an import of AllMusic -- which is handy, but not exactly the revolutionary richness I thought I'd read so much about. Caveat: all only on my phone as for whatever reason I've been tocheap to buy a tablet.

*Caveat 2:. My amp, cables, are all a work in progress so take any sound comments with a grain of salt :)
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The Pro-Ject Pergola - Questions, Answers, Advice & Chat

They make so many tables and loads of us have them so here we are. Iā€™ll add system details to the first couple of posts if people want to put them up! @Joe Mac Cartridge: Ortofon Quintet Black S Table: Debut Carbon Esprit SB Phono: Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL CD: Jayā€™s Audio CDT2-Mk3 Streaming...
www.needlesandgrooves.com www.needlesandgrooves.com

Thatā€™s the link. You donā€™t need a digital scale but itā€™ll be a whole lot more accurate for setting your tracking force and theyā€™re only a tenner.
 
Joe Mac said:

The Pro-Ject Pergola - Questions, Answers, Advice & Chat

They make so many tables and loads of us have them so here we are. Iā€™ll add system details to the first couple of posts if people want to put them up! @Joe Mac Cartridge: Ortofon Quintet Black S Table: Debut Carbon Esprit SB Phono: Musical Fidelity MX-VYNL CD: Jayā€™s Audio CDT2-Mk3 Streaming...
www.needlesandgrooves.com www.needlesandgrooves.com

Thatā€™s the link. You donā€™t need a digital scale but itā€™ll be a whole lot more accurate for setting your tracking force and theyā€™re only a tenner.
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Awesome. Thank you!
 
so the only real upgrade i should make to my uturn is the 8MZ stylus? i just wanted to know in case there was the idea of the "better cartridge" or something else i can add on to my upgrade path...

i want to have audio bliss
 
Lee Newman said:
I would too but I have a feeling my wife will draw the line at multiple thousand dollar sets. Lol. When and if I ever get around to upgrading the table, I may just hold onto the U-turn and slap something precise on there for classical music.
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Grados do killer with classical- Iā€™m spinning some right now.
 
duke86fan said:
so the only real upgrade i should make to my uturn is the 8MZ stylus? i just wanted to know in case there was the idea of the "better cartridge" or something else i can add on to my upgrade path...

i want to have audio bliss
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The A/T VM95ML would be a good choice too, but if you like the Grado sound, get an 8MZ stylus.
 
HiFi Guy said:
The A/T VM95ML would be a good choice too, but if you like the Grado sound, get an 8MZ stylus.
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ok... i'll have to figure out what the VM95ML sounds like first and then see.. i like the grado sound but also liked the clarity in the mids and highs of the ortofon so i dunno maybe i'll find the middle ground
 
AnthonyI said:
Tell ya what, I'll post a clip of the VM95ML for you when I get home tonight šŸ˜Ž
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cool.. thanks

i wonder if it might be a useful middle ground between the ortofon and the grado... because despite the dislike i do like the bright highs and mid focus, though i do love my grado (though i wonder if its also the acrylic mat thats causing it to sound so good because it almost feels like a reverb and resonance thing)
 
duke86fan said:
cool.. thanks

i wonder if it might be a useful middle ground between the ortofon and the grado... because despite the dislike i do like the bright highs and mid focus, though i do love my grado (though i wonder if its also the acrylic mat thats causing it to sound so good because it almost feels like a reverb and resonance thing)
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Subjectively I think it's very much a middle of continuum cart, it's not overly bright, but certainly not veiled. It has bass but doesn't coat everything in it. If you play a brightly mastered 80s record back it's going to sound bright. A warmly mastered 70s record is going to sound warm. Hip-hop and electronic are going to have a big bottom, while other genres won't. For me this behavior is ideal, I listen to a lot of eras and genres and love the different sounds this cart presents for each.

For what it's worth it doesn't measure "bright" or "dark" either, it's pretty flat for a phono cart which confirms my subjective findings, and I doubt it would perform poorly, if it matches your tonearm well.

I really don't believe in judging fully off of drops, but I think this folder I put together demonstrates what I'm talking in regards to the sound across genres and pressings. Signal path is ATVM95ML > MoFi StudioPhono > Pioneer SX-750 Tape Out (restored) > MBP audio interface / Audacity. Files were captured in 32 bit but down-converted to 16bit for file size. Levels are all over the place, these are very lazy samples, just might give a general idea to you.
 
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zombie.modernist said:
Subjectively I think it's very much a middle of continuum cart, it's not overly bright, but certainly not veiled. It has bass but doesn't coat everything in it. If you play a brightly mastered 80s record back it's going to sound bright. A warmly mastered 70s record is going to sound warm. Hip-hop and electronic are going to have a big bottom, while other genres won't. For me this behavior is ideal, I listen to a lot of eras and genres and love the different sounds this cart presents for each.

For what it's worth it doesn't measure "bright" or "dark" either, it's pretty flat for a phono cart which confirms my subjective findings, and I doubt it would perform poorly, if it matches your tonearm well.

I really don't believe in judging fully off of drops, but I think this folder I put together demonstrates what I'm talking in regards to the sound across genres and pressings. Signal path is ATVM95ML > MoFi StudioPhono > Pioneer SX-750 Tape Out (restored) > MBP audio interface / Audacity. Files were captured in 32 bit but down-converted to 16bit for file size. Levels are all over the place, these are very lazy samples, just might give a general idea to you.
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zombie.modernist said:
I also have this folder of hip-hop only drops. Some like the Kanye ones sound quite bad, but that's not the carts fault.
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Will download them soon (just getting back from college rn).. I guess my brain feels like it's a lesser setup because cheap non audiophile cartridge compared to the bliss. It's also why before I change cartridge I'm buying some 58x open back headphones and maybe getting a schiit magni heresy to run them (even though I don't mind my m50s and was only sick of them because greener grass and listening to music I didn't wanna listen to)

I especially love the hip hop selections, seeing as that, rock, and pop are going to be my big listens
 
debianlinux said:
Zing!
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LOL wasn't my intended meaning but after that Jesus is King I might be inclined to agree. Seriously that Watch the Throne record is the hottest cut, most un-trackable record I own. Lots of the work MASTERDISK did with Roc-a-fella is garbage. The MicroLine is actually doing a really good job keeping up but you'd never know it.
 
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