MoFi UltraDeck / StudioDeck Owners and those interested

ablakey said:
Hi all! Another newish owner here. Bought a Studiodeck a few months ago and have meaning to join here, but kept forgetting.

Thanks for all your tips, advice and wisdom regarding this turntable! It was super helpful when I was setting it up around the holidays.

Now that it's up and running I have to say this is easily the best turntantable I've ever owned. I've owned and restored several vintage tables over the years, but none have compared to this table. Four months after setting it up I'm still in awe each time I use it at how quiet it is! I've never had table this quiet. The vintage tables I owned were good, but it seemed I always had to futz with something when I wanted to listen to an album. I've literally had to do nothing with this table since I put it together. Just throw on an album, relax and enjoy. Out of the box it was setup almost perfectly. I was up and playing an album with a perfectly setup table in an hour. So simple! I just had to adjust the screw on the lift because the tonearm wouldn't go down. That was pretty much it.

The only downside to the table I can think of is it's caused me to spend a ton of money on other stereo components to compliment great sound coming from it. So one pair of Klipsch Forte IV, a Jolida Fusion tube amplifier, Adcom preamp and a Parasound Zphono XRM later and I'm just amazed at how good everything is sounding! Next step is either to buy a nice MC cartridge or maybe upgrade to the UltraDeck, since prices have come down considerably, and buy a not as nice cartridge. Wish I would have gone with an UltraDeck to begin with, but wanted to dip my toe in the water first.

Cheers everyone and thanks for such an amazing source of information on these tables!
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Welcome to the fun.
 
ablakey said:
Hi all! Another newish owner here. Bought a Studiodeck a few months ago and have meaning to join here, but kept forgetting.

Thanks for all your tips, advice and wisdom regarding this turntable! It was super helpful when I was setting it up around the holidays.

Now that it's up and running I have to say this is easily the best turntantable I've ever owned. I've owned and restored several vintage tables over the years, but none have compared to this table. Four months after setting it up I'm still in awe each time I use it at how quiet it is! I've never had table this quiet. The vintage tables I owned were good, but it seemed I always had to futz with something when I wanted to listen to an album. I've literally had to do nothing with this table since I put it together. Just throw on an album, relax and enjoy. Out of the box it was setup almost perfectly. I was up and playing an album with a perfectly setup table in an hour. So simple! I just had to adjust the screw on the lift because the tonearm wouldn't go down. That was pretty much it.

The only downside to the table I can think of is it's caused me to spend a ton of money on other stereo components to compliment great sound coming from it. So one pair of Klipsch Forte IV, a Jolida Fusion tube amplifier, Adcom preamp and a Parasound Zphono XRM later and I'm just amazed at how good everything is sounding! Next step is either to buy a nice MC cartridge or maybe upgrade to the UltraDeck, since prices have come down considerably, and buy a not as nice cartridge. Wish I would have gone with an UltraDeck to begin with, but wanted to dip my toe in the water first.

Cheers everyone and thanks for such an amazing source of information on these tables!
Click to expand...
Like other forum members have said , welcome to the group . I see you are already well down the rabbit hole of new components and no one has found the cure yet or a ladder to climb out .
 
Static Shock said:
Like other forum members have said , welcome to the group . I see you are already well down the rabbit hole of new components and no one has found the cure yet or a ladder to climb out .
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Thanks! And yeah I'm so deep I'm halfway to China! Seriously though once I get a new cartridge I think I'll be satisfied for a bit. I found this thread looking for info on Grado Timbre series cartridges and if they play nice with the table. Seems others have had good luck so I may go that route. The others on my list of possible cartridges are a Sumiko Blackbird, a Hana ML, or a Van Den Hul DDT tough finding someplace that you can listen to them first though. Anyways we'll see! Glad to be here!
 
ablakey said:
Thanks! And yeah I'm so deep I'm halfway to China! Seriously though once I get a new cartridge I think I'll be satisfied for a bit. I found this thread looking for info on Grado Timbre series cartridges and if they play nice with the table. Seems others have had good luck so I may go that route. The others on my list of possible cartridges are a Sumiko Blackbird, a Hana ML, or a Van Den Hul DDT tough finding someplace that you can listen to them first though. Anyways we'll see! Glad to be here!
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Take time to enjoy the music . Members on the forum have lot of experience and opinions on the various cartridges that work on the deck and I'm sure you will be hearing from them .
 
Ghost said:
The Ultradeck and Hana SL go together like peanut butter and jelly man. I can't see you installing it and then being unhappy with what you're hearing. Great detail retrieval, lovely presentation in every regard, looks great on the arm, it even made my wife go "woah" once I got it playing. Only thing I would be interested in trying if I was starting over and didn't already own the SL is whatever new cart @AnthonyI is running, but I believe thats more at the price range of the ML.

Edit: Oh wait, I meant @HiFi Guy
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I’m using the Le Son LS10 MkII. I have no desire to change and I prefer it to the Hana MH.

The Le Son will work great with the Ultradeck.
 
mindhead1 said:
Heresy IV with subwoofer(s) or Forte IV?

I already have a couple of subs and am Heritage curious.
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I'm running Forte IVs with no subs. Some people use subs with them I think they have pretty good bass without them on most recordings. They're just a bit of a challenge to get placed correctly. They were probably the most finicky speaker I've ever owned when it came to placement. I was surprised that the bass was strongest a couple of feet out from the wall than a foot out. I listen to mainly jazz and they're great at nailing some of the lowest frequencies from an upright bass. I've never felt the bass was lacking. Though some recordings are a little bass shy and these will definitely not sugarcoat a bad recording.

I've never heard the Heresy IV so I'm not sure how they would sound with subs. The mid and high frequency drivers are the same in Forte's and the Heresy I think. So that would be similar. The Forte goes down to ~38Hz and I'm not sure you would run into many lower frequencies, but it depends on the music. If I had the room I probably would have bought Cornwalls, but the Forte was a happy medium.
 
Static Shock said:
Take time to enjoy the music . Members on the forum have lot of experience and opinions on the various cartridges that work on the deck and I'm sure you will be hearing from them .
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Oh most definitely! I think I've listened to more vinyl the last few months than in the last few years. I've been revisiting a bunch of albums on this new system and discovering how much better they sound. Was listening to a live Chet Baker album recently and never noticed you can hear him taking a deep breath before a solo on the album. Or never noticed hearing a pick hit a string etc. It's been really wild hearing stuff like that I never noticed before.
 
mindhead1 said:
Heresy IV with subwoofer(s) or Forte IV?

I already have a couple of subs and am Heritage curious.
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I would personally go Fortes IV’s over Heresy IV’s and subs. If the Fortes are just too physically big for your space, save some dough and grab used Heresy III’s, which were much better than the IV’s in my room. That rear port on the HIV’s didn’t do it any favors IMO.
 
Welcome to the new member ablakey!

So I received my new (to me) Hana SL the other day. First reaction was size related... it's tiny! :unsure:
I mounted it using Geodisc, big line on the disc precisely aligned to tonearm pivot with laser. I was surprised to see the cart sitting quite far back on the head shell, wires are stretched back. Is that right? Let me know if you think I'm doing something wrong.
Haven't had much time to listen yet. First impressions are positive, although it didn't blow the Mastertracker out of the water, the difference is subtle. For now I can say that it sounds more open and more precise, not as punchy as I expected, but overall more musical and pleasing.
Will report back when I do more listening.
 
renpar61 said:
Welcome to the new member ablakey!

So I received my new (to me) Hana SL the other day. First reaction was size related... it's tiny! :unsure:
I mounted it using Geodisc, big line on the disc precisely aligned to tonearm pivot with laser. I was surprised to see the cart sitting quite far back on the head shell, wires are stretched back. Is that right? Let me know if you think I'm doing something wrong.
Haven't had much time to listen yet. First impressions are positive, although it didn't blow the Mastertracker out of the water, the difference is subtle. For now I can say that it sounds more open and more precise, not as punchy as I expected, but overall more musical and pleasing.
Will report back when I do more listening.
Click to expand...
My SAE mounted similarly far back, no issue. Keep us updated!
 
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