Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Joe Mac said:
No worries! I should be flicking around on here this evening. Time zones permitting lol!

If you’re still on a 2M blue though the settings for that are RIAA, 0dB and the wheel to MM 300uF.
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@Hollywood

Let me clarify your settings. The 47k loading 0 db is spot on.

Ortofon specifies 150-300 pF capacitance. This is additive. You have to count the capacitance in your tonearm wires plus RCA cables- usually around 90-100 pF. To get to 300 pF you’d add 200 pF with your phono stage.

The higher your capacitance is, the brighter your presentation will be. This is personal taste. I don’t like bright cartridges, which is why I hate the 2m Bronze. I’d not shoot for 300 pF. I’d want as little capacitance as I could get.

My new cartridge calls for 100-200 pF. My phono stage adds no capacitance whatsoever so I’m golden on the low end of the range- just the capacitance in my cables. I’ve got “sparkle” but it’s not bright.
 
HiFi Guy said:
@Hollywood

Let me clarify your settings. The 47k loading 0 db is spot on.

Ortofon specifies 150-300 pF capacitance. This is additive. You have to count the capacitance in your tonearm wires plus RCA cables- usually around 90-100 pF. To get to 300 pF you’d add 200 pF with your phono stage.

The higher your capacitance is, the brighter your presentation will be. This is personal taste. I don’t like bright cartridges, which is why I hate the 2m Bronze. I’d not shoot for 300 pF. I’d want as little capacitance as I could get.

My new cartridge calls for 100-200 pF. My phono stage adds no capacitance whatsoever so I’m golden on the low end of the range- just the capacitance in my cables. I’ve got “sparkle” but it’s not bright.
Click to expand...

For whatever reason I found that 300uF was the sweet spot in the year I was running that cart on that phono. I did play about with that a few times but that was where I landed. With Grado I was down at 50 or 100 for sure.
 
HiFi Guy said:
@Hollywood

Let me clarify your settings. The 47k loading 0 db is spot on.

Ortofon specifies 150-300 pF capacitance. This is additive. You have to count the capacitance in your tonearm wires plus RCA cables- usually around 90-100 pF. To get to 300 pF you’d add 200 pF with your phono stage.

The higher your capacitance is, the brighter your presentation will be. This is personal taste. I don’t like bright cartridges, which is why I hate the 2m Bronze. I’d not shoot for 300 pF. I’d want as little capacitance as I could get.

My new cartridge calls for 100-200 pF. My phono stage adds no capacitance whatsoever so I’m golden on the low end of the range- just the capacitance in my cables. I’ve got “sparkle” but it’s not bright.
Click to expand...

Joe Mac said:
For whatever reason I found that 300uF was the sweet spot in the year I was running that cart on that phono. I did play about with that a few times but that was where I landed. With Grado I was down at 50 or 100 for sure.
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I'm new to the phono stage game so naturally things like capacitance and RIAA equalization is all foreign to me 🤷‍♂️ I'm sure I will encounter many woes as I experiment with the settings, so as long as there's no risk of damaging any of the components I should be fine right?
 
Hollywood said:
I'm new to the phono stage game so naturally things like capacitance and RIAA equalization is all foreign to me 🤷‍♂️ I'm sure I will encounter many woes as I experiment with the settings, so as long as there's no risk of damaging any of the components I should be fine right?
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There’s no chance of damaging your components. IEC and RIAA are just two different phono amplification curves. Both work. Just pretty much everyone I’ve encountered prefers RIAA. The +6dB is just a boost for cartridges that might be a little lower output that the normal 4-5mV for a MM or .4mV for an MC. The 2M is, if anything, a hotter louder cartridge than the normal so you won’t need it. The manufacturers ranges for the capacitance are what they think sounds best, it can’t damage the cartridge, just change the sound profile, play with the different settings in the MM range, you won’t damage anything.
 
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Joe Mac said:
There’s no chance of damaging your components. IEC and RIAA are just two different phono amplification curves. Both work. Just pretty much everyone I’ve encountered prefers RIAA. The +6dB is just a boost for cartridges that might be a little lower output that the normal 4-5mV for a MM or .4mV for an MC. The 2M is, if anything, a hotter louder cartridge than the normal so you won’t need it. The manufacturers ranges for the capacitance are what they think sounds best, it can’t damage the cartridge, just change the sound profile, play with the different settings in the MM range, you won’t damage anything.
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Yup. RIAA for the world! Also (and Im a tweaker) I have always prefered Manufacturer settings in the end.
 
As an aside, if you ever want to measure your turntable capacitance, it’s easy. Here’s how:

Use a digital multimeter. An inexpensive one from Amazon is fine.

Set the meter to capacitance.

Disconnect the wires from your cartridge.

Put the red lead from the multimeter on the center pin of your RCA cable for the left channel- the side that connects to your amp. The black lead goes on the ground (outer sleeve.) Write down the number on the display. Repeat these steps for the right channel and write down that number.

Add both of the numbers together. This is your total capacitance of your arm wiring and RCA cables.
 
I'm in savings mode right now. Probably will upgrade along the way but the goal is wharfdales and a tube Amp plus I'll need a phonostage.

Is the jump from primaluna Evo 100 to 200 worth while? Seems like it may be to someone who's never used tunes before but also doesn't plan on upgrading for a very long time after this

Currently have a flu ancestors rt-85 (will need to get a new stylus soon but thinking I'll just get a replacement blue. Not upgrade) I may get the wharfdales in the next few weeks.
 
bdm105 said:
I'm in savings mode right now. Probably will upgrade along the way but the goal is wharfdales and a tube Amp plus I'll need a phonostage.

Is the jump from primaluna Evo 100 to 200 worth while? Seems like it may be to someone who's never used tunes before but also doesn't plan on upgrading for a very long time after this

Currently have a flu ancestors rt-85 (will need to get a new stylus soon but thinking I'll just get a replacement blue. Not upgrade) I may get the wharfdales in the next few weeks.
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When buying a tube amp, the most important part (and most expensive) are the output transformers. You get upgraded transformers in the EVO-200 vs the 100. Worth it in my opinion.
 
HiFi Guy said:
When buying a tube amp, the most important part (and most expensive) are the output transformers. You get upgraded transformers in the EVO-200 vs the 100. Worth it in my opinion.
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So I'm thinking Evo-200, Wharfdale 85th anniversary. Need to figure out the phono stage. Any recommendations? Assuming grand total will end up being around $5,500-$6,250?
 
bdm105 said:
So I'm thinking Evo-200, Wharfdale 85th anniversary. Need to figure out the phono stage. Any recommendations? Assuming grand total will end up being around $5,500-$6,250?
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I recently purchased the fully balanced MX-VNYL by Musical Fidelity which was recommended to me by @Joe Mac but I have yet to try it.
 
I also will have to hope it all fits on a 4x2 kallax. Along with an Xbox series X and a vpi 16.5. But I think it should
 
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