MoFi UltraDeck / StudioDeck Owners and those interested
- Thread starter AnthonyI
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Static Shock
Member
Welcome aboard, buying and selling not a habit I can afford and sounds like a lot of work . I don't mind a bit of tweaking, .
Betelgeuse
New Member
Welcome! As somebody who is the exact opposite and tends to use something until it breaks - what was your favorite combination?
"it is dead silent between tracks"
That is indeed the amazing part about this series of decks...
Static Shock
Member
A question , is the Fender deck , functionally the same as the Ultradeck ?
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That is a question I don’t have an answer for . I fell in love with the Beauty of the fender deck the first time I seen it and had to have it. I also have had a rega p6 with exact and I really enjoyed that TT also and maybe more than the fender x but it’s not near as appealing to the eye. I was really surprised at how light weight the rega tables are. I tried three different pro-ject x2 and dedut carbon and everyone of them had some sort of issue. I will never recommend a project table to anybody. I have read every post in this thread and I see there are quite a bit of problems people seem to have with these mofi tables and that makes me want to trade or sale for a different brand. If I were to swap tables I would go with the rega p8 and equip it with a Hana cart .
I believe the wiring to the cartridge is suppose to be upgraded from the ultradeck but I may be mistaken .
Splunders
Well-Known Member
One difference is the plinth on the Fender Ultradeck is made out of the same ash as Fender guitars are. See below from MusicDirect site...
Meanwhile.... Hey, look at that! My kids school is probably gonna be open tomorrow! No snow day - YES!!
displayname
Well-Known Member
Here's the funny thing to me about the Fender Deck.
You generally want to make turntable parts as inert as possible, so you don't bring in any outside resonance. And they went through the trouble of getting a significant turntable designer to build a very nice turntable, with a lot of low resonance and high weight density parts.
And then someone in marketing pairs up with Fender to slap a highly resonant lightweight plinth right on top of the motor section?
This is direct from Fender's website:
"Found mainly in the wetter environs of the U.S. South, swamp ash is lighter than the northern variety, with large open pores. That makes it remarkably resonant and sweet sounding, with clearly chiming highs, defined midrange and strong low end."
Ash vs. Alder: What's the Difference?
What's the difference in ash vs alder body guitars and how do they influence the tone? Learn about the two woods been used in most Fender electric instruments.
www.fender.com
I'm sure the difference is negligible, but the logic is pretty bad as I thought about it more.
kvetcha
Well-Known Member
it's true. the material characteristics you want in a guitar body are...not the same as the ones you want in a turntable.
Static Shock
Member
From everyone's comments it appears that the Fender deck is the ultra deck with a fancy top .
displayname
Well-Known Member
I've not seen anything to make me believe otherwise.
Learned something this evening. Upgrade carts and phono stages before tables. I recently picked up an Ultradeck with Mastertracker and after some initial setup challenges, I’ve really been enjoying it. There was a definite sound improvement over my Project Evo w/ Moonstone.
My phono stage up until last week was a Project Phono Box S2. I also have a Power Box S3 Phono which provides power to the S2 and the Evo. Along my Project journey each upgrade yielded noticeable results. Rainier to Moonstone. Yamaha as-301 phono pre to S2. Adding the S3 power supply.
Last week I received a Darlington Lab MP7B and noticed an immediate improvement in sound stage, bass, dynamics on the Ultradeck compared to the S2. This evening I finally got around to hooking my Evo up to the MP7B and wow. The S2 was definetly the bottleneck. Don’t get me wrong it’s a solid performer especially with the power upgrade. Low noice floor and decent dynamics, but the MP7B is another level.
I have both TTs hooked into my Kinki amp and have been comparing the different combinations. The Ultradeck bests the Evo, but not by that much. The Ultradeck is quieter and the bass and over all sound is smoother and fuller. This could be the differences between the carts. IDK. In any case the Evo sounds really good through the MPB7.
My wallet is in fear of where this discovery will take me next.
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Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
As a previous owner of an Ultradeck and a current owner of a Precisiondeck, but with different carts, I can’t say that the sound is better. But I feel like the solid wood plinth, which is real thick and heavy, brought a bit of liveliness to the party.
And I think it looks cool….
And I think it looks cool….
HayesWeighsIn
Well-Known Member
This is a great post!! Thanks for sharing
Slimwhit33
Well-Known Member
Love that Sade box set… they get a good amount of play here.
Here is a pic of my current setup. I commented about selling or trading the mofi but after moving the TT into a better spot with more natural light it really brings out the sunburst colors of the plinth and it is so beautiful. I just don’t think I can bring myself to sell it and I am not sure I will be any happier with the p8 and it for sure is not as eye appealing as the mofi. I don’t know about about anyone else but my precision deck runs whisper quite. If I changed anything I believe I would like to try a different amp instead of the Rega elicit mk5. So if anybody interested I would make them a good deal on it.
Static Shock
Member
It does look nice .
If you’re enjoying the MoFi deck stick with it. I gotta think diminishing returns is huge for any TT after this price point.
Based on my recent testing and upgrade experience, I’d focus on carts and phono pre for improving/changing TT sound.
Quality amplification is also more important to me now. Adding the Kinki EX-M1+ to my setup late last year was a game changer. Everything I hook up to it sounds better.
Portland Sheriff
Well-Known Member
One bummer about this hobby is the costs of trying different things. I’m thrilled with my system. For the first time in my life, I haven’t been looking around for the next best thing — more expensive, “better,” etc.
But my curiosity is another matter. I want to hear different options, regardless of price or desire for improvement. For example, I love the SAE 1000LT (notable improvement over the Mastertracker that came w Ultra Deck, and I liked the Mastertracker), but I’d love to hear other carts just for the sake of variety and curiosity.
Likewise my Elac phono pre — it’s fantastic. But the adoration of the _cheaper_ Darlington has me very curious to hear that. Of course I can sell my Elac and go w/ Darlington, but it’d be great if there was an easy way to rent these things or something like that. I know that’s not realistic, unfortunately without a good relationship with a local dealer who has demo units.
But my curiosity is another matter. I want to hear different options, regardless of price or desire for improvement. For example, I love the SAE 1000LT (notable improvement over the Mastertracker that came w Ultra Deck, and I liked the Mastertracker), but I’d love to hear other carts just for the sake of variety and curiosity.
Likewise my Elac phono pre — it’s fantastic. But the adoration of the _cheaper_ Darlington has me very curious to hear that. Of course I can sell my Elac and go w/ Darlington, but it’d be great if there was an easy way to rent these things or something like that. I know that’s not realistic, unfortunately without a good relationship with a local dealer who has demo units.
I do get a crazy rumble between songs if I turn the volume up more than halfway. I thought maybe my TT was to close to the left speaker because the TT use to set all the to the left of the cabinet rite next to the speaker. I moved it to the middle of the cabinet hoping it would quit but that’s not the case it still gets the rumble but I don’t hear during songs like it did before I moved the table . Now I’m wondering if that ash wood is not producing resonance into the arm and needle causing the problem. So now I’m debating whether maybe I should try to sell this turntable and try something else. Any thoughts would be appreciated greatly!!!