Suggestions needed for a vinyl newbie

Eric, some people you can trust, like Mikey Fremer, Mike Lavigne, Christian (rockitman); with a little bit of salt & pepper.
... And others, you read, still respect, but keep on riding.

With hundred albums or so in one's collection, the KLAudio machine ain't for them.
But for someone with a serious LP collection (5,000-20,000), and with several masters and remasters (best versions; 45rpm, 200gr, 24k gold vinyl, etc.) the KLAudio machine is for them. Them people have a serious analog rig as well.

Matt definitely doesn't fit that last category, neither you, neither I (I still have about 5,000 LPs though), and that, it is what it is. :) ...You assess your target, aim, and pull the trigger in hope of your best shot.
 
I don't think that a $4,000 RCM would ever be in my future! What is in my future is a $4,000 furnace. :( I woke up yesterday and my house was a crisp 51 degrees. After a quick service call, the repair tech said that my furnace is on it's last legs. Oh well!

I would eventually like to get something like a Spin Clean, but right now I'm more interested in getting everything up and running correctly. Baby steps, you know!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

jtp.jpg
 
Oh no !!! Sorry to hear Matt !!! That sucks. Well, on the bright side, new furnaces are VERU efficient and you can get rebates from your gas company and taxes toward efficiency...I know...doesn't help...But hope all works out ok !
 
NorthStar said:
Eric, some people you can trust, like Mikey Fremer, Mike Lavigne, Christian (rocketman); with a little bit of salt & pepper.
... And others, you read, still respect, but keep on riding.

With hundred albums or so in one's collection, the KLAudio machine ain't for them.
But for someone with a serious LP collection (5,000-20,000), and with several masters and remasters (best versions; 45rpm, 200gr, 24k gold vinyl, etc.) the KLAudio machine is for them. Them people have a serious analog rig as well.

Matt definitely doesn't fit that last category, neither you, neither I (I still have about 5,000 LPs though), and that, it is what it is. :) ...You assess your target, aim, and pull the trigger in hope of your best shot.
Click to expand...

I don't know who Mike Lavigne or Christian is, but I may not need to know I would imagine as I am just not into gear beyond what I need and what I have learned as an aside. For me, this hobby is about the music at least 95%. I do not trust Mike Fremer when it comes to purchasing advice. At least he actually takes a hands on approach to reviewing the gear, unlike some other folks. I just tend to disagree with his conclusions. Everything else he's alright in my book, but not the last word.

With 5000 LPs Bob, you do fit into the catagory of a KLAudio machine! I have had unquestionable, fabulous success with my methodology, fluids and VPI, but if I had anywhere near 5000 records I would not want to clean them that way. I'd be dying for a KLAudio or similar.
~Eric
 
Matt715 said:
I don't think that a $4,000 RCM would ever be in my future! What is in my future is a $4,000 furnace. :( I woke up yesterday and my house was a crisp 51 degrees. After a quick service call, the repair tech said that my furnace is on it's last legs. Oh well!

I would eventually like to get something like a Spin Clean, but right now I'm more interested in getting everything up and running correctly. Baby steps, you know!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear this Matt. Well, just know for future that used records are very inexpensive as is a Spinclean, so you'll eventually get such items. If you celebrate xmas, you can always throw a Spinclean on your wishlist.
Yes, baby-steps and slow are the best way to do audio! (That way you don't make any or too many lateral moves wasting money).
 
Matt715 said:
I don't think that a $4,000 RCM would ever be in my future! What is in my future is a $4,000 furnace. :( I woke up yesterday and my house was a crisp 51 degrees. After a quick service call, the repair tech said that my furnace is on it's last legs. Oh well!

I would eventually like to get something like a Spin Clean, but right now I'm more interested in getting everything up and running correctly. Baby steps, you know!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

View attachment 3925
Click to expand...

Matt, :what: :locked: :offtopic: ...Just kidding; you'd better get into it quick. ...Forget that TT, forget that RCM, forget your hi-fi stereo system, forget everything, just get warm!

Happy Thanksgiving! --- ...to you and all your family.
 
MusicDirector said:
I don't know who Mike Lavigne or Christian is, but I may not need to know I would imagine as I am just not into gear beyond what I need and what I have learned as an aside. For me, this hobby is about the music at least 95%. I do not trust Mike Fremer when it comes to purchasing advice. At least he actually takes a hands on approach to reviewing the gear, unlike some other folks. I just tend to disagree with his conclusions. Everything else he's alright in my book, but not the last word.
Click to expand...

Mikey is Mikey; he's a funny guy, and an analog expert. I like Mikey, just the way he is; he's not perfect, but so nobody else. ...And he's got a great sense of humor, and he's not afraid of speaking his own mind. I accept him all off him the way he is, and I respect him of course.
I've been reading him since he first started writing. :)

* Mike Lavigne and Christian are two members from WBF, and are highly calibrated in the turntable domain. ...Everything related. Their analog rigs are top-notch, and all the ingredients surrounding them to make them sound better are there!
I have great respect for them both too. Mike is a very friendly person, generous in his hospitality, very knowledgeable (I learn/learned quite a few from him), and Christian has also an amazing analog rig, and he's a more direct person (doesn't shy of speaking his mind directly). Mike is more diplomatic, more polite, and he's also into digital, big time.
But I love them both equally, that's just the way I am.
...Same for Mikey (Fremer).

With 5000 LPs Bob, you do fit into the catagory of a KLAudio machine! I have had unquestionable, fabulous success with my methodology, fluids and VPI, but if I had anywhere near 5000 records I would not want to clean them that way. I'd be dying for a KLAudio or similar.
~Eric
Click to expand...

My albums Eric are the regular type, not the remastered versions (45rpm and all) that some of them cost $50 to $100.
And half of them are used ones (not purchased brand new). ...They are the ones actually who would benefit the most from the KLAudio machine.
Perhaps in the future, when I'm fully retired and have all the time in this world to clean my LPs, lol.
By that time I'll have a World Music Server of the Highest Audio Resolution. ...And I'll be smoking crack! :D
 
NorthStar said:
Mikey is Mikey; he's a funny guy, and an analog expert. I like Mikey, just the way he is; he's not perfect, but so nobody else. ...And he's got a great sense of humor, and he's not afraid of speaking his own mind. I accept him all off him the way he is, and I respect him of course.
I've been reading him since he first started writing. :)

* Mike Lavigne and Christian are two members from WBF, and are highly calibrated in the turntable domain. ...Everything related. Their analog rigs are top-notch, and all the ingredients surrounding them to make them sound better are there!
I have great respect for them both too. Mike is a very friendly person, generous in his hospitality, very knowledgeable (I learn/learned quite a few from him), and Christian has also an amazing analog rig, and he's a more direct person (doesn't shy of speaking his mind directly). Mike is more diplomatic, more polite, and he's also into digital, big time.
But I love them both equally, that's just the way I am.
...Same for Mikey (Fremer).



My albums Eric are the regular type, not the remastered versions (45rpm and all) that some of them cost $50 to $100.
And half of them are used ones (not purchased brand new). ...They are the ones actually who would benefit the most from the KLAudio machine.
Perhaps in the future, when I'm fully retired and have all the time in this world to clean my LPs, lol.
By that time I'll have a World Music Server of the Highest Audio Resolution. ...And I'll be smoking crack! :D
Click to expand...

I also don't know what WBF is, but again, it's irrelevant.
All my albums are used, regular versions and nothing over $5, but granted I only have about 300. Being handy at cleaning/restoring them provides for more music and having a VPI 16.5 for that amount of records is slightly overkill and about as far as I'll ever need to take it.
 
Over the weekend I cleaned the stylus the best I could with a magic eraser and a small brush. I would say that it's 75% clean now; not quite as good as Bob's pictures, but at least I can see metal and a sharp point. I finally received my gram scale today and was able to check the rest of the settings. It appears to me that everything is set properly; so why does this thing sound so disappointing? I have no soundstage, no separation, and no treble. It really sounds lousy to my ears.

I am still planning on picking up some Last stylus cleaner so I can thoroughly clean the stylus. I can't imagine it's going to make the difference I need to be happy.

Any ideas?
 
Time for a new cartridge...or at least a new stylus...clean does not mean its good...

Tell me your budget...I'll list you carts :exciting:
 
Matt, how can you be certain that your stylus is not fully clean? ...It takes only few seconds. ...And not all styluses have the same shape; some are elliptical, others conical, others longer, others shorter, some have more cuts, others less.
But the picture I previously provided is from the same cartridge than yours, so the stylus should also be the exact same.

* With a brand new cartridge (roughly $200), a decent Pioneer vintage turntable (belt drive and in very good condition; about $500-600), a phono preamp section from a decent preamp, all my adjustments from years of knowledge (tracking force, arm adjust, level, speed accurate, etc.), and a brand new album (regular price, and decent music recording); there is simply no way that I can get close to my digital CD player (about $1,200). ...For a good music digital recording, not a bad one from the eighties.

But! I'm no analog expert. I just know enough to set things up enough and running, even by being anal sometimes.
And I've been spinning albums since I was thirteen (45 years). And spinning CDs since 1985 (28 years).

But that's me! And my own life with my own set of ears attached to my own head. :)
 
Can I use a safety pin as a new stylus? :skeptical:

I was kind of thinking of the AT-440MLA. Going by what people say about it, it sounds like it might be right up my alley. I tend to like a slightly forward presentation. I wish it was still around $100 like it was a few years ago, but such is life.

Let's say a budget of $200 and see where that gets me. I am hesitant to spend more because again, this is more or less an experiment. I also have to save my pennies for a new furnace.
 
Matt

If you want to stay with the Stanton/Pickering family of cartridges let me know as I may be able to help. I can point you in the direction of a new NOS replacement or if you want help you from my "rainy day stash" of NOS styli. There are plenty of options out there if you have a budget in mind. Just today I mounted an Acutex 312STR with a Shibata stylus that I bought NIB for under $80 shipped from Italy. It sounds great and a lot like the Stanton/Pickering sound. What you are describing is a clean but worn out stylus. Also check the wiring from the headshell to the cartridge and make sure it is not wired out of phase.
 
NorthStar said:
Matt, how can you be certain that your stylus is not fully clean? ...It takes only few seconds. ...And not all styluses have the same shape; some are elliptical, others conical, others longer, others shorter, some have more cuts, others less.
But the picture I previously provided is from the same cartridge than yours, so the stylus should also be the exact same.

* With a brand new cartridge (roughly $200), a decent Pioneer vintage turntable (belt drive and in very good condition; about $500-600), a phono preamp section from a decent preamp, all my adjustments from years of knowledge (tracking force, arm adjust, level, speed accurate, etc.), and a brand new album (regular price); there is simply no way that I can get close to my digital CD player (about $1,200).

But! I'm no analog expert. I just know enough to set things up enough and running, even by being anal sometimes.
And I've been spinning albums since I was thirteen (45 years). And spinning CDs since 1985 (28 years).

But that's me! And my own life with my own set of ears attached to my own head. :)
Click to expand...

That brings me back to the whole "CD vs vinyl" argument. I'm not supposed to compare the sound to a CD, so what is it supposed to sound like? FM radio? AM radio? Again, I've never really heard a budget TT setup besides the Rega room at Axpona; it sounded wonderful for what it was.

I would be happy if I could get it to sound like what I hear from my Squeezebox but ecstatic if it had the detail and huge soundstage that my Oppo has.

Am I expecting too much?
 
Yeah, a clean but worn stylus won't do you any good Matt; time to acquired a brand new spic-and-span one.

Still, there is so much to do; vibrations (keep the TT away from your speakers), install it on a solid platform, the tracking force, the anti-skating, the arm balance, the arm azimuth, the vertical tracking, the horizontal field, the start, the end stop, the middle of the tracking stylus into the grooves, the speed, the speed, the speed, ...
...A new turntable, a new cartridge, a new phono stage, a new pair of phono interconnects, a new RCM, a new remastered LP (180-200gr), a new ready you! ...With a bigger bank account too! :)

Buy some tickets (horse races, lottery, ...), play bingo, play poker, pray god, and get a VPI TT & Lyra cart.
 
Jack said:
Matt

If you want to stay with the Stanton/Pickering family of cartridges let me know as I may be able to help. I can point you in the direction of a new NOS replacement or if you want help you from my "rainy day stash" of NOS styli. There are plenty of options out there if you have a budget in mind. Just today I mounted an Acutex 312STR with a Shibata stylus that I bought NIB for under $80 shipped from Italy. It sounds great and a lot like the Stanton/Pickering sound. What you are describing is a clean but worn out stylus. Also check the wiring from the headshell to the cartridge and make sure it is not wired out of phase.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer- I guess I'm not sure if I should stay with it or not. Is there any way to check to see if my cartridge is any good? I did check the wiring against the info I found over on AK forum; it is correct.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top