I am burining a little midnight oil tonight. Wiring is done and it really is DEAD quite. No disortion. All tones are clean. Turntable is only minimially set-up but it plays wonderfully.
Dug out an album and am Listening to Simon Garfunkle Graceland and Sade.
Dug out an album and am Listening to Simon Garfunkle Graceland and Sade.
Off to a great start then. Enjoy, and we will see about the measurement set up. If something was really wrong it could not play silent and clean with a low MC cart.
I'll save that for tomorrow. Anti skate is set with lead shot on this arm. Have to break out a few shotgun shells;-)
Have a good night and thanks again for your help.
Good Night.
Have a good night and thanks again for your help.
Good Night.
You might get lucky and they got it rightly scaled for Denon carts initially since one is depicted in that arm's manual. When you will play a highly modulated single bias check tone on a test record and mistracking will be reached it must come even from both channels when seated in a central monitoring position, and be minimum possible.
Good night.
Good night.
IMO, a good phono preamp is more important than a top flight TT to get good results from vinyl 🙂
A bad TT setup can be solved with a very good phono preamp, I heard a VPI HRX top model with SME V series + Audio Techinica OC09 bad setup togheter a very good phono preamp Convergent Audio Technology SL-1 & the sound was simple horrible, after a time I heard again the same system but with good TT setup & believe me simple amazing.
All counts, TT, cart, preamp, amp, speakers, room acoustics, power, cables, etc.
All counts, TT, cart, preamp, amp, speakers, room acoustics, power, cables, etc.
What about a medium quality well set up TT and better than average phono pre? Would you put assets towards bettering TT and compromising headamp if you had a certain money roof?
I trust Linn idea: 1st the source.
But a medium quality TT with good setup + your phono NJFET RIAA (for me one of the very best) can beat easily the best TT with bad setup + the best phono preamp.
N.B. I'm sure that the 80% of all TT in the world are with bad setup.
But a medium quality TT with good setup + your phono NJFET RIAA (for me one of the very best) can beat easily the best TT with bad setup + the best phono preamp.
N.B. I'm sure that the 80% of all TT in the world are with bad setup.
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My experience is we always must have the ability to pull the chosen cart's signal out strong and smooth via the phono, else the source is masked whatever the investment. Medium price well judged TT setups are very good in reading 90% of what is there on the average vinyl cut. Super expensive TT will add a dimension, but it must not be blocked. They show their teeth more when in large power big room systems by their firmness in the presence of powerful bass replay feedback. I favor high output MC carts and good MM when not many assets can be put towards a good phono either DIY or ready made. That strategy can jump much noise for a decent outcome.
For example, a SystemDek or AN form ebay, a rega RB and a Denon lowMC or dearer Shelter cart, well set up and pulled through a proper phono, they can keep you awake many nights listening. If you mate that with a lesser phono effort or price, better use a DL-160 or AT or Grado.
For example, a SystemDek or AN form ebay, a rega RB and a Denon lowMC or dearer Shelter cart, well set up and pulled through a proper phono, they can keep you awake many nights listening. If you mate that with a lesser phono effort or price, better use a DL-160 or AT or Grado.
I agree that the cartridge, phono headamp, and suited arm make the majority of a good vinyl system. IMHO the proper combination will bring the details out and achieve the great pleasure we work so hard to achieve. All a TT does is degrade the sound, by introducing rumble, wow, reflected energy, and acoustic energy from the room, which add artifacts or veils to the sound. The better ones add less. When you get to a decent turntable and above, the returns diminish, albeit still worth the effort if your budget, skills, and time allows.
Status Report,
These are some photo's of the Salas Simplistic Head amp as built so far for the Denon 103R cartride. The external chassis is 1/4 inch aluminum plate, the shunt regulators are mounted on heatsinks integrated with the external chassis. Internally the RIAA circuit is fully enclosed in a two piece steel box. RCA jacks are mounted to the internal chassis and protrude through the external to keep the shielding intact. The output caps are Obligato 3.3uF. They will be bypassed with ft-3 teflon caps in the final stage. The build has no audible hum or noise. Even at full volume. As it stands now it is built with temporary RIAA and coupling caps. The "final" ones should be here next week.
The turntable is a stupidly modified Ariston Audio RD80. Magnapan Unitrack I tonearm rewired with cardas shielded direct to the Simplistic. The plinth will be rebuilt shortly. For right now it is sitting on the floor during the testing.
I won't comment yet on the sound because of the final to do list and the fact that I am still in shock that I have not had a turntable in 20 some years. I will say that it is extremely detailed and I am happy even at this stage.
I also attached some photos of the overall system.
P.S. Yes I still have to paint the lid.
These are some photo's of the Salas Simplistic Head amp as built so far for the Denon 103R cartride. The external chassis is 1/4 inch aluminum plate, the shunt regulators are mounted on heatsinks integrated with the external chassis. Internally the RIAA circuit is fully enclosed in a two piece steel box. RCA jacks are mounted to the internal chassis and protrude through the external to keep the shielding intact. The output caps are Obligato 3.3uF. They will be bypassed with ft-3 teflon caps in the final stage. The build has no audible hum or noise. Even at full volume. As it stands now it is built with temporary RIAA and coupling caps. The "final" ones should be here next week.
The turntable is a stupidly modified Ariston Audio RD80. Magnapan Unitrack I tonearm rewired with cardas shielded direct to the Simplistic. The plinth will be rebuilt shortly. For right now it is sitting on the floor during the testing.
I won't comment yet on the sound because of the final to do list and the fact that I am still in shock that I have not had a turntable in 20 some years. I will say that it is extremely detailed and I am happy even at this stage.
I also attached some photos of the overall system.
P.S. Yes I still have to paint the lid.
Attachments
Splendid work. Lose the Wima interstage caps for FT-3 Teflon on first chance... They are the most influential. You miss a ground lag, or the arm combines chassis ground with signal return? Any close up pics of the DL-103R on the Magnepan?
My view of the majority in the analogue set-up:
- Turntable
- Tonearm
- Cartridge
- Step-Up Transformer or Headamp
- Phonostage ...
+80dB takes a 0.2mVac signal to 2Vac.
The CDP signal is a maximum. They all give between 2Vac and 2.5Vac maximum at 0dBfs.
Is your low output MC also at it's maximum when delivering 0.2mVac?
The CDP signal is a maximum. They all give between 2Vac and 2.5Vac maximum at 0dBfs.
Is your low output MC also at it's maximum when delivering 0.2mVac?
Nice work SGregory, I will copy your idea double chassis for RIAA
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
What about now?
DCin are red for right channel & black for left channel regs., both are AKG * NEOTECNICA * NEUTRIK Low Noise - High Quality professional microphone cable that don't use for signal but are shielded so for mine point of view perfect for DCin, the shield only connected in the regulator togheter the gnd cable, PSU only connected GND cable & B+ (shield not connected).
N.B. photo regs. DCin aren't connected for testing PSU voltage.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
DCin are red for right channel & black for left channel regs., both are AKG * NEOTECNICA * NEUTRIK Low Noise - High Quality professional microphone cable that don't use for signal but are shielded so for mine point of view perfect for DCin, the shield only connected in the regulator togheter the gnd cable, PSU only connected GND cable & B+ (shield not connected).
N.B. photo regs. DCin aren't connected for testing PSU voltage.
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