2. analog
  3. 164672-11588

Can upgrading your front end make your bad records sound good?

Upgrading my Ortophon RS 309D tone arm to a Triplanar SE transformed my record collection. (Woodsong Garrard 301) Previously bad recordings now sound interesting and enjoyable. Now it is rare that I find a record that sounds bad.
Inspired by this, I ordered and am waiting for an Atma-Sphere MP-1 to replace my Atma MP-3 and a Lyra Atlas to replace my Miyajima Shalabi. I don’t think this will magically make the few bad records sound good but the overall improvement should be significant and, maybe, great. The new preamp should flesh out the sound and the new cartridge should pick up much more of what is in the groves. Any ideas of what to expect?
mglik

Showing 2 responses by dover

dover
2,177 posts
 
I find that with a top notch well matched, and balanced TT/arm/cartridge combo, if the VTA and alignment are spot on pops and ticks tend to be on a different "plain" to the music and are easily ignored.

If the overall sound is out of balance, or there are issues, e.g. bright or compressed, then noise becomes  more intrusive.

If the phono stage overloads at ultra high frequencies this can exacerbate pops and ticks. This is more likely with solid stage MC stages than tube phonos.
dover
2,177 posts
 
@mglik 

Your new cartridge and preamp should be great.
I would suggest you do one change at a time, do one, have a listen for a couple of days, and then the other - this will give you a better understanding of your system, which will be handy for future upgrades.
More to discover