Hello all, I want to thank everyone...jperry,lewm,yogiboy,dougdecon,ctsooner and all the rest for trying to help me figure out what was happening with my system. Last night I was able to listen to music again. I placed a nice piece of granite under the TT and hooked up the new phono pre amp. The music is amazing and I feel a lot better about the system now. Thanks again all,
Matt |
Thanks all for the responses. Doug, I agree that I have never had the experience of hearing a proper MM/turntable combo so hear is what I did. OK, Pulled the trigger on dumping the Thornes TD 160 to the used market. I ordered a Pro-ject Xtension 10 with a Clearaudio Maestro V2 ebony MM cart. This way I don't have to buy a external phono preamp ..YET. I am very interested to see how this combo sounds. My priorities when ordering this was to simplify and enhance the quality of vinyl playback. Also, to bring up the level of the analogue source to be more in line with the other components in the system. More to come later. |
"I have heard this model on many occasions in different systems and have not seen this problem"
Then why are we assuming its the table? Its brand new!
I am not convinced, yet.
More later. |
Thanks everyone for the posts...I will follow up after I get the turntable setup on my system. It my not be until the 10th of july or so...
Matt M |
So the Turntable (Project Xtension 10) arrived 3 days ago, and from the moment I placed the needle down on the record I realized that this was a couple levels up from what I was used to. First the sound is flying out of my speakers like never before! Also, there is more everything. This table Rocks on Led Zeppelin Song remains the same album, the song "No Quarter" Has immense weight and force, Jimmy Pages guitar is like a well sharpened knife slicing away while Plants voice is rich, full, powerful and detailed. I have been spinning everything from 80's pop to 50's jazz and One thing I was really aware of was the way it presented the event very forcefully with great tone and weight, ultra detail, dead solid speed control, over my REGA P3/24 w/Dynavector 10X5 (very good combo). I'm still going thru break in and so far I am blown away with the beautiful dynamic and detailed sound from the Clear Audio Maestro Ebony v2. This MM (if the midrange ever opens up) is one of the best cartridges I've heard MC or MM. I still love Low output MC's don't get me wrong. more to come later. Ill post pics in my system soon. This thing is GORGEOUS in piano black laquer finish too. |
After 2 days of listening to the Xtension 10 with Clear Audio Maestro Ebony v2 , I was noticing major woofer pumping on several records that I like to play. I told Needle Doctor and they are unaware of any issuie with this Tone arm cartridge combo. They told me it was my records and said that the unit worked fine at there store....So after trying to be careful, NOW MY REL IS BLOWN!! I am going to purchase a KAB rumble filter because I am very upset that this happened. I even saw it occurring and dismissed it! I am ashamed at myself for not realizing this would happen. I think its not a good cartridge for the 10cc EVO ARM. (bad woofer pumping to me indicates a bad cartridge arm match). What do you guys think? Anyone have experience with this cartridge ?? |
After spending more time with this it seems that the cartridge and tone arm are a great match as I am getting awesome sound. As for the REL it started making scraping sounds and I'm not sure If they are even related. I might still buy a KAB rumble filter though, because I don't like seeing my Dynaudio drivers moving in and out so much you can hear them fluttering sometimes. |
After using the Cartridge Resonance Evaluator I determined that I am at 10hz. My tone arm is 8.5g and the cartridge compliance is 15 that puts me in the 10hz zone which shows more than acceptable. So all I know is that my system has a heartbeat, 4 beats exactly, and it seems to get faster if I play the big 45rpm records. I can sit real close and hear and see my main speakers and the REL 4 very quick pumps then it goes away then 4 very quick pumps and so on....It happens on everything I play. I put digital on and everything seems to be rock solid there. |
I was able to replace the 10" woofer by calling Dave @ Rel in Berkley CA. I received the replacement driver very quickly. So, Now I am waiting on a new phono pre amp (Manley labs Chinook). I have had bad luck with my last 2 phono stages. I really am looking forward to getting my system back up and running properly again. It has been a real downward spiral ever since I received the new Turn Table. One thing after another... electrical noise, woofer pumping, buzzing, blanketed sound, I am experiencing a little of everything right now. More later. |
No , I never verified the new table was the problem. Not yet anyway. More to come on this soon. Lewm you are right on track with whats going through my mind as well. I really think I have more than one problem happening here. I will know a lot more here soon. I will say the table has a very heavy dust cover that I can take off. With the cover on I would think that would help a lot with any air born resonances wouldn't it? My system is rather close together. I am going to move some stuff around as you suggest. Regards,
Matt |
Thanks Lewm, I hope so. Cover on cover off...Im not sure really if there is much of a difference. I will say I tend to agree with you lew, off is best.I know for a fact that my phono preamp is aweful!! So, I'm changing that this weekend. Laters.
Matt |
UPDATE: SO, this is a fairly new table according to needle doctor. Anyway, I mention that only because that's what they told me. The Project Xtension10 uses a 5pin din connector on the TT side and RCA on the other. The DIN connection is hidden deep inside a hole underneath the plinth. This connection must have wiggled itself loose over the last week until it was barely connected! I didn't realize this was happening until I started to move the table to place the granite slab underneath it. WOW! I feel like such a dumb*&^% for not checking this right off the bat. But the table is super heavy and the connection is super hard to get to. In fact its so far down the hole that my fingers are useless and I need a long needle pliers to push it on firmly. That's why my sound gradually got worse over time. O boy. ONE problem solved! |
Hey lew cut the bullshit I solved my problems you can quit posting .thanks. |
