I'm considering updating one piece of my turntable setup. Either the phono preamp, the interconnect to the phono pre, the platter, arm, or the cart - or maybe another piece I haven't even thought of.
I currently have a VPI scout and use the VPI interconnect to my phono pre. I run a Dynavector DV20x2 Low. My phono pre is a Dynavector P75 MKIII set to the enhanced mode.
If I wanted to spend around $1000+/-, would there be a decent upgrade in the price range worth while? I'd like a little more mid bass heft, and maybe a tad more air to the music presentation.
Nice system and room you have there. Your vinyl playback system as a synergistic entity and no one item is going to be responsible for a quantum leap forward once you get to a certain level (unless you had some gross mismatch of products that was corrected.) Certainly little chance of a product mismatch with what you've got now. I think most products at the thousand dollar price point are all so closely aligned in quality you'll likely be making sideways lateral swaps with little forward progress. When I owned a Scout, I found it VERY sensitive to what it was sitting on and that's the one thing you don't appear to have addressed. I ended up with a Mappleshade type plinth, there are other options as well. The Ginko Cloud 10 comes to mind as a prime candidate. Once you've addressed the platform, save money until you can move to the next level in all things in the vinyl chain, probably starting with a better phono preamp. In my experience, you'll need to move to the three thousand dollar price retail price point to make really audible improvements over thousand dollar products. The law of diminishing returns has a steep curve (sigh.)
I think $1000 is a little low for you to really hear much difference. If you can swing a bit more, I'd buy a Lyra Delos. That would be a huge upgrade. I've done that upgrade myself and been really happen with the purchase. The P75 sounds great with the Lyra. One other thing I've done is buy a Denon DL103 and nuded it which will cost you less than $250. It's a fun cartridge and it actually sounded better than my DV20 on most music. It also sounds great with the P75 in special mode.
see if you can add the periphery ring & clamp - it was one of the largest upgrades I ever made on my rig. Huge improvement. Have not heard surface noise since.
How do you figure changing my speakers to give me a better bang for the buck? I like my speakers! I like the way they sound on my digital and I like the way they sound with a sound on the vinyl.
I'd guess that the comment reflects the generally agreed upon notion that speaker upgrades tend to provide the most drastic change in sound, relative to components.
While I agree that speakers do make a large change, I'm looking to tweak the system not completely change the character. Regardless $1000 won't buy better speakers IMO.
"12-30-13: Last_lemming How do you figure changing my speakers to give me a better bang for the buck? I like my speakers! I like the way they sound on my digital and I like the way they sound with a sound on the vinyl."
One of the shortcomings of entry level analog is what you're describing and not unique to the scout. If you have the acrylic platter changing to vpi's aluminum one would definitely give you more body, not sure about the air though. Not familiar with either your phono stage or phono cables, you can also look at your cables after the platter and shelf upgrades.
Dkarmeli....it doesn't sound like you really know the difference between the acrylic and aluminum platters as far as the sound is concerned. The acrylic is more tubby, with less high end. Aluminum is far better sounding with more delicacy, openness, etc.
Last Leming.....look for Bear Paws to make your system sing better. They will give better bass, better mids, and better highs...for a mild outlay in cost. I think the world of the guys at Ginko, but their support thing for VPI is a step in the wrong direction.
Stringreen, I have found something better than the eden sound products . I was running the terra cone footers with the brass adjusters on my SSC.
I bought Amcan footers (http://www.amcanaudio.com/)I put a large set on my Superscoutmaster along with the spiked adjusters and a set of medium without the spike adjusters on the motor, making both the TT and motor level in height. These blew away the terra cone footers, which I sold.
The Ancam product comes in stainless steel, brass and copper, all giving a different sound. I have no affiliation with the compny, just want to pass along a tip to fellow audiophiles.
I have been considering new "feet" but there are so many options. I think a better outlay of cash at this time might be to stabilize my rack.
It's a VTI modular system, not really high ended at all. I have about 6 stacked units now with the TT on top. While I get seemingly zero vibration through the rack, at least nothing I can readily notice, there is a slight oscillation of the rack if you push at the top. I think I want to try bracing the rack to the wall.
The best bet would be to buy a multi level rack, but due to space limitations it needs to be "tower" like in its modularity.
For racks there is a simple test to see how much vibration is getting up through the rack into components mounted on the top shelf. Place a glass of wine or other dark liquid on the top shelf next to the component and see if ripples appear on the top surface of the wine in the glass. It might help, since the faint ripples can be hard to see, to use a flashlight in a dark room.
Moonguy....I found that Terra Stones are not as good as my Bearpaws when used with my Superscout/rim drive. HOWEVER... what I DID find was that the Terra Stones in the front corners of my room did wonders with some room resonance I had. (discovered that by accident after ordering and trying the then useless Terra Stones)
Where do I get Bear Paws? What is the thread required for a VPI Classic? I have 3 Mapleshade heavy duty brass footers with 3 spikes on top of each one. I do not want to put the spikes underneath my turntable. Can I protect the plinth without affecting the sound? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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