Would love some feedback / Denon DL-S1 / phono match / cart recomendations


Would love some feedback / Denon DL-S1 / phono match / cart recomendations

- Vinyl newbie and need some help

- Friend has a brand new  Denon DL-S1 for $600 - good deal?

- I have a Mark Levinson No.326s preamp and just bought the dual mono MM/MC Phono module boards. They are the identical boards from the No,32 preamp and read that was a very nice sounding phono preamp.

- No.326s only has a couple settings 42db or 60 db and 47k ohm or 200 ohm load

- I picked up a used Bob's Device 1131 thinking it would help as my No.326s has limited setting options and read the 1131 might not work well with this cart. That this cart is tough to get the most out of but can be great.

- Should I get another cart? Was it a mistake getting the 1131 SUT. I read the No.326s sounded nice with this SUT so went for it but don't know enough to really know better either way but trying to learn.

- The No.326s phono boards has these little gold terminal screws with easy tighten by hand little knobs on the heads of the screws to add either capacitor or resistor to make the phono very adjustable but would have no idea how to figure out how to use that but thought to mention

- just wondering if this is a bad cart for me to try with my phono and SUT set up and any feedback about anything related to a cart would be super appreciated if anyone reads this. Thanks

more info if helpful below but not need to answer my question just thought to add it :)

______________________________________________________________________________________


I just finished up a full system re-fit with some tweaking here and there still to do but I am extremely happy with the sound I’m getting today from my new to me system. I sold my entire old system that was tubes and high efficiency speakers and got new to me: speakers, amp, preamp, speaker cables and upgraded digital transport and got a new turntable. Kept my DAC never changing that. Love my DAC. 

This system is the best I’ve personally ever had. I’m pretty psyched - so psyched I just added a turntable. 

A modern Version of the VPI Prime Aries with HRX Feet, 10" 3D Arm and Base, Prime Signature Platter, Ring and Motor. 

I am looking for a cart and my friend has a new Denon DL-S1 for $600 he also has a  used but good shape Clearaudio Accurate mc cart for a few hundred but i never heard of this one and a  van den Hul blackheart grass hopper which I know nothing of.

I thought because the Denon is new never used that was the best option but any of you know anything about the other let me know please.
  
Would love some feedback / ideas / thought recommendations and help. I’m a digital guy and want to give vinyl and honest to goodness try.

As stated above I just purchased the dual mono Phono board modules for my
Mark Levinson No.326s linestage so it’s now a full function Preamp and added a Bobs Device 1131 SUT and both were attained a very reasonable cost which was great!

Just not sure if these carts will go with my phono and SUT.

Rest of my System:
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/5160

- Magico S5 Loudspeakers
- Pass Labs X350.5 Amplifier
- Mark Levinson No.326s Preamp/phonostage
- Bricasti M1 Special Edition DAC
- PS Audio P10 Power Plant
- Kubala-Sosna Emotion SC’s
- Nordost/Cardas IC’s
- Assorted PC's Verastarr/Cardas

- Digital PC based front end that I have been tweaking and evolving:
- Sonore microRendu 1.4
- Full Suite of UpTone Audio Gear
(2) x LPS-1 Ultra Capacitor PS
JS-2 Linear Power Supply
(2) Regens - ISO/Amber
- (8) Canare / Oyide DC cables
- (2) Breeze Audio 12v LPS
- Tellurium Q Black Diamond Reference USB cable
- Curious Regen Link USB Cable.

This Digital Front End beat out: Lumin, Antipodes, Naim and Auralic servers. It needs everything to work so well but man does it work great. My hope is that a turntable can complete and wish some luck I end up liking it better. That’s why I’m asking for help. I want to put my best vinyl foot forward 

** Back Ground info**

** Room is **
14 x 24 w/Cathedral Ceilings - 16 Foot a peak

** Music likes **
Assorted Music but no metal or loud hard rock anymore really - not much Large Scale classical either but everything else. I listen just loud enough to sound its best but not a loud listener. I enjoy normal levels.

** Likes / Priorities **
Transparency - Delicacy - Linear - High resolution - microscope but not sterile not etched or lifeless -some natural warmth and life to the music is key  but love that see through transparency and love precise soundstage - remove as many layers without being clinical - tight bass - hate flab - but don’t need worlds greatest slam but love speed and accurate bass while being musical.

** Perspective **
I’m only a couple months into this new system and I was struggling to get the right Preamp and tried a half dozen or so searching for the right balance and the one that could bring my new system together like only the perfect matching preamp can do. Each system is different so really it must be heard to know it’s what you want. I believe in the Preamp and knew If I could find the right match it would change everything. Well that was the hope.

To make a long story longer the Mark Levinson No.326s preamp did this and more. I was hedging my expectations based on the disappointments of the others I tried and failed but the No. 326s nailed it and honestly it an incredible Preamp and then some. I was so happy I decided to upgrade and add the built in phonostage option and SUT and Turntable here we are trying to chose a cart.

Really appreciate any help you can provide! I know this is kind of long but wanted you guys to know where I’m coming from! If you would like more info please let me know - all comments and feedback are most welcome and deeply appreciated :)




128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xfsmithjack
I am really happy to know that my phono preamp is a nice one and can run my cart by itself. Also VPI released a little mod, I am not sure exactly what it is just read about it but it makes the arm much more stable and makes it a duel unipvit, I think? Does that make sense. People say its great and a nice update and makes it more stable, easier to use and sound nicer? 
@fsmithjack the VPI dual pivot mod is worth investigating -- most well designed unipivots include such a mechanism and it is good to see VPI finally getting around to this

Please take the feedback you get from @rauliruegas with a pinch of salt -- he is a notorious foe of tubes, step ups and unipivots and no matter what system you have if it includes one of these noxious devices he will criticize it. My system includes all three and has no restrictions at the frequency extremes, or in dynamics or anything else you care to mention

Unfortunately there's only so much you can learn about analog by asking questions on the web -- most of it has to be learned through practical experience working with many setups -- do you have a local "analog guru" that can come round and show you the ropes? You really need to be able to tear down your table, mount a new arm, and fully align any cartridge yourself -- otherwise you can never be sure the setup is correct (even a short trip back from the dealer can throw a setup off, and 9 out of 10 dealers don't set up that well anyway)
Dear @folkfreak : I respect your opinion and good for you that own tubes, SUT and unipivot tonearm.

Now, that you can’t detect the deep damage that all 3 makes to the cartridge signal do not means in anyway that I’m wrong.
Maybe you can’t detect it because you never gave or give for a decent period of time the opportunity to listen at your place with the records you truly know an all SS electronics with a integrated active phonolinepreamp as my Essential or the OP 326S along top SS amps and compare it , after listen the SS alternative for at least 3 months in a row, latter against your tube/SUT and the same with a non unipivot tonearm against a gimball good tonearm design.

If you never did it that test then the " salt " you are talking with @fsmithjack in reality has a true name.: LEARN and this is what you need for. That’s all.

Not only you but no one even the item designers can’t argue in favor of tube/SUT/unipivots against SS/gimball or active phono stages and I mean no one can with true facts on hand that tell us for sure that any of your 3 alternatives puts you nearer to the recording than what is my advise and you can invite any of them to come here and we can discuss that subject as deep they want it taking in count that the main premise in that discussion will be to stay truer to the recording. You can be sure that I can take that kind of hard challenge.


The matters is not if what you own likes you or can’t detect the damage or whatever reason you have. The subject is that with your 3 prefered system items you JUST CAN’T BE TRUER TO THE RECORDING as with my advise here an all over the internet where I posted the same. It doeas not matters what you or me can think about, the real and true facts are there with out doubt and almost out of discussion. It does not matters the price of your system or other $$$$ systems that has those 3 items.

As you know because I posted several times: I used for years tubes, SUTs and unipivot, even today I own 1-2 unipivots and 3-4 SUTs.

Btw, @fsmithjack VPI designed recently a gimball tonearm and maybe if you talk with them you can use it in your TT. I don’t know how good is that new VPI tonearm design and if it’s a well damped tonearm but you can ask for it. Almost anything is better than the tonearm you own.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
Dear @folkfreak : Obviously that you are enterely satisfied with your home audio system and this is most important issue for each one of us.

I'm not against tubes just " per sé ", no things are that I learned by my self that tubes can't honor what's in the recording grooves in better way than SS. This technology has and is extremely limited for today standards and with your Q3 just can't do a decent work.

Now, no SUT can compete with good active SS design, even those SUTs with high price tags over 7K can't do it. Physics laws can't be changed, not you, me or any SUT designer.
But forgeret what is inside the SUT box and think that the delicated and I can say extremely delicated  and very low output cartridge signal instead to go directly to the circuit boards ( as in the 326S. ) that's the shorter " road " for that delicated recorded information that is what that signal needs: shorter road to suffer the less degradation trying to preserve the original recorded information pick-up by the cartridge.
Instead of that in your system the signal not only has to pass through " hundred " of meter in both SUT transformers and from there must pass for other degradation link that are the SUT output connectors but inside this output connectors exist a piece of solder for the inside cable that goes to those connectors and YES this piece of solder and the additional output connectors where that signal must pass following degrading the signal ( not only at both frequency extremes but over all the frequency range . ! ! ) then from these output connectors the signal goes inside the IC cable male connectors with that cable solder where the signal degradation continues the heavy endless degradation but thing does not stop here because the signal has to travel over that IC cable followed but the output IC cable and on and on....

Btw, your unipivots are a little diferent from the VPI.

Your supertweeters only destroy the sound of your system and I know it by experience because I use it many years till an speaker expert designer explain me the problem but your q3 goes to 50khz and has no need for those Enigmas that its frequency range stops at 40khz ! ! and now you have two sources in very bad position working in part of the same frequency range: tweeters and sperT   ? ? ? 

In the past I recomend to you to integrate your system two self powered subwoofers due that the Q3 crooosover the midrange at over 300 hz.

As you can read many problems in your system and that's why you can't detect all the " errors " down there.

Btw,  by coincidence I read this in relation to the Q3 ( I read it 5 minutes ago ) that coincide with my past advise on subs:

"""  Seems to not like big swings in the low registers ..For that one may need to upgrade to the bigger brothers the Q5 or Q7. I am very partial to subwoofers as many know by now and would love to use this speaker with active crossover (Say the Lyngddorf) and crossed very high with a smooth slope say 6 dB/oct at 100~150 Hz... Just a thought..  """


Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
@rauliruegas your ability to diagnose the sound of a system by looking at photographs is amazing! I imagine you never need to leave your house and instead can imagine any sound from any system in the world

Anyway if you ever find yourself in Portland OR please feel free to swing by and see how far off your "deaf" (i.e. by which I mean unheard) evaluation is.

Here's a quote from a local manufacturer who swung by to install some new accessories in the system yesterday

Enjoyed seeing you and hearing your system again. A remarkable improvement to your great system from my last visit. I am very pleased with the further improvements from today’s goodies we installed. Particularly fun for me to hear the lower bass definition and the recording venue soundstage space that the bass revealed.
Anyway back to the OPs question -- while there are definitely differences in taste and presentation between different approaches there are many ways of getting to great analog sound but all require very careful setup and attention to selecting and matching the components along the way

And btw @rauliruegas I don't even necessarily disagree with you -- I'm currently for example awaiting a solid state phono stage to replace my tube one -- but it will be MM only hence the step up! The designer of this stage believes that any high gain (i.e. much above 40dB) phono stage represents unacceptable compromises ... again just one opinion and one approach, not suggesting this is gospel for all!

The question ''what kind of phono-pre do I need for the cart

x '' in the sense of the amplification value assumes a phono-

pre for just one cart. For the LO (low output) carts the advice is

''about 70 dB''. But what about more carts than just one?

There may be carts with higher output than ''LO''. Say above

0,3 mV. Well there are phono-pres with more than just one

amplification stage. I own Basis Exclusive with 4 amplification

stages as well Klyne 7 PX3.5 with also 4 amplification stages.

Both manuals advice the use of the lowest amplification stage

sufficient  for the given cart. Say 60 dB for 0.4 mV output.

The reason for this advice is that the higher the amplification

the higher the distortions. The curious thing by Klyne is the fact

that there is one more amplification stage which is not even

mentioned in the manual. Why? Probably because Klyne thought

that the distortion by this amplification is not acceptable for his

phono-pre. So he was satisfy with 63 dB. For those who own this

phono-pre switches 1,2,3,4 and 5 should be put ON to get 67 dB

amplification. One will not find those ''values'' in the user manual.

Well it seems obvious why people use SUT's for the (very) Low

output carts. Say bellow 0.2 mV.

@fsmithjack
chakster - that Luxman is awesome looking - never heard of it or seen it before - cool table and I will remember it and keep on the look out for one but that would have caught my eye because it looks amazing.

yeah, magnet suspended load free spinde, motor by Micro Seiki, super heavy aluminum cabinet, amazing design and usability for two tonearms. That’s why i love them and use two of them. The original armbases are rare, luckily i have the originals, but high quality replica of those bases available from Italy for any kind of toneam, so no problem anymore. Even for $2500 this table is great keeping in mind that people shouldn’t worry about plinth at all.

There is my Victor TT-101 on the same picture, but i do not have a plinth for it.



Ok GUYs - I NEED INPUT on this ASAP because I’m mailing out the check - my buddy just called and told me he could get me an:

Audioquest AQ-100L

Its $75 cheaper that Denon - not that the $75 matters but thinks I’ll love it. What do you guys think? It’s new also this or Denon / I’m making decision now? Thanks 


My bet is that you will be onto another cartridge soon, so, of the two, get the Denon because it obviously has a following and can be resold more easily. 

FWIW, starting your vinyl journey with an ultra-low output cartridge is inviting problems IMO. Many fine LOMC cartridges have output in the ~.5mv range and with one of those you can avoid all the drama with/without a SUT and just be happy with your new ML phono stage...

Dave

   
Thanks Dave - I know right - figures all the ones I have access to are these super low output ones. I wanted to just in case this AudioQuest was one head and shoulders better.
thanks 
 Yes take Raul with a huge pinch of salt. Anybody who doesn't like Tubes and prefers digital has a tin ear.  He continually speaks of minimizing distortion when in fact Tubes run in their proper zone often have less distortion than solid-state. 
 Also anybody who speaks in such broad absolute loses all credibility with me as well. At the level we are talking differences are very very minimal. Even if you could technically prove the superiority of one approach you may not even be able to pick it out in a double blind test. 
Dear @fsmithjack : Do it you a favor and put on sale your SUT and buy ASAP the A90 I linked. Both cartridges AQ and the S1 are BS against that Ortofon.

R.
haha, it’s getting funny in here

There are a few cartridges on the market that i would avoid personally, just because the cantilever is extremely fragile and not covered at all like the mosquito's sting. For practical reason i would never buy such cartridges such as A-90, Dv-XV-1, ClearAudio etc, but it's just me. 
Dear @folkfreak : Good for that change to SS, bad that’s only a MM and you will be sticked with that " terrible " SUT.

""" The designer of this stage believes that any high gain (i.e. much above 40dB) phono stage represents unacceptable compromises.. ""

With my respect to that designer and I don’t care whom is he that statement is nothing less than a stupid one for say the least and only means that that designer has very limited knowledge on how to build/design a 60db with out " compromises ".

My dear @folkfreak this is not rocket science, yes you need some engennering knowledge level and skills and experience about. If that designer can’t design a Phonolinepream for LOMC cartridges then stay away from him.

Yes, as we have more active gain noise levels can goes up and even some kind of distortions but you can put it at minimum where no one can detect it , certainly not me because as you say I’m " deaf ".

Look what your designer is telling you:

"" that a high gain well designed active circuit puts higher " compromises " than a MM circuit plus all what I told you about the SUT ""

that is just incredible and more incredible is that left him to convince you in the same way that you were convinced to add and " destroy " those great Q3 you own adding the Enigma ones that you with those speakers just don’t need it ! ! ? ? ! !

Btw, I don’t need to go to your place to know all the mistakes exist in your system and I don’t need to go to Portland to know all the " land " that exist in that system to improve severely its quality level performance.
I just don’t need it but appreciated your invitation and thank’s for that.

In audio the name of the game ( and I posted this several times here an elsewhere. ) is not money ( that always helps a lot. ) is: KNOWLEDGE LEVELS, OWN SKILLS and IGNORANCE LEVELS.

aS THE op YOU CAN FOLLOW MAKING " MISTAKES " THIS IS PART OF THE EACH DAY LEARNING LESSONS AND YOU HAVDE THE MONEY TO DO IT BUT WHEN YOU TAKE/TOOK DECISIONS BECAUE A DESIGNER OR SELLER gave advises these advises are the ones that you have to take it with a little " salt " because at the end all of them ( including distributors and reviewers. ) their main target is to take your money that’s it’s really easy because you are " educated " by the corrupted AHEE and always are willing to do it.

As all of us you have to follow learning, of course that exist people that are just stupid and never learns. No, I’m not refereing to you, first than all I respect to you as a human been and as a music lover.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.


Btw, the gentleman that coincide with my past advise to you about subwoofers is not a " deaf " as me, he knows very well not only your Q3 but listened too the 5 and 7. Is an expert not an amateur as me.
Dear @analogluvr : """  take Raul with a huge pinch of salt. Anybody who doesn't like Tubes and prefers digital has a tin ear.  He continually speaks of minimizing distortion when in fact Tubes run in their proper zone often have less distortion than solid-state """

your statement speaks exactly on your knowledge/ignorance levels:

""  in their proper zone often ..... """

yes, between 8khz and 8.1khz. Music/audio has almost no frequency range limitations when tubes are severely limited and full of limitations in this regards including higher noise levels than SS. In what music/sound world do you live? because here and today you " dream " does not exist any more.



"""  you may not even be able to pick it out in a double blind test.  """

you can't if you don't know how to do it, if you are not self trained to do it. 

It's obvious that you can't do it because you are not self trained about. That's all. Please keep learning.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.


Dear @folkfreak : Please tell your MM designer that reads this review/specs/measurements on this SS vintage Levinson phonolinepreamp and that he asks to those Levinson people how they did it to have no compromises for those 60 active dbs of gain in the phono circuits:

https://www.stereophile.com/solidpreamps/196/index.html

I think that the only thing that your MM designer can do is to read the whole review. He can’t do it till he learns in deep to that high gain with no compromises subject. A hard task for every designer.


Btw, those 14.9 ohms measured for the 32 output impedance is awesome. Please some one comes here and shows us how tubes outperform that. ! ? ! ? ! ?

Btw, those tube lovers know why is so important this single spec in any phonolinepreamp?

In those times J.Scull was STP reviewer and latter on gone to TAS, this was his system during the review:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/mark-levinson-no32-reference-preamplifier-associated-equipment


Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.

@ fsmithjack : The Accurate cartridge was the next one to the top of the line Insider in the Clearaudio catalog of cartridges.
OK GUYS -

Ortofon MC A90 Cart for $900 cash plus a trade my Bob's Device 1131 SUT?.

Says it has 400 hours on it and it is mint...

$900 is way more than I want to spend but it's only $300 more than the Denon and if it really is that much better then what do you think? If I can cut right to chase - well, I would rather but want your thoughts please...

Is it way better.

Hopefully this is the last one I have to run by you but you guys have taught me a ton and I need it. Regardless of anything I am much more knowledgeable so this is all good. Everyone says SUTs are helpful and good to have but if you pre has enough gain chances it will sound better direct. I have 60db in the phono and 18db in the pre. 78db seems to be enough

Few have said to sell my SUT and get a better cart which so this is sort of doing just that.

Also, can it be rebuilt later on by Soundsmith for reasonable money or no? I have no clue? Thanks .


Dear @fsmithjack : AAny re-tipper can rebuild but a cartridge of the caliber as the A90 it’s not a cartridge to " rebuild " by any re-tipper.

First than all, that cartridge has at least another 400 hundreds hours ( maybe more. ) that are a lot of hours.

Now, after 400-500 hundreds hours maybe Ortofon can take it in change of its newest top of the line cartridge and pay for the difference .

Anyway, if you don’t want to change the A90 but stay with then exist no one better than Ortofon to rebuild the cartridge. As a fact they return to you a new A90 with the latest up-dates in the cartridge Ortofon technology.

In the other side only regarded cartridge manufacturers like Ortofon, VDH, Clearaudio, Benz Micro, Lyra, My Sonic Labs, ZYX and the like are the only that has acces to the best and unique ( for them. ) cantilevers and stylus as no single retipper can ( the cartridge build/replacement suppliers never gives this kind of parts to any re-tippers. ). A retipper gives you always second class cartridge build/replacement parts and a re-tipper never knows the manufacturer cartridge up-dates over the time and never knows how the cartrige designer voiced their top cartridges.

Only by ignorance some people use re-tippers with top LOMC cartridges.

You can send to retippers second class cartridges but never send to them a top class cartridge as the A90.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
The 90 is an excellent cart however it’s lowish output at .270mV. With only 60dB in your phono plus 18dB in the pre you would get to 2.1V which is short of the 2.6V rated for maxiumum output for your X350.5. In other words another 3dB of gain would be nice depending how loud you listen

of bigger concern is buying a cart with 400 hours - that’s a really well used cart and you are paying $900 plus your 1131 (worth $650 or so) which is in line with what A90s have sold for but by no means a steal. Do you know the provenance of the cart? Has it had more than one user? Does it check out visually? Buying used carts is a real crap shoot and knowing the pedigree of the seller is key
 Raul you don't know what you're talking about! Regarding tubes in their proper range, I don't mean the frequency range I mean as long as their not being over driven. If a SET  Power amp that can make 22 W max is being driven at 1 W it makes vanishingly low levels of distortion. Lower than any solid state design. And the portion that it does make is better than the distortion the solid-state design makes. So it's stupid to say tubes are bad and solid state is good.   You love to come on these forums and talk about other people being ignorant and having low levels of knowledge but you should look in the mirror.   Regarding being able to pick stuff out in the double blind test excuse me I forgot you don't even have to hear a system to know exactly what it sounds like. 
folkfreak - great technical advice. Thank you 

I was worried about spending all my money and trading away my SUT for a cart that I have no idea about. Don't know anything about the private seller and yes right it's not a great deal and I make a point to try and stretch my audio dollars as farrrrrr as I can. Wish I knew the seller or background that would be different.

My buddy who I trust whole heartily will sell me his Clearaudio Accurate for $500 - a $100 less than the Denon and one of the other helpful folks on this thread told me it was second from the top back in the day. My buddy said its got maybe 40 - 50 hours tops but more like 30 on it and has had it in his large stash for years. Wish I new more about this one. I don't even know the spec on it or what to worry about set up wise.

Anyone have an idea or any thoughts. I already sent him the money and he will ship me whatever cart I ask for. 

Just checked UPS and my table has made it local a couple towns away to the UPS warehouse and is being delivered on Monday. So excited... I will post pics for you guys...

Here is my new phonostage and table pics when it comes

https://www.flickr.com/gp/35630112@N05/30iw78



  

The ''stylus fear'' and the ''level of ignorance''. My advice is to

first read what J. Carr wrote about ''carts repair''. The least

problem by comparison with cantilever and suspension change

is the stylus only exchange. Gluing the stylus in the existing

cantilever is more difficult than gluing the cantilever/stylus combo

on the so called ''joint (aluminum) pipe''. My friend Axel Schurholz

with + 40 years experience refused to do this job anymore. Two

years earlier he glued his best Shibata in my Blue Oasis for 200

euro. The usual boron/ Shibata combo cost 500 euro. We all have

heard about problems with (boron) cantilevers supply but even

bigger problem for the retippers is to get the right ''dampers''.

EMT is typical manufacturer who still need to solve this problem.

Their dampers are still worthless. About coils we can be short.

No retipper is willing to mess with coils. So defective coils are

the ''worst case scenario'' by second hand carts.

The ''Expert stylus'' site is not very informative but they also produce

styli. They produced those ''Stanton  styli''. My guess is that they

also produce Replicant for Ortofon. Anyway one can get their

''Paratrace'' ( a version of micro ridge)  stylus for about 180 GBP.

 This work (gluing the stylus in the cantilever) can only be done by

''masters'' because this work presuppose special skills. A cart

manufacturer would need to hire such person for this kind of work.

No wonder no manufacturer does this work. They prefer exchange

 of the whole generator instead. Those are produced as separate

parts and installed in different bodies (say Koetsu). My Koetsu

Rosewood Signature was ''refurbished'' this way but for 2200 euro.

 For ''big spenders'' who don't care about money, like some

Mexicans, this is obviously of no interest whatever. So such persons

 recommend ''refurbishing'' by the manufacturer. So in order to make

 their point they compare the situation with an Ferarri. Whatever may

 be defective one would be stupid to let ,say , some American garage

 to do the job but should post his car to Italy to the ''real 

manufacturer'' for ''refurbishing''.

Well it is easy to state that others are stupid , ignorant, have low

level learning curve, etc. ''qualifications''  but as one of our members

 just advised : ''look in the mirror man''  .


Dear @folkfreak : You are rigth that always is riscky to buy a cartridge second hand and that always before that you have to know and ask everything you posted. I agree with you.

Problem with the people that can't afford cartridges  over 5K the only and best alternative always be second hand if those people want that top kind of quality performance.

In the other side, 78dbs with those Pass amps are more than enough, no problem here at all.

Anyway, the OP took other alternative.

Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
Still kicking it around. Need to tell him by 10:00am tomorrow when he will ship it. I have it down to Denon and Clearaudio and 90% learning toward the Denon but would love any feedback and or info on the Clearaudio. He said it was a $5k cart and its replacement is $10k and it was at the time supposed to be one of the best cart out there would love someone to provide feedback. Without that i am just going Denon. Thanks 
Dear @analogluvr : SETs at 1w?, please stop to promote that BS. Yes, I don't know what I'm talking about but at least I understand the heavy degradation to a cartridge signal that one single or thousands of tubes makes to that signal and this main/critical subject is what you never will learn and you know why you never will learn?

Because you as many  many audio people were extremely well and deep "# educated " by that corrupted AHEE where you are a good example of that corrupted and " succesful "  AHEE strategy.

That's all, it's not me or you was and is the AHEE strategy where all of us belongs, including me. Fortunatelly years ago I cut those extremely resistence chains that mantained me exactly as you and many other gentlemans. I'm totally liberated ( by my self because the AHEE never help you about, obviously this is forbiden for them. ) and really enjoying MUSIC.

That AHEE makes me lost to many years to count it and mantained inside an audio fake/fraud hobby with a heavy make-up in that audio world.
 Now, I can see all those " clowns " ( not people like you because no one of us have the culprit to live in that fake/fraud. ) that makes me that and fell sorry for them.


Regards and enjoy the MUSIC NOT DISTORTIONS,
R.
A  Soundsmith Zephyr Mk III just hit for $599 and love how he rebuilds his own carts with the exact same parts for less than 20% of retail - but is it as good as the Denon? Its same price? 
For my VPI Table I can use my DAC Interconnects but swapping will get old quick. Any recommendations for a decent IC phono cable that's for a reasonable price? With VPI using the RCA box i can use regular IC but is there a certain one you guys use or know of that is nice and will imporve my performance or one I should know of or one I should consider? I know phono is a little different so want to ask for idea's and thoughts.

You guys are REALLY helping me. I know first hand is best but this thread is helping me a lot. 

Thank you for that from all of you guys. Its great to get both sides of the conversation it helps round out my new but growing perspective. 
Here are my thoughts and what I would consider in making a decision between the Denon and Clearaudio Accurate.

The Denon is a good cartridge and the price at $600 is a good deal. It may or may not work well with your phono stage and SUT. It is new and so will have about 1,000 hours of useful life which is 3,000 record sides.

The Clearaudio Accurate (CAA) was a reference quality cartridge, and is  a great deal if it has less than 50 hours and the suspension is good. If your friend is the original owner he will know for certain. The CAA with .6 mv output is a good match for your phono preamp. You can adjust the impedance as you indicated in a prior post.

One thing you could do is ask your friend to ship the CAA to Soundsmith or Andy at Phono Cartridge Retipping for evaluation (about $75 + shipping and you pay the cost) and you will buy the CAA if it needs no repair and has acceptable wear, otherwise you will buy the Denon. Obviously this will require some patience. Andy will have a faster turnaround than Soundsmith.

You could also just trust your friend and buy the CAA

jperry - great info. Even my buddy wants to mount it and listen because it has been sitting for so long but that is a great idea. Thanks  so much!  
Holy moley! What is going on here? The OP bought a VPI; so that is that. Now move on to the cartridge.

fsmithjack, if your friend is such a great guy, will he let you audition the DL-S1 on your own system? I don't see why you have to buy a pig in a poke, here. If Mr. wonderful thinks opening the box will lower the sale price to someone else, offer him $100 (or less) for the trial. That way you take the guessing out of the decision. 
For your first experience with a turntable, I suggest that you avoid a used cartridge. With a new cartridge you can take the variable of cartridge wear out of the equation. You’ll be spending many hours with a protractor, magnifier, eyes, fingers, and ears. You’ll be absorbing changes and re-tweaking as the set-up breaks in, and after 100+ hours of readjustments and break-in(if you’re lucky) you will be ready for critical judgment. Don’t confuse yourself with a potentially worn cartridge.
2channel8 - he is a nice person. An audio friend which many times is someone you did a few deals with and got to talking about audio and have things in common and life is good. He has been kind to me and I have returned the favor and then some because it is a nice thing to repay kindness with even more kindness. Something like trying out a friends NOS NIB cart to see if it is likable or works well with my gear is something that would need to be offered and not something I would ever ask of anyone. 

Don't get me wrong it would be great to try out the cart but not the type of thing I would ask.

The thing is I am sure he would let me if i asked because he is like that but even if he offered I would not accept the offer. Why, because if he was kind enough to offer that and I accepted then even if I hated it i would never return it so why even bother. Thats my take.   

That would make me uncomfortable and I avoid things that make me uncomfortable. I avoid things that cause me stress. I avoid things that could help me at the deference of someone else. Got to make sense for both and that is why I like doing trade deals and we have done quite a few of those.      

I like to ask advice on here because there are many smart and kind people that take the time to help me better understand things that I am not familiar with. 

Great thing really. Me, I am just looking to make better buying decisions and not for nothing but this site on so many occasions be it a DAC, AMP, PRE, Setup or Speakers or cables I have received fantastic feedback that is spot on from people with first hand knowledge of the items I have only read about and it has helped a great deal.

Thanks for the response and feedback. Just want to learn and enjoy the hobby. Chat with some new people, have some laughs without a worry in the world. 


dgarretson - very good point - remove a varaible were there are already so many that is one less to consider when dealing with it all. VERY good point in deed! 
Yes Raul my horn speakers are roughly 104db for 1 watt.  So 90 percent of the time I am using less than 1 W. Hence there is much less distortion then with a solid-state Amp. I'm not sure where you get this fallacy that Tubes degrade the signal more than transistors.   Any part degrades the signal so the less parts in the signal path the better off that you are.  And SET amps have some of the lowest parts counts in the signal path hence give the most musical purity. 
@ nandric, I always new you were a wise man :)
@fsmithjack not sure if you’ve pulled the trigger on the clearaudio yet but this is a brand of cartridges that has a house sound, one many like but one that others (me included) have never warmed too

frankly if I was in your shoes I’d be sorely tempted by this setup - the tunability feature is very clever and you would also lean a lot about what you are looking for - price is also attractive and in line with your budget
https://positive-feedback.com/audio-discourse/musikraft-denon-dl-103-phonograph-cartridge/

Dear @folkfreak : """ which is short of the 2.6V rated for maxiumum output for your X350.5. """

the OP speakers are rated as 4ohms and 90db sensitivty. That apm at that impedance puts 700 watts full power. Do you know when the OP will need the full rated power of the Pass with the S1 cartridge?: never.

@fsmithjack linearity is only one characteristic in an active part device but here we are talking of an amplifier or preamplifier not one single/specific part of the amplifier that’s the sum of its parts and excecution quality of the overall design that includes the parts selection.

An amplifier needs to have a really wide and flat frequency, with very low noise and overall distortion levels ( different kind of distortions. ), that can handle with no trouble the complex impedance/phase angle of the speaker curve, steady and both channels measuring and performing identically, enough headroom, trusty always over time, that the input signal does not has to pass for hundred of meters through amp transformers like usually happens with tubes, etc, etc, etc,

@analogluvr , got it?

R.
Raul yes I got it. And to throw another wrench at your superior knowledge I run otl as well. Even the op who is admittedly not an expert knows that the most linear device is a triode. So remove the output transformer from the equation and it is far more linear and lower in distortion than any solid state amp as long as YOU ARE DRIVING AN APPROPRIATE LOAD. Such as no crazy impedance dips or phase angles and something efficient so the amp is barely working. 
Granted if I were running apogee scintilla speakers I would need solid state, but I would not choose speakers such as that anyway. 
Im just sick of reading your Bs bias against tubes because it is just plain wrong!  You are on here presenting yourself as an irrefutable expert, speaking in absolutes, and minimizing distortions and blah blah blah and unfortunately some folks might believe you!  You don't make any distinctions between the different types of distortions and that is a huge factor!
I know many guys like you, lots of money to throw at audio so you buy everything under the sun. Obviously spending that kind of dough you are going to end up with decent sound at some point and you think that makes you an authority.  
Tubes done properly and driven properly are lower in distortion and sound more realistic to me, and many others, than solid state. 
Vinyl done properly sounds more realistic and has far better emotional involvement, than digital. IMO and many others as well. 
@rauliruegas once again you make a hyperbolic and extreme souffle of nonsense out of some helpful advice.

As you very well know gain matching is not only a matter of enabling the amp to deliver its rated output, if and ever needed, but is also about operating any volume control in the ideal range (i.e. towards the lower half or middle in most cases). In my own system going from a setup that delivered 60% of maximum rated input to one that delivered 300% was night and day -- the latter sounds so much more open and dynamic and allows me to operate the volume control at 30-40% of range rather than 70-80% and actually obviates the need for any gain in the pre-amp at all (i.e. I operate the pre-amp at below unity gain)

Gain matching is a matter of care across the full cascade and it ties one hand behind your back if your cascade cannot deliver full rated input to your amp. My observation was simply to suggest that he might care for a few dB more to guarantee this, not least if he should ever change his pre-amp or more likely decide to switch to a single ended rather than balanced configuration with the commensurate loss of gain across the chain 
@, it does not matters if OTL design ( problem is not only the transformers and only one additional to everything. ) and when I talk about tubes I'm speaking too of phonolinepreamp that at the end is more near the thread subject than amps. Btw, you did not read adequated what I posted bu matters due that you use tubes and horns that are two forbidden items in music/sound reproduction. Of course your phonolinepreamp is atube ones: which is its output impedance?

Digital?, well is so superior to LP but it's useless to discuss with a well AHEE educated pupil. Shame of the corrupted AHEE.

R.


I do like the idea of learner more about matching the entire chain - not something I ever really considered. My Bricasti M1SE run via balanced IC's to Levinson No.326s preamp balanced to my Pass X350.5 never had to worry about enough voltage gain and worrying about any of that but I see how the .15 needs more gain to make it all work via my Magico S5's. Thats cool info. Just wasn't on my radar so great info for me.

Just as a simple rule of thumb with this gear and now not using a SUT and of course my VPI runs via single ended but the No.326s says it converts everything to real balanced out which seems kind of cool.

What min voltage will allow full access to all my gain. .3 or .6 or somthing like that? Just curious because I have no idea how to calculate it or how you did and vaguely understand it but only because I have never had to think about it but I like to learn about better understanding this.

Thank you  
Might need some advice / help / tips on mounting my cart? Is there simple rule of thumb or technique  I can use or do I need spend hours reading how to stumble though the Rega Arc Baerwald protector found on Vinyl Engine and HiFi News’ Analogue Test Record? It just seems daunting for a newbie like me? This part takes the fun away. I am sure once I have done it and get a feel for it then all will be well but I don't even know what I don't know. Once you know what you don't know things always get easier and was just wondering if there is anyway to help slim down the learning curve. 
When you have a spare minute set yourself up a simple gain-cascade spreadsheet that you can play around with (the math is 10 to the power gain in any step/20, where gain is in dB)

In practice it usually only matters in the pre to power step, that’s assuming you are not overloading an input at any prior stage. If you find you are operating the volume control at 75% of range or more you may be tight on gain. Also it’s a good idea to match gain between sources so that you don’t suddenly switch from one to the other and blow your speakers. Many modern preamps allow you to adjust sensitivity at the inputs for just this reason. Also many digital components have adjustable output levels for the same reason.

Finally be aware that many manufacturers do not implement balanced outputs well and a single ended connection may sound better. This is certainly the case with my DCS stack, it sounds notably better connected single ended (using exactly the same brand and length of cable) - you should check if this is the case with your Bricasti, don’t assume that they have done balanced well
Regarding setup of the cart you MUST invest in a decent tool, something like this would be the minimum I recommend
https://www.musicdirect.com/analog-accessories/pro-ject-align-it-cartridge-alignment-gauge

There are many other similar setups that can cost a whole lot more but do not try and do it with some flimsy paper wotsit printed off the net

Thank you Folkfreak - I appreciate it. 

I truly am swimming in the deep end with crazy vinyl hobby. Man is there a lot to learn. Holly smokes.

OK guys read below the line below:

Check this out. I was googling and reading about the Denon S1 Cart and came across this on Audio Circle - very smart people talking about the S1 and how matching to a proper built phonostage and loading the cart and the capacitance of the cables matters and are important because this is such a unique cart that seems to pose so odd balance challenges and i hardly understand it. I mean I can follow it but not sure I could ever employ any of this knowledge without at least partial translation into to newbie language from others.

Read this info I just read - I copy and paste from Audio Circle:

____________________

 Audio Circle: Denon S1 and preamp considerations on: 16 Sep 2011, 09:58 pm »


First a little background - A few members here, participated in a group review of the DL-S1 on another forum. That thread is probably no longer there but it was very interesting, at least for the participants. While most of the reviewers has great results and thought it to be a wonderful cart, two of us had mixed feelings. I had a lot of trouble nailing down the the right load. I started out around 300 ohms, varied it up and down somewhat but couldn't get entirely satisfactory performance. On acoustic music it sounded as if there was a distortion that emphasized the overtones. It gave everything a goosed up sound that became fatiguing. I wasn't able to resolve that and finally mailed it to John TCG, for the next evaluation.

The DL-S1 is rather unusual in that it has 0.15mV output and 30 ohms impedance. It also tracks light, something like 1.3g, if I remember correctly. It has an aluminum cantilever and a special elliptical stylus. On an Audiogon thread there was a discussion about cantilevers and the DL-S1 was mentioned. Johnathan Carr (designer of Lyra carts) came on and mentioned that some aluminum cantilevered carts have extended response, and all of them do not resonate within the audible band. In response to my mentioning these loading problems, his response:

>The current DL-304 and DL-S1 are somewhat unusual.

>They also have very low output and 30 or 40 ohm impedance!

That is because the coil former is non-permeable, and therefore, rather inefficient in terms of generating electrical output from physical motion. But in return for that inefficiency, they avoid the distortions that all permeable cores inflict. All MMs and MIs have this distortion. So do most MCs that offer relatively high output voltage in comparison to their impedance. So do Raul's beloved step-up transformers (^o^). But non-permeable core MC cartridges like the DL-S1, FR-7, JVC L-1000, Benz-Micro Ruby et al, don't.

>Results seem very system dependant.

A cartridge like the DL-S1 prefers to have as few electrical contacts between itself and the phono stage input as possible, and a v-e-r-y good phono stage. In this sense, their requirements are no different from any other low-output MC. A little bit more extreme in degree, that is all.


That's interesting. I didn't know why those Denons had such high impedance and minuscule output. Some more considerations:

A "forgiving" phono stage is not what I would recommend for the DL-S1, nor for that matter, any other LOMC. The obviously desirable properties for a good MC phono stage are high gain, low noise, high immunity to RF, high overload margins (which implies high maximum output levels), and minimal deviation from the RIAA curve. Low capacity within the input stage benefits resolution and sound quality, but this partly conflicts with the requirement for low noise, so the phono stage designer must keep a sense of balance and trade offs.

One more critical requirement IMO is low capacitance between cartridge and phono stage, with the tonearm cable being the biggest contributor. The signal coils of the cartridge possess inductance, and this will react with any capacitance between the cartridge and phono stage to create a big resonant peak at ultrasonic frequencies (frequently in the RF range). This peak is much higher in frequency than any human can hear, but it can upset the circuitry of a phono stage that hasn't been designed with adequate consideration to RF or high-frequency overloading. This is eminently capable of of causing IMD at a much lower frequency, and this you can hear. This kind of IMD is quite obnoxious to the ear, since it is non-harmonically related to the LP signal, and therefore can sound outright dissonant.

Reducing the input impedance at the phono stage helps squash the RF resonant peak and thereby can reduce the phono stage's IMD that the ear finds so grating, but in return such heavy loading throttles the dynamics, transients and low-level resolution of the cartridge. Far more advantageous, IMO, to use a phono stage that doesn't need for the cartridge to be throttled down to make it listenable.

A phono stage designed according to this philosophy should have the side-effect of making records sound more quiet, because ticks and pops and tracking distortions will simply be treated as normal signals, and will not trigger circuit misbehavior.

FWIW, I have never had the need to load down any cartridge to under 100 ohms, for any phono stage that I have designed, and believe that I could afford considerably higher loading than 100 ohms with the DL-S1.

The loading situation with LOMCs is very different from MMs and MIs, where capacitance is needed to properly tailor the frequency response.

I note that some designers of MC cartridges and phono stages use quite massive amounts of capacitance to roll-off any ultrasonic peak from the coil inductance-cable capacitance resonant peak, but personally I have found this approach to take away more than it gives.


So there you have it. The loading down with < 100 ohms came from somebody on Asylum who loads it at 30 ohms. You lose half the output doing that. I didn't go below 100. My AHT phono has almost no capacitance. If I knew the situation I could have gotten a couple of caps and tried that. That overtone thing I heard was probably IMD. I guess system dependent was right after all. Now I think I know why.

______________________

Are you guys sure I am not way over my head with this cart?
@fsmithjack frankly I worry you are diving in head first and may waste a lot of time and money to no good outcome

Why exactly do you feel the need to add analog to your system anyway? Do you own 1000s of LPs? Are there specific genres you like that are only available on vinyl?

Without a real reason to get into vinyl why would you divert scarce $ that could go elsewhere in your system? Even if you accept (as I do) that the best vinyl can outdo the best digital, current digital (even red book) can sound magical and it will likely take an expenditure of much more than you are currently considering to get a vinyl setup that matches up to your current digital.

Add to this the fincky nature of vinyl and all the things that can go wrong I think you are letting yourself in for a whole lot of pain. Of course it will be fun to learn but don’t expect it to be easy and you should do everything you can at this stage not to make it more complicated than it needs to be (ie not starting out with what sounds like an oddball cart for example).

Anyway maybe i’m too late but do make sure you are prepared for what you are getting into
Um, Yeah heck yeah way too late for any of that,

I am not scared it can't be that hard and if so i will still push through via reading and asking for help and if needed having someone come help me somehow. 

I mean I have jumped in head first as I just purchased a $7,000 turntable, $12,000 Line/phonostage, $949 Cartridge, $1,500 SUT and $2,500 interconnect that I will share with my DAC until I buy a new dedicated phono cable. Thankfully these are new MSRP and I did not pay all those prices as I bought some of this gear used and I already had the linestage and IC but with counting those even at used prices I still have well over $10,000 into this vinyl venture and that is just to put together a semi-competent starter analogue package.

My pre linestage is world class but the phono is not up to the linestage or that I think anyways. The phono i hope is still decent enough as I bought the modules new for $800.

All this said I wanted to best compliment the gear I already had and put this exclusive analogue package together.

I went with VPI because it is not some crazy esoteric piece but rather a pretty common setup that tons of people have so I can find some help pretty easy there.

I mean tons of people talk about this cart but good to know definitely don't want to use a SUT and wish I had a little more gain and with my approach that buying used allows a built in exit strategy I am hoping I like it.

I mean buying a top cd or sacd player is simple but my digital system is not walk in the park either. Actually if you look at the digital I have put together there are more moving parts than this table set up.

There are no short cuts in hifi but hoping to at least get off the ground and can remove the training wheels and get good enough to make me happy sound as i learn. 

With digital I can listen to music for 283 days straight for 24 hours a day and not hear the same song twice, Records i have maybe 20 records but no biggie I will buy one here or there as I go.

I want to hear that sound or close to that sound I have read about a thousand times. Not the worlds best but good enough that I get a feel for what all the hoopla is all about.

No pain  no gain. Who knows maybe I dump this analogue set up and put the resource into the rest of my system. Or maybe I sell my beloved Bricasti and all my digital and focus all my resource into vinyl because I love the sound or maybe I walk a middle ground between both who knows but my gut says there is room for both as long as each is good enough as to not lose interest in the other. This is why I tried to put the best vinyl system i could for the money I had and why I am asking for help so I can learn more. Basically I chose to put the $5000 grand I had into this rather than a $5000 media server so we shall see if that was a good decision. 

One reason I went this route is because I listened to that $5,000 server and though my customer digital set up is better. If I spent $5000 on a digital server and liked what I had better then that would have got me no where and as far as my amp, pre or speakers I think they are good enough where $5000 would have me running into the law of diminishing returns. That leaves cables. I have pretty good cables and some are very good and $5000 in cables doesn't go that far once I get into getting better than I already have so I chose records. Want to take a kick the vinyl can and appreciate all the help. The more the help the better because I need it it :)  



 
Just point the tip of the needle +/- half a mm of the two null points on your protractor, twist the cartridge in the headshell to set the cantilever in parallel with the guide lines, and start sailing.