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Vinyl Newbie - So Many Questions!

New to these forums and new to vinyl, but longtime audiophile, so I feel comfortable saying that I know what I’m hearing but can’t figure out why. 

It would probably help if I summarize my system to aid in troubleshooting:

Marantz TT 15S1

iFi Zen phono preamp

Naim Uniti Atom as streamer/preamp/dac

Conrad Johnson CAV-45 S2

Klipsch Cornwall IV

I’ll start with the easy one

1.  I followed the setup instructions for the Marantz tt meticulously. Every time I start the motor, the belt squeaks and slips on the motor pulley before getting up to speed. It’s annoying and really cheapens the experience. Is this normal?

 

2.  The sound quality ranges from very bad to very good, largely dependent on the record. I don’t have a large collection as I just started with vinyl, but many of these pressings sound absolutely terrible. Many sound distorted and compressed. Many have tons of clicks and pops. I double checked the settings on my phono preamp which is really just moving magnet. There aren’t a lot of settings. One for MM and three for MC. I connected the phono preamp directly to the Conrad Johnson instead of the analog input on the Naim and while it does sound “better”, it’s mostly the same. 
 

I don’t have another cartridge or phono preamp to swap out and try to isolate the issue. Could it simply be that the phono preamp is defective?  It seems that if the cartridge was defective it would just all sound bad.  Could it be that my system is revealing enough that it’s showing the limitation of the iFI?  I just think it would sound “good” all the time, but never really “great”. Could it be that all of these pressings are so incredibly crappy that I’m hearing just how bad they are?

The couple of “mainstream” records do sound pretty good. Namely Gregory Porter, Adele, Gary Clark Jr, Miles Davis, John Coltrane. But even a couple of those have inconsistently cut holes for the spindle (some of them bind), significant warps, and some off-center labels. The independent stuff is all over the map. A couple of the John Prine pressings sound very good, but have soooo many clicks and pops it’s ridiculous - even after cleaning. And one of them wouldn’t even go on the spindle because the hole was so small. 
 

Anyway, I’m just perplexed and pretty annoyed. I’ve debated buying another turntable (with cartridge) and phono preamp just to see if there’s any change.  Any suggestions?  Is that my best course of action - to just buy another preamp and cartridge to troubleshoot? 

doodledan
lewm
12,457 posts
 

Doodle, I’ve scanned this thread to find out what MM cartridge you’re using. I don’t find that info. Can you supply it? Also does the Zen provide adjustments for MM gain, and loading of the cartridge? Incorrect loading can exacerbate ticks and pops. Meanwhile don’t spend money; you may not need to. Also, meticulous alignment or re-alignment is very unlikely to help unless you really botched the job to begin with. And there’s no need to run out and buy a US cleaner, either.

Does the Naim impose an ADA conversion on the phono signal? If so that can’t be helping as suggested by your own result connecting the iFi direct to the amplifier (?, or whatever that CJ device is)

lewm
12,457 posts
 

The CJ apparently is a “control” amplifier, aka an integrated amplifier. You definitely should connect the iFi direct to the CJ, only. Leave the Naim out of the vinyl pathway. Now you may be able to ameliorate the ticks and pops by proper loading of your cartridge, which remains unknown to me. It’s also important to know what cables you use from TT to CJ. Cables add capacitance. Capacitance from all sources may be creating a high frequency peak contributing to the ticks and pops issue.

 

Also, just for the heck of it, try listening with the dust cover off the turntable. It’s fine to have the dust cover in place when the turntable is not in use, but I am among the many who think dust covers can cause problems when playing LPs.

jasonbourne52's avatar
jasonbourne52
2,863 posts
 

Avoid new reissues! Most are cut from digital files and are often poorly mastered and pressed. I search for and buy original pressings made from an all- analog signal chain. They are often cheaper than new reissues! Discogs and eBay are both good sources.

doodledan OP
7 posts
 

Thanks again everyone. A couple of clarifications:

 

I am currently running the phono preamp directly into the CJ which, as someone else stated, is a control amplifier (integrated amp minus any gain stage).  It’s basically an MV-60 with three inputs and a volume control. 
 

I also remove the dust cover for all listening.

 

The cartridge is a Clearaudio Virtuoso - a MM cart that sells for around $1,000. 
 

The iFi does not allow for adjustment to the MM cartridge load and is defaulted to 47k ohms. 
 

I do not have a stylus pressure gauge but followed the setup instructions very carefully and believe it is set at the recommended pressure - certainly within the recommended range. 

lewm
12,457 posts
 

Phono cables?

input capacitance at the iFi MM inputs? (Input stage also adds capacitance. We need to figure out the total capacitance seen by your cartridge.)

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