Phono Stage upgrade to complement Dohmann Helix One Mk 2

Sorry @rauliruegas I usually place at the end of a post "Dealer disclaimer" especially when I talk about any equipment. I've been a member here since 2006 and as you can see I don't post much, up to 114 posts now. As for Kondo gear, initially it wowed me then I found it just too euphoric and "earthy" sounding. Yes I wanted a more accurate sound which I think you still can achive with some tubes. 

I'm not the most knowledgeable about different turntables, so my experience is rather limited.  I've only had a Rega P3, Rega P8, and then made a (very large) jump to the Dohmann Helix One Mk2.  The audiophile friend who's been in vinyl for decades was very impressed with the Dohmann.  Coming from the Rega P8, it's a world of difference:  a vast improvement in every aspect:  detail and clarity most obviously improved to my ears

@drbond I had the wisdom, luck, or just curiousity to stop by Dohmann HQ on Sat Feb 18th. (Mostly to see about a Schroder brass HS weight)

It was a wonderful couple of hours, and it is hard to find any fault with the TT as it was setup, and the music that was there was about a 50% overlap with what I have, so it was a good sign.

There are many “double negative” Australian sayings, and they can be subtlety different than without double negatives… but as the saying goes, “Dohmann makes it hard to not like him.”

I have a good cart, arm, phono stage and the SOTA rebuild is proceeding. But that Helix is really something else again.
I don’t think you will have much left to blame things on… but cartridge set up is an easy way to find a failure even with everything being good on its own.

well done!

Helix is one of the best I’ve ever heard.

@holmz

Thanks for sharing! Was the Dohmann HQ in Australia, or Bulgaria (as I just read a Fremer article about Dohmann, Schroder, and another sound equipment manufacturer joining together to form a conglomerate in Bulgaria.)

Yes, the alignment was tricky the first time, but I made all my mistakes on the Rega P8. I’ve only used the UNIDIN alignment on the SmarTractor, since I listen to entirely acoustic/classical/jazz music. Do you have any idea how the Baerwald or Loefgren alignment would affect the sound, if at all?

Thanks for sharing! Was the Dohmann HQ in Australia, or Bulgaria (as I just read a Fremer article about Dohmann, Schroder, and another sound equipment manufacturer joining together to form a conglomerate in Bulgaria.)

The outskirts of Melbourne.

Yes, the alignment was tricky the first time, but I made all my mistakes on the Rega P8. I’ve only used the UNIDIN alignment on the SmarTractor, since I listen to entirely acoustic/classical/jazz music. Do you have any idea how the Baerwald or Loefgren alignment would affect the sound, if at all?

Well, I opined that IMO the spindle distance and overhang are about the least important things to get right, but the Azimuth, rake and Zenith are hard… and people get over anal to the Nth degree on the easy stuff and can miss the important stuff… and he seemed to concur.
(We talked at length and I’ll be getting a WAM Zenith disc when the TT rebuild is complete.)

Anyhow… for instance with the CB-9, I plug in the 222mm spindle difference I get baerwald having the Schroder recommended overhang.
I am visually within 0.2mm of 222.

The I go into the calculator and use Loefgren and get a number a couple of mm different.
On a lark put in a spindle distance a mm error, and got an overhang a bit different. 1mm error in spindle distance is heaps.

So we can get anal on that to save a small fraction of a degree of error and then can miss say a cartridge Zenith error of a handful of degrees.
And SRA and Azimuth are also difficult, but less so for Azimuth.

This is worth a watch IMO:

My opinion is that I would not stress at all about it, but Baerwald is a longer effective arm, and I believe should be better overall… to an anal fraction of a degree… but I have not done the maths and graphs yet.

How does the TT sound?
I missed which arm and cart you put on it?

And @drbond I am a bit envious… but my old table is a thing of joy.