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Turntable advice / opinion on setup / sound.

Hello all you analog experts. I am seeking some advice, opinions and direction to try, based on my tastes and setup. 

I’m not loving my current TT sound but there are variables that could cause this. For reference, my favorite TT I ever owned was the ClearAudio Champion Level 2 (wish I never sold it) because it was warm and had a huge stage. 

  1. I listen to every style of music, smooth jazz to hard metal. 
  2. I have to turn the volume way up to get the get the level I like which at times has hiss and a tiny bit of hum. Compared to digital sources which have none of these issues. 
  3. I find this setup to lack huge stage and warmth. 

My current system is:

  1. Rega Planar 8 w/ Alpheta 2 MC cart.  
  2. Cambridge Audio -> Alva Duo Phono Pre amp
  3. Mark Levinson -> No 585 Amp. 
  4. Martin Logan 15a Renaissance -> 8FT apart/ 3ft off the front wall and 3 FT from each side wall. I sit 9FT away from the speakers.  

The turntables I am considering are:

1) Musical Fidelity -> M8XTT

What cart would you use?

2) Michell Audio -> Gyro SE Turntable

3) Clear Audio Champion Level 2

Thank you all in advance for any guidance and opinions you can offer. 

necrosuit
elliottbnewcombjr
7,763 posts
 

Quit your whining!

My McIntosh mx110z Tube Tuner/Preamp has 17 tubes.

The Fisher Console I inherited from my Uncle Johnny was all tubes: Control Center; AM Tuner; FM Tuner; Stereo Tape Deck; Garrard TT; Pair of Mono Amps, then Fisher sent a crew to his NYC Apt to add a tube multiplexer for FM Stereo, Tube Phono RIAA and new Stereo Cartridge.

I put the tubes for each component in a separate paper bag just before Thanksgiving each year and headed to the Electronics Store, big console with many hinged flaps/charts with tube listings/settings. God help the people in the line behind me. My back and legs were killing me when done. Perhaps needed 2, max 3 tubes.

Get thee a Tube Tester. Nothing fancy, just the basics will give you basic answers. Find the rare short or weak tube, test new ’matched’ ones when you receive them, know the problem is elsewhere.

After complaining each year, my wife got me a small portable Accurate 157 on my birthday. Last week would have been her 79th birthday, but she died age 39. You would have liked her. Like Donna, she encouraged my efforts.

 

I had a big Jackson, this little one always agreed with the big one, I gave it to one of my friends.

I check all my tubes every 6 months

My horn tweeters reveal any problem, my tubes are noise free. Some friends put up with a little noise, not me.

necrosuit OP
17 posts
 

Gentlemen,

You have all provided such awesome detailed feedback and I truly appreciate it all! 

With that said I just purchased the Manley Chinook Special Edition MkII Phono Preamp and the Ortofon 2MR Black LVB 250 cartridge. This will be my new path while I test and tune for a while. These purchases are a direct result of all your help and guidance. Thank you all! I have my Alpheta 2 MC Cart as well to compare differences.  I’ve always been a tube fan and tube rolling and this will allow a little of all worlds.  Thank you  

lewm
14,677 posts
 

I normally shy away from OPs such as this one, but one thing I do know: The Martin Logan speakers in question have a built in woofer with its own Class D amplifier built in as well, with a crossover to the ESL panel at 300Hz.  They are further rated at 92db sensitivity.  If anything, a 250W transistor amplifier to drive only frequencies above 300Hz (where power demands begin to taper off as frequency rises) is overkill. There is no need to consider a more powerful pair of amplifiers. Good on your purchase of the Chinook.

What's a "necrosuit"? Sounds either kinky or spooky.

necrosuit OP
17 posts
 

Oh yea, these 15a speakers crank easily with the built in class D amps. No issues driving these speakers with this amp. I’ve never gone past natural with the sub amps as it’s plenty. 
lol! Necrosuit is my old stage name from 30+ years ago. I was a world traveling heavy metal drummer for years (just released a new album) and have a song in an upcoming horror movie 2026 and here’s the weird story of how I got that name. 
I’m a big dude and people would always say I play so fast that it didn’t make sense and I must be this tiny little skinny kid that crawls into my “suit” before playing drums. That somehow turned into Necrosuit cause I was into weird horror movies and it just stuck ever after that. Funny how it all works. lol. 

lewm
14,677 posts
 

I am a lifelong ESL fan and owned the original CSL and then the CSL II, as well as many other ESLs, right up to the present moment.  So I am sure your speakers are superb,

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