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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
lewm
14,670 posts
 

I hope and trust that "BS" is Bill Stevenson and not a remark about my advice. 

Does this help?

billstevenson
1,186 posts
 

My ears are ringing.  lewm’s advice seems solid to me.  I want to stay out of this dog fight.  I will offer this observation from past experience.  I have so far had an opportunity to check one P8.  It was fitted with a Rega cartridge and fastened into the arm with their standard 3 screw set up.  I did not need to adjust anything.  AnalogMagik confirmed excellent performance and the turntable and arm sounded quite good.  I personally would not hesitate to buy and happily use a Rega turntable appropriate to the application from P3 on up and have looked pretty long and hard at their Naia for my own system in NH as a possible replacement for my VPI HW19.

elliottbnewcombjr
7,741 posts
 

It isn’t a dog fight, but I am asking for specific answers  ____?, not to be told what I am asking for is not needed.

The facts are that OP owns P8 with RB880

OP bought an Ortofon Cartridge, made to fit the 14mm height of Rega Cartridges/Arm, but I have not read that it fits the 3 point mount. Even if it does, what about ANY other cartridge?

Rega, in it’s magnificence has not given the specifics for the null points for that arm, other than in a provided protractor that OP may not have/be able to locate. Or anyone else buying a used Rega TT.

Any and all tonearms I have been involved with have specific specifications for Overhang/Inner/Outer Null Points. Always different from the 3 recognized ’alternate standards’ or whatever you want to call them.

The 5 I own, ALL the others I have helped my friends with.

I have written the answers for 3 of my arms on my protractor:

 

btw, printing protractors is tricky. copiers are designed to be slightly off actual size to prevent copying money. I have had to come up with enlargement/reduction formulas to get things accurate.

A 1" square, or 30mm square on the original can be helpful when ’fixing’ something not quite right.

billstevenson
1,186 posts
 

Elliott, I can’t help you.  AFAIK the information you seek is not available.  Rega is not interested in making their arm or their turntable compatible with other cartridges.  If you take the time to research the design philosophy of their products you will learn why.  Mikey Fremer did cover the subject quite thoroughly, first in a multi part video visit to the factory that is available at Analog Planet.  Separately he has reviewed several of their turntables in which he also covers their design philosophy.  For our purposes here, perhaps the best I can offer is to say that although their products seem to work quite well, they are best used as directed.  That is to say, used with either their own cartridges, or with ones designed specifically for use with them.  Although I have not had the opportunity to measure the performance of a Rega TT with an Ortofon cartridge, based on the respect I have for both companies, there is little doubt that they would mate up and work just fine without the need to do anything other than set VTF.  That is exactly the way Rega designs their products to work.   I am confident that Ortofon took that into account in the design of their compatible cartridges.  It is worth noting that even though this approach is clearly not directed at sophisticated consumers like you, it provides the majority of people an opportunity to enjoy top level performance without needing to know any more than how to unpack their new unit and plug it in.  Actually, I would like to correct something I communicated in my previous post.  Although the Rega Naia would be my first choice, if the right deal comes along, I would not rule out a P10 either.  These are really terrific turntables and worthy of even the best systems.  You should take time, try to erase the prejudice you have developed, and with an open mind at least take the time to understand the great thought, effort, and on going refinement that has gone into what is a very innovative line of turntables.   They may not be for you, but they are worthwhile and should not be dismissed lightly.

tomic601's avatar
tomic601
13,730 posts
 

The top of line Rega with Lyra Aetna I listened to at buddys house recently was setup using IEC protractor.. A Brinkmann in this case but a Clearaudio or a sturdy but well worn vintage Denneson would suffice.

the dog in this particular fight sounded great from a whisper to a full on Satchmo howl

 

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