Surprised at how turntable sounds


Hi,

I'm new here and I hope this, my first post, is in the right spot.

I'm hoping for some feedback and help about what happened with a turntable I've just got.  My system has two Dynakit Mk 3 60w monoblocks, a Sonos Port, two B&W 702 S3 speakers, a nas with my music saved as flac files, and a new Denon DP-25F turntable.  

I've only recently set this up.  I've had the monoblocks for quite a while and have been impressed with how they sound.  The B&W speakers are pretty new, and are probably the stars of the system.  To me they're amazing.  The nas is nothing new; I've been using it for years as my music source.

Other than the new turntable, I've been blown away with how great everything sounds.  Even my wife is impressed.

I've just set the Denon up.  I've been wanting to get a turntable again for years, obviously not for the convenience, but because of what I've heard about analogue audio.  I was really surprised when I heard it.  What I expected was lush, full sound.  I thought it might even sound better than music with nas files as the source.  I hoped it would.

It didn't sound better.  It was - what I can best think of to describe it - "thin" sounding.  Switching from the LP to the nas and back was quite a difference.  The nas music sounded great - rich, full, and deep smooth bass.  The music from the turntable was better with "loudness" turned on in the Sonos app, but still sounded mostly acceptable for a party.  Something I wouldn't listen to all that closely.

The cartridge is a DSN-82 stylus.  Should that be adequate, or better than adequate, for my system?  Would I do well to get a new cartridge?

Should I get a new turntable?  

Anything else?

Thanks much in advance for reading, and any suggestions that will help me understand what's going on.

martinlb

@martinlb the ground wire goes between turntable and phono stage. Then the phono stage connects to your Sonos with rca cables. 

I would buy used, your money would go 2,3 times farther

The quality difference between album a or b can be night and day. You are probably used to the consistency of digital. Analog can sound different, better, richer, more detailed when you get everything right.

Buy the best phono stage you can afford. 

Rega P3 with an ND cartridge is a sweetspot Entry level in the hifi world but what a great entry!

When I wanted a brand new turntable to add to my collection of a dozen I bought a Pioneer PLX1000 - $699 from Sweetwater. I added a Denon 103R lomc cartridge ($350). What influenced me was Herb Reichert's positive review in Stereophile. Add that to the fact that the Pioneer was half the price of a comparable Technics direct drive. I already had a secondhand Technics 1200. I am happy with the build quality and sound of the Pioneer/Denon 103R.

Oh yes, Herb likes the sound of the Denon 103's! I agree and find them competitive with mc cartridges costing several times their price!

At $1k, I would add a +1 for the Rega Planar 3. In order of importance, the turntable itself is most important in terms of sound quality, then the tonearm, and finally the cartridge. The turntable matters most since it is providing a solid foundation on which the other components are working.