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Suspended vs. non-suspended turntables

My main system currently includes a Project Perspective with Grado Sonata cartridge, Conrad Johnson EV-1 phonostage, Conrad Johnson Premier 17LS preamp, McCormack DNA 500 amp, and Thiel CS6 speakers. I have noticed that this turntable sounds a bit shy in the bass despite adjustment of VTA and downforce. As a result, I did a quick experiment and swapped out the Perspective for a Project Debut with a Denon 110 cartridge, a rig that is much less expensive than my main turntable set up. To my surprise, the sound is much fuller with this inexpensive turntable, although it is a bit brighter and has more surface noise. Do you think this may be due to the Perspective being a suspended table and the Debut not? Any other thoughts on why I notice this tonal difference?
droz
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I noticed a difference when I switched from suspended to non-suspended but tables are complex systems and hard to generalize about.
gregm
3,395 posts
 
More likely it is due to the sound of the cartridge, better loading and cartridge-arm synergy.
When I heard a few Projects including your own and wearing an ortofon cartridge (but which?), the differences between models were clear (albeit not always shattering).
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