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Help: New Rega P3 & Grado Platinum; No highs


This is my first table and it seems terribly simple
to set up but alas, I am defeated. The sound coming
out of this combo is muted, dull, and with no high
frequencies. Switch to my CD and things seem
right again.

What I did:

I aligned the Cart with the cardboard alignment gadget
I set the bias and tracking weight to 0
I balanced the arm to just above the LP using the weight
I set the tracking weight to 1.5
I set the bias to 1.5

Result: dull, lifeless, mushy sound with no highs.

I increased the tracking weight and bias to experiment
but it didn't help. After two 3 hours I decided the right
thing to do was to search for a rope and hang myself but
I couldn't find one so I had a shot of tequila and went to
bed instead.

I also notice that the tone arm lifter level doesn't rise
high enough to push the arm up so I have to slowly
drop the arm on an lp. This seems like it *could*
easily bend the cantilever so I would like to know how
to fix this as well.

I'm in Seattle so if there are any local analogue experts
reading this, I'd love to chat on the phone.

Thanks
Tom
eastside_guy
eastside_guy OP
29 posts
 
Wow, you guys are great!! I have many leads now.
I set the preamp to MC via an internal jumper because
it seemed like MM didn't have enough volume. I only
tried it for about 10 seconds and felt like the
preamp distorted when it got to 1 o'clock and still
wasn't loud enough. That's why I switched to MC.

I'll see if the MM sounds right if not too soft. If
this fixes it then I just need a highier output Grado.
I went out of my way to get the VPI 1.5mv version
because people said it did better with the hum problem. Well I still hear the hum but its not that bad so long
as the music is playing to drawn it out.

Does the P25 have the hum problem too? I'm thinking
mabye I should have gone that route.

Tom
david99
1,467 posts
 
It sounds like you have a mis-match somewhere.Better take Mr.Campbell up on his offer.
I have a P-25 with a 4.5mV Platinum.I only hear a light hum when the tonearm is raised above the platter.I have never had a hum during music or even between tracks.
plato
1,543 posts
 
I'm not familiar with the Classe 30 preamp, but shouldn't there be a way to set it to the higher-gain MC position and still select the 47 k-ohm impedance load? If not, I'd bet this would be be an easy modification to perform. Perhaps you should call Classe and ask them about it. Most MC phono preamps can be set to 47k as far as I know.
jimbo3
304 posts
 
Tom-

If you are looking for good phono pre-amp with selectable gain and selectable impedance, I have an Acurus P-10 that I'm considering selling. Great pre-amp at a very reasonable price. Email me if you would like the details. First, check out your output and impedance specs on the cartridge to see if it matches the MC or MM phono input on the Classe pre as Plato suggests.

Good luck
Jim
david99
1,467 posts
 
Tom,you may want to upgrade to a stand alone Lehmann Black Cube solid state phono-preamp...can be had used for $350-$400 and has all the settings you need.
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