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Rocky return to vinyl

I've recently moved from an integrated amp with no phono stage (Jolida 302B) to monoblocks and a preamp with phono -- Marantz 2s with a Marantz 7 pre. I've had an old Rega Planar 3 in retirement for a long time. It has what I gather to be the less respected RB200 arm, and I got a Shure M97xE, based on recommendations here at Audiogon. Most of my collection now is CD. My LPs are mostly high school stuff, and I got the inexpensive Shure just to take a small step into the world of vinyl with my new-to-me Marantz amps. As it so happens, the one LP I have that I also have a CD copy of is Earth, Wind, and Fire -- an anamoly in my listening, but fun and the CD sounds pretty good. (I have a Music Hall CD25.) Now, when I converted to tubes a couple of years ago, I got the impression my preference for tubes probably would translate into a preference for vinyl. And it still may. But I was VERY disappointed when I put on that LP. The instruments sounded muddled and congested, especially in direct comparison to the CD. I've tried a couple of more albums, but they all fall way short of what I'm used to from my decently recorded CDs.

I'm assuming the most common response I'm going to get here involves my spending several hundred dollars. But could I just be missing something basic? Should the difference with this Rega/Shure setup be THAT different from the Music Hall CD player?
judasmac
rnm4
308 posts
 
No. Something's amiss. Badly soiled LP, mis-aligned cartridge, phono section mucked up, dust bunnies on the stylus.

Don't give up. Vinyl, even barely working right, has charms CD doesn't have. That may not transfer into a preference for you, but you have not gotten a fair hearing. Shouldn't be a multi hundred dollar fix, either. If it's the pre, then even a really cheap phono stage into one of your line inputs should give you a better idea what LP can sound like. Get a decent LP, though: junk in, junk out.

Richard
mattman
61 posts
 
I think Richard is right. I just got into vinyl a little over a year ago. I have a fairly modest setup Rega P2, the least expensive Rega cart and a NAD PP2. I also tried to listen to my old records from high school and most of them sounded pretty bad. I've been buying new records and they sound great. I like my turntable better than my Rega Planet 2000 and my setup is not at all "high end". Stick with it. I don't think that you need to spend a lot of money to really enjoy vinyl.
the_smokester
174 posts
 
I agree...the turntable shouldn't be the problem here. Are you using the correct input (mc or mm) settings on the phono stage?
psychicanimal
1,738 posts
 
The instruments sounded muddled and congested, especially in direct comparison to the CD.

Should the difference with this Rega/Shure setup be THAT different from the Music Hall CD player?

1) I think you're experiencing the effects of stylus drag. As musical passages become complex, the belt drive platter bogs down and the music will sound congested. Changing the belt would be a good thing to do...

2) Yes, because the CD will have perfect pitch and a very low noise floor. The music will flow effortlessly when compared to the Rega.

I use a modded quartz locked DD turntable with outboard power supply. The deck plows through complex passages, having fast transient attacks and linear decays.

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