House of Marley Stir it Up Turntable

halo

I recently acquired a new "Stir it Up" turntable made by House of Marley.

This is the first TT I've owned since the mid to late 90's. Prior to that, I had a Garrard Model 72B that was passed down to me in the late 80's as vinyl was going out and CD's were coming in. I kept & used the Garrard for a while but, since vinyl was "out", it didn't get much use once the media disappeared from the record stores.

With the help of some of the superb people here on the forum (@SCompRacer, @mhardy6647, & @dromunds) along with a whole bunch of videos on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM-aIDwfrhc & https://youtube.com/watch?v=jizk-3JGzag) we got the Stir it Up assembled and calibrated. Thanks to the extreme generosity of some the fine folks here on the forum, we are spinning records that made their way to us from some people's private collections. Thank you, gentlemen, for all of your advice and for the generous donations!

Unfortunately, I would have a very difficult time trying to explain to you what I'm hearing through this turntable as my audio memory couldn't possibly offer a fair comparison to what I've heard in the past and what I'm hearing now. I have heard some amazing vinyl setups at Rich's house through the InnerSound Eros speakers (I think he had a Nottingham Spacedeck?). I also heard some stellar setups at AXPONA but those are all very meticulously put together and this is my first foray.

I'm currently using the built in preamp to run the signal to my Marantz NR1403 AVR. The stock cartridge is an Audio-Technica ATN3600. The platter is made out of recycled aluminum, as is the speed selector switch and the tonearm. House of Marley prides itself on the use of sustainable materials as the top of the turntable is made of bamboo, & the sides and bottom are covered in black cloth comprised of a combination of hemp, recycled plastic, & organic cotton. The slip mat and the feet are made of the same material which consists of recycled plastic and rubbers.

I am looking to purchase a separate phono preamp and I've already got an upgraded AT100E cartridge on the way. Hopefully, I can extract all the goodness this turntable has to offer with a few tweaks and some additional hardware.

xsmi

Looks good! Congrats!

lightman1

Key? Doormat or top of the doorjam?

dromunds

Glad you're enjoying the vinyl jams again. Clean aesthetic there. Looking darn good!

halo

Just verified what's inscribed on the side of the tonearm:

"One good thing about Music, when it hits you, you feel no pain"

motorhead43026

^^unless it is Disco.

halo

Used a protractor today to align the head and, surprisingly, it is set perfectly from the factory.

Obviously, this will change when I install the AT100E. I'm thinking about picking up an AT shell to keep the alignment on the OEM cartridge set and make swapping easier.

I also picked up a Parasound zPhono pre but I will only replace one piece at a time to note the difference each one has on the sound quality.

dromunds

Outstanding! Great bang for buck with the zphono. I also agree with extra headshell so swapping is easier.

halo

dromunds wrote: »

Outstanding! Great bang for buck with the zphono. I also agree with extra headshell so swapping is easier.

Thanks Don!

Does it matter what headshell I purchase? Are they universal?

Any recommendations?

mikeyb128

I saw these on display at bestbuy, they look like really nice tables. Congrats on your purchase!

halo

mikeyb128 wrote: »

I saw these on display at bestbuy

I guess these are a "mainstream" tt now? The fact that they are at BB is concerning to me. lol.

mikeyb128

halo wrote: »

mikeyb128 wrote: »

I saw these on display at bestbuy

I guess these are a "mainstream" tt now? The fact that they are at BB is concerning to me. lol.

I wouldn't! They carry Polk and that isn't concerning to me! Haha

txcoastal1

I have a couple Marley products. The original bag-of-riddum has been a favorite piece when I travel. I tested a lot of portable boxes and this sounded the best by far.

Everyone compliments the sound

Looks good

halo

New cartridge arrived today. zPhono pre will be here tomorrow. I will keep you all posted after one of the two is installed and we take a listen.

mhardy6647

practice good scientific method -- change only one variable at a time!

halo

mhardy6647 wrote: »

practice good scientific method -- change only one variable at a time!

Of course!

Now,
Is this the independent variable or the dependent variable? lol

mhardy6647

I had faith in you (two)!

PS -- you've got me interested in that cartridge; A-T (even nowadays) has so many different ones, it's almost unbelievable. That isn't a model I have any familiarity with at all.

halo

Had? Past tense?

mhardy6647

heh-heh-heh; sorry!
I meant that I had faith when I posted my original, jocular admonition!



I still do have faith. or, as the web-savvy youth of today might put it -- Teh faiths. I has them.

Changing both preamp & cartridge at once would be like the Ghostbusters guys (v 1.0, that is) crossing the streams, you know?

halo

mhardy6647 wrote: »

PS -- you've got me interested in that cartridge; A-T (even nowadays) has so many different ones, it's almost unbelievable. That isn't a model I have any familiarity with at all.

I chose that cartridge as it is 1/2 the price as the next model up. I figured a modest investment on a modest tt made more sense at this point, plus I had to figure in the cost of the zPhono and the two combined are where I wanted to be, all in, on this my first foray back into vinyl

This cartridge was also recommended by the reviewer of the tt at digital trends. The Needle Doctor recommended the next model up (as I mentioned before, at 2x the price of the one I purchased).

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Changing both preamp & cartridge at once would be like the Ghostbusters guys (v 1.0, that is) crossing the streams, you know?

lol. I don't think it would be that bad but it would be difficult to determine what made the biggest improvement.

mhardy6647

halo wrote: »

I chose that cartridge as it is 1/2 the price as the next model up. I figured a modest investment on a modest tt made more sense at this point, plus I had to figure in the cost of the zPhono and the two combined are where I wanted to be, all in, on this my first foray back into vinyl

I like your thinking! Are you a yankee?

mhardy6647 wrote: »

Changing both preamp & cartridge at once would be like the Ghostbusters guys (v 1.0, that is) crossing the streams, you know?

lol. I don't think it would be that bad but it would be difficult to determine what made the biggest improvement.

Exactly. Maybe I exaggerated a wee bit, but I am kind of sensitive to uninterpretable experiments

Keep us posted!

lordcloud

That looks like a very nice table

halo

Got the zPhono in the mix now. Sound is fuller. Cartridge swap will be the next upgrade.

mhardy6647

nice.

Dawgfish

Congrats! That is one sharp table!

halo

@mhardy6647 & @Dawgfish - Thanks guys!!!

dromunds

Looking darn good

halo

dromunds wrote: »

Looking darn good

Thanks Don!

halo

I spent most of the day yesterday cleaning records with the Spin-Clean. A majority of the records that I cleaned were for my parents. They recently purchased a Denon 300F turntable and we located a box & a folder full of 45s. While most of the 45s belong to my parents some of them belonged to my siblings (they have no interest in vinyl so I picked up about 10 little records).

A lot of these records look like they're pretty scratched up but I didn't have any problems playing the ones I pulled from the stack.

Next weekend we might change the cartridge.

halo

Well, we finally got around to "upgrading" the cartridge on the Stir it Up from the included Audio Technica ATN3600L to an Audio Technica AT100E.

I didn't spend a metric ton of cash on this upgrade because I wanted to see what I could get out of a modest investment. I'm happy to report that, overall, the sound has improved. There's more emphasis on the bottom end and the mids opened up a bit and the top end is nicely detailed without being harsh. Altogether, I'm happy with it.

Installation & setup were a little challenging because the headshell is not removable. We ended up reusing the mounting screws and nuts that came with the ATN3600L as none of the hardware supplied with the AT100E would allow me to mount the AT100E to the Stir it Up's headshell. Also, the AT100E cartridge is a lot lighter than the ATN3600L so I had to significantly increase the tracking force beyond what is recommended in the supplied literature. I was briefly reminded of people who taped a quarter to the headshell of their record players when I was a kid.

It sounds very good and I really like the attached stylus guard.

mhardy6647

halo wrote: »

Well, we finally got around to "upgrading" the cartridge on the Stir it Up from the included Audio Technica ATN3600L to an Audio Technica AT100E.

...Also, the AT100E cartridge is a lot lighter than the ATN3600L so I had to significantly increase the tracking force beyond what is recommended in the supplied literature. I was briefly reminded of people who taped a quarter to the headshell of their record players when I was a kid.

It sounds very good and I really like the attached stylus guard.

I'm guessing that you didn't increase the tracking force per se, but rather had to crank the counterweight further "in" (towards the pivot) to balance the new cart's lower weight & thence dial in the tracking force(?)

Not quite trivial, since the AT100E should, I think, be tracked considerably lighter than the AT3600L. A-T sez:

AT3600L 0.6 mil conical; 2.5 to 3.5 g VTF
AT100E 0.3 x 0.7 mil elliptical; 1.0 to 1.8 g VTF

In 1950s broadcast studios, my father said the DJs would put a "Zippo lighter" on the head of the Gray arms they used so that the stylus would plow through any 'stuck groove' Srsly.



That's a Para-Flux arm -- a Zippo'd slip right off the head; the Grays had flat heads
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=12543.0

Here's a Gray -- from "Lenco Heaven":