The next stage "LP" thread!

OK guys, I have the Michell table going and I have a small cleaning system not to mention 50+ lp's on the way. I pulled out the old Soundcraftsmen preamp but it doesn't have a phono input. Oh well. I knew this would be a long road. I just landed an AI modulus 3A for about a grand which is a tube preamp with a MC phono preamp built in. I read several reviews and it looked like the 3A was a better choice than the 3. This is a good deal because most 3A's are going for $1500+. Thanks for the advice rlw! Within the next week I'll be spinning vinyl!!!
Thanks!
madmax
Thanks!
madmax
Vinyl, the final frontier...
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...

Post edited by madmax on
Comments
Can't wait for the result of your first listen. I cannot imagine that you will be dissapointed.
Drop me a note.
I bet the Phys Graf lp is awesome!
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
I think you'll love the AI M3A.
What LP's did you score?
The AI 3A is a go! Shipped out today. I read all the reviews and it sounds like I couldn't go too wrong. The stereophile review was the best. Something like "Is this the best preamp in the world? Maybe" but then the next month he thinks another one has the edge.
As far as new lp's, I have been looking on ebay. Not a bad deal for most. The average including shipping seems to be about $8. The cheapest one was Bryan Adams which I won for 0.50 and it had free shipping.
Others include:
Police, Every breath
Stones, under cover
Pretenders, get close
Roger Waters,
Chuck Mangione,
10CC
First two Van halen
Joan Jett
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
Depending on where you live, I'll bet there is a record store within 30 mins. of you - and if you are lucky there will be a REAL record store that sells all sorts of records, including older used stuff in good condition.
Lots of new stuff still gets released on vinyl. Just find a record store in your area and you'll be set.
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
I found a place online that sells outer sleeves. Sleeve City is the name of it. Sounds pretty obvious to me.
It wont be long now. I can't wait. I've suprised myself this time by being so patient!
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
Will I have any problem with rumble or feedback if the table is set up properly? I am currently not using subs but I normally do and will be in the short future. My guess is that rumble happens if the table not isolated well and feedback happens if the LP is not clamped down?
I remember getting both with the old table if the sub was on.
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
Acoustic feedback? Not if properly setup. What does that mean? Basically, you have to get the table placed on something pretty rigid - a Salamander "Flexy" rack won't work. From there, spend your time getting the bounce correct, and you shouldn't have a problem.
Good news on the pre! You're going to end up with an incredibly sweet rig.
I got the pre-amp in. The Modulus 3A was an excellent suggestion. I like everything about it so far. Thanks!
I set up the system and a few things stood out. I have not formed an opinion about the sound yet so I'll just throw a few things out there in no particular order.
*I played several new lps and noticed a slight but annoying noise during very quiet passages and between songs. Picture an lp with nothing recorded on it and the needle just riding in the groove. The sound of the needle riding through the groove kind of swirls through the speakers, one at a time. This sound, since it is first on the left, then right, then left again is exagerated by the SDA effect of my speakers. THIS is the strange part: The God Save the Queen lp is the only one that doesn't do that. IS it because it was cleaned or treated with something??? Do I need to look at the anti skating control or other adjustment?
*The SDA soundstage is full. Hoosier was having a problem with this on his. I tried a Janet Jackson lp which has excellent effects moving throughout the room. I own the CD as well and as far as soundstage and SDA effect they are absolutely the same.
*I played an older lp which I had played several times on my old system with out cleaning or taking good care of it and it was still very quiet. An even older somewhat scratchy looking lp was horible though.
*I don't know what is up with these tube electronics. When I set up my first tube amp I turned it on and after about 15 seconds the fuse blew. After that it was fine. Later I hooked up a different amp for the first time. Same thing. Then my mono blocks, same thing. Now after using them for 6 months I insert the new preamp and the same thing happened again. It seems whenever I change something the fuse blows then all is fine. (this applys to all the tube amps I have) Weird.
*The lps lack a noise that the CD's have. Often when something switches from one channel to the other it does not seem as smooth as a CD because this "noise" is not there to cover things up. This quietness took awhile to get used to.
*The sound coming from the lp sounds as if it is more mechanical than that from the CD. (I don't know what I mean by this yet)
*The very lowest electronicly generated sub bass (10hz?) which is only recorded on a few CD's I have is not as strong from the lp as it is from the CD but is very smooth and nice.
Just my first thoughts after listening to approximately 5 lps.
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
Interesting read, keep it coming.
If I remember correctly you are in Frederick, right? Did you try the Record & Tape Traders in Towson? I seem to recall a larger vinyl selection at that store. Also, try Joe's Record Paradise at 1300 East Gude Dr. Rockville, phone # 301.315.2235. They have a large selection of used LP's. There is Olsson's Records, closest one is 7647 Old Georgetown Rd. Bethesda, phone # 301.652.3336. There are more if you're interested. On a side note (for rlw), they all acknowledge that "redbook LP" is a accepted term for standard vinyl.
Cheers,
F1nut
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
I tried Record and Tape traders in Fredneck but they only had a few. I'll look into the others. I hate heading South from here but for some records it might be worth the hassle.
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
Glad to hear you are up and running. Sounds like you are off to a good start.
Im not sure what you are hearing, but I suspect it is surface noise from the lp. I have noticed even on new vinyl that there can be more or less depending on the record. I have no idea of why that would be. Perhaps rlw can shed some light on it. I don't think, however that it is feedback you are hearing. My Rega sits between the sda's on a less than desirable stand and even at higher volumes, I cannot detect any feedback. With that said, my old Marantz would produce feedback even at moderate volume.
Keep us posted and buy a copy of Red Headed Stranger by Willie Nelson. It is the record I use to compare acoustic music.
Paul
The swirling sound is not feedback, it's just a very small noise. I think maybe something could be adjusted better. I only brought up feedback because of where I have the table placed. My old one would have been howling there.
When you play something it is not totally silent before the song starts or between songs is it? That is the sound I'm talking about. It just seems it should be more continuous on both speakers rather than shifting from side to side like it is.
I'll pick up Red headed stranger when I see it.
Thanks,
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
Paul
Fredneck!?! Waaaaaaaaah, I like that and I know what you mean. It's not too different around here. I've got friends up your way, as a matter of fact, I had dinner in Fredneck last night.
Joe's place is a easy shot off of 270, you shouldn't find traffic too bad. Also, there is a place called Old Glory Antiques in Frederick that has somebody in there selling vinyl, could be worth a look.
F1nut
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
270 south to Shady Grove Rd. Turn left at the end of ramp on to Shady Grove. Turn right on Gaither Rd. Left on Redland. Right on Frederick Rd. (Rt.355) and left on Gude Dr. Joe's is about 1 mile on the left in a strip mall, next to a bank.
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
That's 5 min away from my part time job! Thanks!!!
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk
Nothing special about GSTQ- wasn't that one still sealed?
I think you're hearing some surface noise. You can probably come pretty close to eliminating it at all but silly volume levels; that's going to take a combination of careful [read: anal] setup and cleaning.
A few things come to mind about your basic setup to double and triple check just for kicks.
(1) Level - are you positive the table is level? You have realized that every time you adjust a suspension spring, the level of the sub-chassis and platter changes, right?
(2) The bounce - how many hours have you spent getting the bounce just right? It really should go straight up and down, with no lateral motion. If you keep a standard spirit level on the platter while you bounce, that bubble should not move from side to side. There should be no "jello" wobble. Is the tonearm cable impeding the bounce? Are you using the stock SME cable? Can you position your table so that the lead hangs straight down over the edge, and doesn't hit the shelf you have the table on?
(3) VTA - double checked? Is the GSTQ LP thinner than the others you've tried? Could the GoldRing be that sensitive to VTA?
(4) Glass shelf - might not be the best, b/c glass does resonate a lot. That might be affecting things.
The record side of things: Warp. Off-centered-ness. This can be hard to see, but most records are somewhat off center. Grossly off-centered records will exhibit wow-and-flutter when played on anything but the old Nak auto-centering table. This could explain the ping-pong effect of the noise.
I know it sounds weird, but watch a noisy record as it plays. Get your face right up there next to the table, and look all round, and see if you can find anything that correlates with the noise. Does the arm move a certain way during those passages? Can you see it hitting a warp/moving side to side?
Does the noise increase/decrease as you get closer to the center of the LP?
What about changing the tracking force/anti-skate? I usually start at the upper end of the manufacturer recommendations...but try backing things off, or even going a tenth of a gram heavier.
Believe it or not, I get the quietest results when I get the bounce just right, and get the right kind of rack under the table. Those two factors seem to ice out that cyclical noise. As a guess from your comments about the "mechanical" sound, I think you might want to play around with this some more. The Michell should be able to play without any cyclical noise to speak of.
EDIT: reread your post, and the comment about the bass response fits with the suspension tweaking. The bass from the table should be very good.
How did the C&C LP sound with SDA?
Thanks
HBomb
I'm printing out your response and will follow through it one by one. I have to get a "spirit bubble". I'm guessing that is one of those that is round and you center the bubble.
Thanks!
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
You have me wondering about the VTA. The following is from a review of the cartridge:
"2) The cartridge is a little more than usual sensitive to VTA (Vertical Tracking Angle) adjustments (for a Moving Magnet Cartridge), so experimentation is on order. "
Could it be THAT critical?
The C&C lp is nice. I only did a quick listen so far. I was more into trying several different lps rather than really listening to one at the time.
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...
madmax
Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want...