This is my first complete high-end system, though I have had other good equipment in the past. I listen mostly to LP's, though I have many CD's as well. Right now it is all plugged in to the Monster HTS 800 Home Theater Power Center. I use a Nitty Gritty Record Doctor 3 Cleaning Machine, with the Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solutions cleaning fluids. I also have Mobile Fidelity's #9 Stylus Cleaner, along with their dry brush, as well as some camel hair brushes.
Eventually I will upgrade the analog front end, get some fully horn-loaded speakers, and separates for amplification, in particular I would love to try an SET amp. All that will have to wait until I have a different house/dedicated room, perhaps with dedicated power lines.
Hi Suntzu - sorry, just saw your post tonight! My brother has a Nottingham table that he uses a Dynavector with, and he likes it. The Nottingham tables are very nice. The Thorens 124 was indeed what I was referring too, fantastic table. You might try the new Rega P10 - my brother has heard one and said it is fantastic.
I use Kimber 8PR speaker wire and Kimber Hero Interconnects. I have never been a huge believer in cables, either. The Kimber stuff was on sale when I got it, and I have never looked back. It does beat the Monster cable I used to use. Paul Klipsch famously said that you could use lamp cord with his speakers and they would still sound great, LOL! I definitely agree with Robert Harley where he says that the cost of your cables and interconnects should never be any more than 5% of the total system cost - I think mine is a little less than that figure.
Sorry I have never used Dynavectors. When I got my Nottingham Hyperspace TT I started playing with MC cartridges right away. I went from a Koetsu Rosewood cartridge to a Shelter 901 MC cartridge. Now the Shelter 901 cart is mounted on a Nottingham Spacearm. The Shelter 901 cartridge is very detailed and resolving. Its a dynamic bold sound very different from the Koetsu Rosewood which has a much warmer sound.
I don't own a Rega TT and was considering buying one to play classical music and jazz music like you do. I'll continue playing around with my Nottingham Hyperspace until I find something better. Funny I used to own a Thorens TD160 but never found the time to modify it. I've heard good sound can come from a modified Thorens 124 or Lenco L75.
I'm curious to know what sort of speaker cables you are using for your Klipsch Cornwalls? I'm not a big believer in cables. However I had a dramatic deterioration in sound recently when I experimented with thicker Belden speakers cables. When I went back to my thin 14-16AWG silver coated copper no-name speaker cable the sound improved dramatically. Another reason why I love my Cornwalls. Even simple thin speaker cables work great with them :-)
Hi Suntzu - the main reason I have never "upgraded" is financial - can't afford to! I am a professional musician, LOL! I bought my system all at once when I had the money, with the idea that it would probably be a very long time before I could experiment much with it. I will be in the market for a new cartridge soon, though, as it is probably nearing time to retire the Exact 2 I have been using. I am thinking about going with a moving coil and a SUT. Many people seem to like Dynavectors, do you have any experience with them? What do you have on your Rega? Or do you not have a Rega right now?
The Regas do classical and jazz great. Certainly better than just about anything else anywhere near their price range, IMO. I would love to experiment with an old Thorens, though. A friend of mine has one I hope he is still saving for me to buy some day...
True. I notice you seem to be very pleased with your hifi system and have not succumbed to the temptation to upgrade. That is commendable.
I'm an amateur musician and played clarinet and saxophone in my college band. I remember spending hours of practice to try and get the tone and phrasing exactly right. That experience makes me really appreciate a great orchestral or small ensemble performance when individual musicians play their best with great skill and dynamics whilst always seeking to maintain a balanced cohesive performance as a group.
I'm considering getting the Rega RP8 or RP10 complete combo with Apheta cartridge. Music playback will lean more towards classical and jazz with a smattering of pop/rock.
I'm interested to know your opinion about how well Rega turntables play classical music and jazz when compared to other TT combinations. Rega seems to have such a different TT manufacturing philosophy (low mass, high rigidity plinth, electronically regulated motor with low vibration, sophisticated platter and low mass tonearm).
Thanks Suntzu! I am glad you are enjoying that set up! It's old school, for sure, but for me audio still has not bettered the combination of tubes and horn speakers, as long as we are talking about acoustically produced music. I'm still running the same set up myself.
I just wanted to extend a big thank you for rekindling my love for classical music and for tube amps paired with high efficiency speakers.
I own a pair of vintage Klipsch Cornwalls with recently rebuilt Type A crossovers. I had paired them with various tube amps and even an Arcam Delta solid state amp but never really felt very satisfied with the results. I was even contemplating selling these speakers and trying a different route when I read your favourable comments about pairing a PrimaLuna Dialogue Two Integrated amp with the Cornwalls. So I tried that myself.
Hallelujah, glorious music pours forth again in my house! This pairing is magic and has convinced me that there is something that makes music come alive when a good tube amp is paired with high sensitivity speakers. Its rekindled my interest to listen to my classical and jazz vinyl as well.
Hi, sorry I just saw your post! The PrimaLuna is an integrated amp. It does have an optional phonostage, but I did not purchase one with that since I already had the Bellari.
Hi Lears! A question on your set-up: does the Primaluna have a phono stage that you plug the Bellari into, or is it a combination of the cartridge, the amp and high efficiency speakers that allows you to by-pass a line level pre? Nice set-up and good points (in your posts, that is), by the way. Thanks, in advance.
Yeah, as far as cartridge break-in goes, I had heard 50 hours, and found that to be true. You should hear a definite improvement from how it sounds now over that time.
I would strongly recommend that you get a cleaning machine. The Nitty Gritty Record Doctor 3 is made by them specifically for Audio Advisor, and that is the cheapest price you are going to find for it. My brother just uses the one fluid (Nitty Gritty's own), but I did find that the AI 3-step cleaning yields considerably better results, especially on an old and dirty record. If you use fluids, by the way, you really do need to vacuum them off with a cleaning machine, I haven't heard of another really satisfactory way to do it that isn't a complete pain in the butt. Even most the guys that hand-wash their LP's usually put them on the machine afterwards. I only hand-wash mine if there is some stuff really stuck on there. You don't want to leave even tap water residue on the record.
If you don't want to do the machine and the fluids, then just get a really good dry brush, such as the Mobile Fidelity one. Also, dry brush the stylus after every side, no matter what else you do. I use the wet stylus cleaner at the end of every listening session, so it has plenty of time to dry. Doing just that much will make a big difference, but you would be very surprised at the much better results the machine and fluids provide. Regardless, enjoy the table!
Hi Learsfool, Thanks for the information. A quick word with a buddy of mine reveals that one has to get not only a record cleaner but a stylus cleaner and carbon-fibre brush as well. I just noticed that you have a Nitty Gritty Record Doctor 3 Cleaning Machine, Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solutions cleaning fluids and Mobile Fidelity's #9 Stylus Cleaner alongside with a few brushes. It is time that I get some of these accessories, excluding the cleaning machine. Maybe I'll just get one of these record cleaning liquid. [url]http://cgi.ebay.com/RECORD-CLEANER-Vinyl-Cleaning-Fluid-w-Pad-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ200355218142QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDJ_Gear_Lighting?hash=item2ea61a02de&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14[/url]
I listen to 60% instrumental jazz and 40% of pop and rock. Currently I only have 4 LP's in my collection, all of them being Pat Metheny which is my favourite musician. I have briefly listened to two LP's for less than 1 hour with my new turntable and cartridge yesterday and find that the sound is more organic, relaxed, natural and not as processed compared to the similar ECM CD's that I have, which is a good sign. As for superior timbre, tonality and imaging with LP's, I believe more good things will come when the cartridge starts to burn in for the next couple of hours. Before that, I seriously need to get my LP's cleaned up with all the dust and dirt sticking on the surface and yes, I think I will enjoy this new turntable.
Hi Ryder - I'm sure you will get alot of responses about how to clean your LP's. If you want to know what I use, I'd be happy to share that.
However, here is another take on the issue. Yes, there are sometimes hisses and crackles or pops on LP's, even after a good cleaning. This, however, is just surface noise, really, it is not a distortion of the music itself. Digital processing of recordings removes some of the harmonics quite often, resulting in a much more sterile, sometimes lifeless sound. Clean, yes, but often with the soul gone with it. There is more distortion in analog reproduction, but it is generally at much lower frequencies than the digital distortions are, and therefore much less musically objectionable.
With your P5, you have a good enough table to rival a much more expensive digital set-up. Analog offers much wider dynamic range, and much better fidelity to the timbre (natural color and sound) of acoustic instruments. If you only listen to electronic music, then you won't care about this as much. Another thing that I care about quite a bit as a professional orchestral musician is a reasonably accurate reproduction of the soundstage, which analog also does a much better job on than digital. So if you listen to alot of classical or jazz, you should notice quite a bit of difference for the better in these areas. Imaging is another one - the ability to locate exactly where each member of a jazz combo is on the stage, for instance.
Like I said, if you only listen to rock or other types of mostly electronic music, then perhaps you won't care about some of these issues as much. But I think you will hear these positive differences, and the much closer fidelity to what live music actually sounds like is more than worth a few occasional extraneous noises, IMO. Enjoy your table, I think you will be very happy with it!
Hi Learsfool, I just took delivery of the P5. This is actually my first turntable. I have some problems adapting to the hissing and crackling noises from the records having lived with digital for all my life. I've posted a new thread in the Analog section seeking views from other people on how they manage to adapt to all these noises.
Hi Ryder - I have not actually ever owned a P3-24, no. I had a P2 in my system that I borrowed from a friend before I bought my P5. I only quite recently heard the P3-24 for the first time at my dealer's. I have had some exchanges about the differences between it and the P5 with Adam18 on this site, that may have been what you read. He went with the P3-24. The main difference between the two tables is that the P5 has quite a bit better arm - the RB700 as opposed to the 300. This is where most of the extra cost comes in, and IMO is worth it - better tracking gives you better sound. There is also better material in the plinth on the P5, which has a slight effect as well. I have always used the TT-PSU with my P5, so I would suggest that you stick with that, no need to give that up. The same one will work on both tables, unless I am mistaken. Rega is really pushing the new table right now, so alot of dealers will tell you there isn't much of a difference. To me, though, the difference in the arm is a big one, but both are great tables for the money. Both Adam and I went with Rega's Exact 2 cartridge, by the way, though you could of course keep whatever one you are using now. Hope this is helpful. Let me know what you decide to do!
I read you have owned the P3-24 and now I see the P5 listed in your system page. I would appreciate your quick response whether there would be a noticeable if not substantial improvements going from a P3-24 with TT PSU to a P5(without a TT PSU). My mind is already set on the P5 but am not certain whether the unit is really superior to the P3-24. Most folks have advised to go for the P5. Your urgent input on this matter would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Hi Shadorne - no pics of my system, actually. I may do that one of these days, who knows. I listen mostly to classical and some jazz. I haven't really even begun to explore the possibilities of the amp yet, as far as tube rolling, etc. I am still in the process of listening through all my collection of LPs even once, so I am trying to reserve judgement on what labels sound best. I only get to do serious listening maybe a couple of times in a week, three if I am lucky. Too busy performing it myself! :)
Dynamic horns with tubes! Now I bet that sounds very much like the real thing! What music do you like and what sounds best on your system? Oh and some pics please!
