Some Vinyl Questions - Page 2

Oh yes, the Project is a nice table. I hope I didn't give the impression it wasn't. It is a good table for someone starting into vinyl, and could be the only table you will need. As I said, I have an almost identical table, the Music Hall, and I have no complaints at all. Note also that a lot of people think very highly of the Sumiko Oyster series (it's received good reviews), so my comments were strictly about my own subjective experience, and are likely not mainstream. I'm not familiar with how the Denon/MSB sounds, but I prefer my Music Hall/Grace F9E Ruby to my Rotel 955/Theta Chroma 396 w TLC, if that's any use.

I think you'll enjoy the Project a lot (although, I must admit, that if I didn't already have three tables, I'd be bidding on the Rega myself )

Flumpus, good luck with your leap into vinyl. Another advantage of the new setup is you know the stylus will be in good shape, as a worn stylus can ruin your records.

You may find that certain aspects of the sound is preferable in vinyl and others preferable with your CD setup. I think the resale value is better with lp equipment than digital because it's more stable, so wehn you upgrade you'll have that working for you. The real value of a entry level vinyl setup is you start collecting the recordings that will sound even better when you upgrade down the road. There are lots of great performances available on vinyl that are not available on CD. Of course the opposite is also true, so you really need both.

Hirsch: Are you really so fond of the Mission arm? Why?

Anyway, the type of the cartridge would be more important - and the condition of both arm and cartridge. That's why I so quickly recommended Flumpus to look into the Project stuff, too - because then he'd have it new and with warranty...

Flumpus: Well, as already stated above, Sumiko's cartridges have their fans. But it's similar to headphones: Some like this sound, some like the other sound. I'm more an Audio Technica type of guy... And you could also give Denons DL1x0 high output mc cartridges a try...

Anyway, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by one of the aforementioned turtable-combos. Vinyl has a quality to it that only very good cd-players can achieve. It's hard to describe: Maybe it's the smooth and yet detailed highs - or the imaging... Well, just listen for yourself - I think you'll like it.

Greetings from SF!

Manfred / Lini

Manfred,

I don't know that particular Mission arm to say one way or another, but I used to like Mission's products (better than Rega's, actually), and the Mission 774 arm was a well-known and well-liked product. I will admit that I have a tendency to buy things that look interesting, from time to time, to see what they sound like (particularly if they are from reputable companies and the price is right). When I do this, I try to buy from someplace that has a good return policy, though

Hirsch: <grin> Your buying policy seems to be similar to mine. My only problem is, that I rarely send things back, because I'm usually too lazy... That's why I try to stick to cheaper products for such experiments... ))

Anyway, I don't know the type of this particular Mission arm, either. But I knew, I have once heard a combo with that arm - probably mounted on a Thorens turntable. But I don't remember the cartridge, either. The results were good, though not overwhelming. However, I should rather blame the cartridge, not the arm or the Thorens - or the combo was just unlucky.

Nevertheless, I really like the Projekt stuff - especially because of their comparatively fair prices. So I think we can agree, that a Project turntable should be a fairly good start into vinyl for Flumpus, can we? I guess, he could even try it with a Sumiko cartridge - as he could always get a better (or at least different sounding, because sometimes "better" doesn't seem an appropriate term to me... ) cartridge later on. But maybe you could tell a little more about this Music Hall table. I haven't seen nor heard these in Germany, so I can't comment. But if they have better support, better cartridges or are more widely available than Project in the US, maybe Flumpus should get one of these.

It's a pity, Thorens is not yet fully back into business, yet. Because I'd really like to recommend a good Thorens to Flumpus. But I guess we have to wait and see whether they ever produce such long lasting, nice sounding turntables as the TD 147 or the TD 160 Super, again... And even if they did, I'd wonder what price they'd charge today. <sigh>

Greetings from SF!

Manfred / Lini

Manfred,

If you saw the Music Hall 2.1 and the Project 1.2, without the arms, you couldn't tell them apart. They were clearly made at the same plant. The Project appears to have a slightly thicker arm, and comes with a Sumiko Oyster cartridge in the US. Also, the platter is slightly different. The Music Hall come with a Goldring Elan cartridge. It has a straight, reasonably low mass arm that does very well with high compliance cartridges such as the Shure V15 Type V.

I know that audioadvisor has the Music Hall, while I saw the Project at a local dealer. IMO Flumpus (Hiya Flumpus ) would be happy with either. They are very similar tables.