Quote:
Originally Posted by
Silent One 
On my having the AT120E in the Sony... good memory! My Pioneer stereo receiver isn't suffering from hum out of the phono stage. Yes, going external could bring more joy, but currently not being tripped up in that regard.
I remember you made the same comment about the Goldring today as you did a couple of months back, but never expanded your thought. Nothing is bothering me to date - it's more about wanting to compare it to something. In other words, I've no idea what I've got - can it get better for a reasonable price? This is what I aim to find out. The previous owner switched to Benz-Micro and suggested I have a look - forgot which model he had.
On the subject of Pro-ject, I noticed my new belt and those used by Music Hall, all have Pro-ject part numbers. Seems, MH submits their drawings for turntables and Pro-ject does the heavy lifting. 
Speaking of heavy, that PS-X5 is heavy. When sitting atop a trio of 6 lb brass footers (each) and 4" Maple platforms, the Sony/AT120E combo is a giant killer, considering the $125 price tag. This mounting was temporary at best. Properly mounted, I expect the presentation rise a bit higher. The mids/highs got sweeter, the bottom got tighter/punchier and the overall presentation just bigger...wowza!
To be honest, I'm not sure yet if I want my presentation to be s-p-a-c-e-y ("Far out, man") or hard hitting and on point, right where I'm sitting. If I play my cards right, I'll have my forthcoming tube phono stage/preamp and from there, seek seasoning. But if I have the chance to get the cart first, then...
I have had answer for this post of yours yesterday, in the end hit a wrong button - poof ! Here we go again.
If you are basically happy with equipment you have now, leave it at that for a while. I find discovering a new artist or gettting better print of an album more thrill than say a new cartridge - but then again, you have to be at certain level for this to be true. It is like with musical instruments, we can argue ad nuseaum about Stradivari vs Guarnieri vs Any New Violin or Steinway vs Bosendorfer vs Fazioli vs ..... - once the instrument is at a certain high enough level, it is combination of the instrument and how much has the musician grown with it and mastered it. One can always nitpick beyond reason, but like changing the instrument, requiring certain changes in the playing in order to achieve the "same" sound as before and hopefully pick up from there, phono is much the same thing. It is risky to go changing say your phono preamp for a significantly different design - if you are happy with your present setup - it may well mean you will discover things better unheard unless your piggybank has no limits.
Now, spatial reproduction will always be problematic - how much "space" should there be. It can be deceiving, to say the least. If your stylus is anything less than the ultimate possible ( Micro Line/Ridge/Reach/SAS, Van den Hul, Fritz Gyger ) - you may well find "space" on LP to be much more represented, particularly in depth. I do not recall if we covered the pinch effect - but once the stylus becomes to big to allow for perfect (enough) tracing of the groove, what should be lateral movement only gets accompanied with vertical motioin - something that is not on the recording and is a form of distortion. It ADDS the sensation of depth - as vertical motion is out of phase signal and that usually is a part of recording responsible for depth. The best reference you can have at home is the same recording on CD ( I know we all like to "tar and feather" CD, but thing has its pros ) - if your phono has "Far out - man..." space and CD not even lateral spread, there is something wrong.
To illustrate the point: recently, I was listening to Grado with an elliptical stylus to many pop albums that did not get a spin for quite a while. It was journey down the memory lane, much the same sound ( with all the improvement of better anicilary equipment gathered in those years ) I remember with these LPs played with Grado back in the day. Play the same albums with Audio Technica ATN440MLa - despite almost perfect channel separation that should offer beter space, there is usually lesS space - for the reasons noted, the pinch effect, which is all but absent with Micro Line stylus. One should not praise something that sounds good for its actual weaknesses - and if you compare the same recording on CD and vinyl, Micro Line stylus will give much closer sound to the CD - period. This is rational and technically correct solution. But still, Grado gets its share of time, particularly on LPs I first heard with it.
Regarding 17D3 - it also has Micro Ridge stylus - but it had to sacrifice something in order to have that unbelievable speed due to its 1.7 mm "long" cantilever - and that is channel separation. It is rather low, around 20 dB - which is distinctly poor. 20 dB of separation means 10 % breaktrough to other channel where there should be none at all - would you buy an amplifier with specified 10 % distortion ? 40 dB separation means 1 % breaktrough - that is much better. The difference will be most audible on soloist dead on center - it will sound much more real. That is why costlier offerings from Dynavector ( AND EVERYONE ELSE ) sport normal cantilever lenghts and better separation - but these designs can not compete with 17D3's speed. One has to decide, it often ends up with a TT carrying at least two tonearms and a 17D3 plus "something else".
Goldring has somewhat highish effective mass. It is mostly audible in the treble - sibilants are the first to get affected, if your Cassshshsadra Wilshshsshon does not sound perfectly clean on sibilants, it is a sign. The same goes for cymbals - if they are clean at low levels and get ever more sandpapery the harder the drummer hits them - the same. Add to that any instrument that has high level of treble energy - not to mention soprano. It is here you need as low effective mass as you can get - and Goldring MCs do not belong in this group. A stylus that can not follow the ondulations of the groove will loose contact with the groove - causing permanent demage. No after the fact action can return the record to its former glory.
The most trouble is the fact that top styli are perfectly capable of playing the demage their lesser predecessors have left on your records. Try not to let this happen.
I'm with you! I gotta lighten the mood 'round head-fi sometimes...
happy man.
