HiFi : Source I : Turntable

I've covered the setting up of my turntable previously. This article is to put the turntable in context in my set up.

The analogue trail consists of three elements:

Cartridge: Ortofon 2M Red
Turntable/arm combination: Pro-Ject Classic Cherry
Pre-amplifier: Pro-Ject USB II Box

As I said, I've already covered aspects of the turntable/cartridge set up and some tweaks remain to be done.

I noted before some problems playing certain passages on vinyl, but I've checked the sound against the same track on CD and the roughness is there too, so I'm wondering if the problem is elsewhere, possible in the amplification or speakers. Even so, it's the same through the head-amp and headphones, so maybe it's the recording itself. Since it seems confined to one recording in particular maybe that's it.

Until recently, I've been playing the turntable through the phono input on the Marantz PM5003 amp. But following developments in my experiments using a digital music server, I'm now using the phonostage in the Pro-Ject USB II Box. This also acts as an AD converter and outputs a digital stream from the turntable into a laptop ... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I can't say if the Pro-Ject phonostage is superior to the Marantz. I can detect no difference on a slightly more than casual comparison. Certainly it sounds more than acceptable.

The analogue trail to the amplifier is carried using QED Silver Spiral leads. These are a heritage item and are no longer in production. I've had them for years and have yet to hear a reason to upgrade them. I'm a pragmatist when it comes to cables ... I belive in solid, good quality cables, but don't buy the rather exotic claims of the type of cable which probably cost more than your electronic components.

Next: the CD trail ...

Pro-Ject Cherry Classic | Ortofon 2M Red

So far the Pro-Ject Cherry Classic turntable with its original Ortofon 510 cartridge have served well. But tucked away in a box somewhere around here has been an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Not a major expense, very cheap even by US hifi standards, but I anticipated a significant upgrade from the 510.

I also had a very useful cartridge alignment tool especially for Pro-Ject tonearms so I dug it all out, took a deep breath and set about changing the cartridge.

The 510 was easy to remove with a small screw-driver, but the 2M Red was slightly problematic in that I managed to break one of the hair-thin connecting wires. Fortunately, I was able to resurrect my soldering skills so the repair was fairly easy.

I set the 2M Red at about 1.70gm using a micro-scale before setting up the alignment tool.

The tool was a very snug fit on the turntable spindle and the device which centres the arm pivot was also a good fit. The manual - if you can call it that - takes you through the process, and the device is ingenious.

From now on it's just a case of tweaking until you feel it's right. Once I'd checked and re-checked a couple of times I tightened up the screws connecting the cartridge to the arm to the point where I thought any more would strip the threads.

So, mission accomplished ... Initially, I left the cartridge tracking at about 1.70gm, but I felt there was a little sibilance on Adele's voice, although it was a lot smoother than with the Ortofon 510, and there was some mis-tracking when confronted with some strings rattling on frets.

At this point I am setting up by ear ... I increased the tracking weight to about 1.80gm and this has brought about a significant improvement, although I might just edge the weight up 0.05gm at a time to see if this helps.

Incidentally, when it comes to final tweaking, I don't think you can beat using a record of a woman's voice to get the sound you want. At some point I'm going to have to check it with a Donna Summer LP. Miss Summer's voice - while great - always seems to me to give a good system a hard time ...

So far, the Ortofon 2M Red sounds incredible for the budget cartridge it is.