Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Ghost said:
I use GrooveWasher’s cleaning fluid and walnut brush every once in awhile, primarily if it’s a new record or looks physically dirty. I usually just use a carbon fiber brush before I drop the needle every time I put on a side and use a Momila stylus cleaner.

Old turntable was an AT LP60 with whatever it comes with!
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Ok, see edit above.

The first thing I’d recommend would be a Spin Clean at bare minimum. Your records are dirty. The Groovewasher is ok for a pre play wipe down, but it doesn’t/can’t deep clean. And dirt plus cleaning fluid pretty much creates mud in the grooves.

If you’d like to put my theory to the test inexpensively, you can send me a problem LP which I’ll clean on my VPI 16.5 and promptly return to you.
 
HiFi Guy said:
@Ghost Thinking further, do you have a digital stylus force gauge? Tracking too lightly can also cause the issue you are having. You can get one very inexpensively from Amazon.
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I second this. I got a pretty cheap force gauge from Amazon and have used it more than I thought I would. And this would be a cheaper test than buying a spin clean. FWIW, I also have gotten a TON of use out of my record cleaner. I had some amazon rewards awhile back and gift cards and sprung for a VPI but people swear by the spin clean too. I think I have more than gotten my money's worth out of it since I have purchased a lot of used records that were priced cheaply because they looked dirty (but with no feelable scratches) and after a clean they sounded great.
 
High Rant District said:
Made a decision for Year One of "stop fucking around" (within my budget for audio). I appreciate the advice several folks offered here.

Just placed an order with Schiit for an Aegir amp and a Saga S preamp. For good measure I also ordered a Mani phono preamp because why not.
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Those are exactly the Schiit components I have along with the Modi Multibit DAC.

Listening to music is more enjoyable than ever now.
 
MikeH said:
I second this. I got a pretty cheap force gauge from Amazon and have used it more than I thought I would. And this would be a cheaper test than buying a spin clean. FWIW, I also have gotten a TON of use out of my record cleaner. I had some amazon rewards awhile back and gift cards and sprung for a VPI but people swear by the spin clean too. I think I have more than gotten my money's worth out of it since I have purchased a lot of used records that were priced cheaply because they looked dirty (but with no feelable scratches) and after a clean they sounded great.
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I'll chime in as well, while I love having the VPI, I did start with a Spin Clean, say what you will, but I still think you should clean all your records, new and used. While to the naked eye something might look clean, it always boggled my mind how much crap ended up in the bottom of the Spin Clean tank when I was done, all that crap is effecting your playback and your stylus........some kind "deeper" cleaning will pay off in the long run in many ways and the Spin Clean is a nice entry level into that ;)
 
AnthonyI said:
I'll chime in as well, while I love having the VPI, I did start with a Spin Clean, say what you will, but I still think you should clean all your records, new and used. While to the naked eye something might look clean, it always boggled my mind how much crap ended up in the bottom of the Spin Clean tank when I was done, all that crap is effecting your playback and your stylus........some kind "deeper" cleaning will pay off in the long run in many ways ;)
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And since I'm OCD about it, I added a custom "RCM" column to my discogs so I can add the date that I last cleaned the record hah.
 
Echo all the comments about cleaning records , new ones are often incredibly dirty , as the gunk at the bottom of my spin clean will testify .probably the best investment I’ve made in collecting vinyl ..it’s rescued so many albums for me.
 
Gavaxeman said:
Echo all the comments about cleaning records , new ones are often incredibly dirty , as the gunk at the bottom of my spin clean will testify .probably the best investment I’ve made in collecting vinyl ..it’s rescued so many albums for me.
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I contend that new is dirtier than twice played without cleaning because the needle has drug some gunk out of the latter.
 
VMPKJ said:
Looking for some input... If it needs to go in another thread point me there, but folks here know their stuff so...

I bought a 2M Black a while back and then had one of my Blue's retipped with a Shaibata from the guy that does work on ebay for a backup.

I tested them and all was good.

Upon working with Zu to get my speakers set up better I was getting just a bit of shrill in the trebles and the low mids bass were a bit lacking to me. We added a resistor to match the amp and raised them a bit more. They improved but I still wasn't as thrilled as I wanted to be.

I swapped on the retipped "black" tonight and BOOM! the resolution was still there but without the edge. The bass was deeper and the low-mids just a touch more forward in the mix. The overall impression was pretty great. Going back and forth it's noticeable .

The other doesn't sound "bad". To clarify it's not the same as the difference between a blue and Black. I have a regular blue as well and it's very different than that altogether. I'm also using the same cart for all 3 and swapping the tips.

Could this be down to wear? A different diamond? Variance from one to the next?

I know it's better and noticeable, but they definitely are still the "same" over all. It's like an EQ thing.
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In case someone looks later and because I talk to myself all the time anyway... The person working on the styli noted that along with the difference in the tip and the cartridge there is a different magnet in the 2M Blue that would account for the difference in sound.
 
Again, y’all have been so helpful. After A/B testing a stack of records in my collection it does seem like a dirty record is the culprit here and my new pre-amp is just highlighting all the nasties hiding away in the grooves. So crazy how before I couldn’t hear the difference but now it’s SUPER noticeable. Thanks for the recommendations, going to go ahead and grab a spin clean and get to work.

Bonus Comment: @HiFi Guy is the Nagaoka MP-200 a great cartridge to go for if I’m in the market for one in that price range or is there one you’d recommend over it?
 
Ghost said:
Again, y’all have been so helpful. After A/B testing a stack of records in my collection it does seem like a dirty record is the culprit here and my new pre-amp is just highlighting all the nasties hiding away in the grooves. So crazy how before I couldn’t hear the difference but now it’s SUPER noticeable. Thanks for the recommendations, going to go ahead and grab a spin clean and get to work.

Bonus Comment: @HiFi Guy is the Nagaoka MP-200 a great cartridge to go for if I’m in the market for one in that price range or is there one you’d recommend over it?
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you won’t regret it. Although other bits made bigger jumps for me at €100 the spin clean was the biggest improvement on a pound for pound basis!
 
VMPKJ said:
Looking for some input... If it needs to go in another thread point me there, but folks here know their stuff so...

I bought a 2M Black a while back and then had one of my Blue's retipped with a Shaibata from the guy that does work on ebay for a backup.

I tested them and all was good.

Upon working with Zu to get my speakers set up better I was getting just a bit of shrill in the trebles and the low mids bass were a bit lacking to me. We added a resistor to match the amp and raised them a bit more. They improved but I still wasn't as thrilled as I wanted to be.

I swapped on the retipped "black" tonight and BOOM! the resolution was still there but without the edge. The bass was deeper and the low-mids just a touch more forward in the mix. The overall impression was pretty great. Going back and forth it's noticeable .

The other doesn't sound "bad". To clarify it's not the same as the difference between a blue and Black. I have a regular blue as well and it's very different than that altogether. I'm also using the same cart for all 3 and swapping the tips.

Could this be down to wear? A different diamond? Variance from one to the next?

I know it's better and noticeable, but they definitely are still the "same" over all. It's like an EQ thing.
Click to expand...

In case someone looks later and because I talk to myself all the time anyway... The gentleman who replaced the styli tip explained that along with the tip and the cartridge there is also a different magnet between the the Blue and Black that would account for the change I was hearing.
 
Ghost said:
Again, y’all have been so helpful. After A/B testing a stack of records in my collection it does seem like a dirty record is the culprit here and my new pre-amp is just highlighting all the nasties hiding away in the grooves. So crazy how before I couldn’t hear the difference but now it’s SUPER noticeable. Thanks for the recommendations, going to go ahead and grab a spin clean and get to work.

Bonus Comment: @HiFi Guy is the Nagaoka MP-200 a great cartridge to go for if I’m in the market for one in that price range or is there one you’d recommend over it?
Click to expand...

If it’s in budget, a vacuum cleaner would be better, like the Record Doctor at Audio Advisor.

The Nagaoka MP-200 would be what I’d buy for your Fluance. @brownsugah has that exact combo- maybe she will chime in.
 
HiFi Guy said:
If it’s in budget, a vacuum cleaner would be better, like the Record Doctor at Audio Advisor.

The Nagaoka MP-200 would be what I’d buy for your Fluance. @brownsugah has that exact combo- maybe she will chime in.
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@Ghost I approve of the Nagaoka MP-200 paired with the RT-85. The sound is clear and crisp. One of the best upgrades I have made. I also Have the MP-110 on my U-Turn.
 
Ok, after a bit of soul searching and heavy thinking I've come to the conclusion that a network player would collect dust for me in the long run. I really use digital files and Spotify for convenience more than anything and my files are for my portable player for the most part. I have also come to a couple other conclusions, I like physical media and I know I won't be able to get everything, at least a good sounding version, on vinyl.

So can I get some opinions on an above average CD Player/Transport for around $500? I keep coming across some amazing deals on CD's that I would normally get, if I wasn't holding out for a vinyl pressing.........so I think it's time, lol.

Thanks in advance :)
 
AnthonyI said:
Ok, after a bit of soul searching and heavy thinking I've come to the conclusion that a network player would collect dust for me in the long run. I really use digital files and Spotify for convenience more than anything and my files are for my portable player for the most part. I have also come to a couple other conclusions, I like physical media and I know I won't be able to get everything, at least a good sounding version, on vinyl.

So can I get some opinions on an above average CD Player/Transport for around $500? I keep coming across some amazing deals on CD's that I would normally get, if I wasn't holding out for a vinyl pressing.........so I think it's time, lol.

Thanks in advance :)
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If you don’t care about used and a missing remote- this is a good sounding coaster reader.

www.ebay.com

Harman Kardon HD7600 / Single Disc CD Player / S166-02160 -- KT | eBay

Harman Kardon HD7600. Model: HD7600. Make: Harman Kardon. Digital converter: MN6471M, Bitstream 1 bit. Frequency response: 4Hz to 20kHz.
www.ebay.com
 
AnthonyI said:
Ok, after a bit of soul searching and heavy thinking I've come to the conclusion that a network player would collect dust for me in the long run. I really use digital files and Spotify for convenience more than anything and my files are for my portable player for the most part. I have also come to a couple other conclusions, I like physical media and I know I won't be able to get everything, at least a good sounding version, on vinyl.

So can I get some opinions on an above average CD Player/Transport for around $500? I keep coming across some amazing deals on CD's that I would normally get, if I wasn't holding out for a vinyl pressing.........so I think it's time, lol.

Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

I think you are in player territory for that money because separate transport & DAC is usually higher end. It seems that the Marantz 6006 gets good reviews whenever I see it mentioned.
 
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