Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
I’m pretty sure that it’s an ongoing thing. They just change the stylus each time. They offer the same service for other manufacturers cartridges too but it just costs a little more than for their own.
Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice
- Thread starter Joe Mac
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I’m pretty sure that it’s an ongoing thing. They just change the stylus each time. They offer the same service for other manufacturers cartridges too but it just costs a little more than for their own.
Mather
Unknown Member
Thanks for the help Joe, I'm looking into the Hana and Van Den Hul as well. We'll see where it all lands...
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Yeah they’re both interesting choices too. I’d be right there with you on the soundsmith but I don’t think it’s worth the investment on my table despite it probably being a good fit for the rest of the system down!
Mather
Unknown Member
Yeah if I can get better than my current sound, that already I love, and then get refurb for like $500 CAD then I'll be happy with that for a long long while. I think it just makes sense.
SMeekWoodworks
Member
Potentially expensive question here, but how much am I losing out on in my system by not having a dedicated amp like the Nad I keep seeing recommended? I have a Schiit Mani preamp and then a Onkyo TX-NR676 receiver. My speakers are B&W Matrix 804's. They and the receiver serve double duty as part of my home theater set up. With my Fluance RT85 on the way, I'm wondering if I'm selling it short with the rest of my setup?
Dtknuckles
Well-Known Member
How do you like your Schiit? They have a retail store in my town. I’m going to check it out soon. It seems like a cool place to hang.
SMeekWoodworks
Member
It has served me well with my AT LP120, but it's also the only one I've ever had, so I don't have much to compare it to
VMPKJ
Well-Known Member
Yes, you just keep paying that same amount.
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
They are reputable. I’ve bought several items there, including my own SoundSmith. Never an issue.
They are notoriously poor at keeping inventory, which has resulted in “Oh…that’s actually sold already. We can sell you a new one for the same price. Sorry about that,” which is the bait and switch people are referring to. But I’m not complaining.
It’s worth an email, at least.
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Here’s the deal:
The MIMC stands for MI for MC inputs. The output of the Soundsmith won’t cause any issues with the Rega. But the loading will. Soundsmith wants at least 470 ohms at the phono stage. The Rega can be set to a max of 400. Some Soundsmith users say they sound even better loaded at 1000 (or 1k same thing) ohms. Because the Rega can’t be set to the minimum loading, you’d get rolled off high frequencies pairing the Soundsmith to the Rega. The same would apply to low output Hana cartridges as well, per Hana’s specs. Lots of other cartridges will work great with the MC inputs on the Rega, just not those two.
Looking at the MM inputs, Rega specify a sensitivity of 1.7mV input for a 200 mV output. This means a cartridge with 1.7 mV input will allow your amplifier to reach rated power if it’s sensitivity on its inputs are 200 mV or less. That’s really really sensitive, BTW. Not many amps will do this. My amp has an input sensitivity of 360 mV which is pretty sensitive. A cartridge with 1.7 mV output would not allow my amp to reach full output when used with the Rega.
Another thing is sound quality. The Hana MH (2 mV output) sounds better at 46 dB gain as opposed to 40 dB gain in my system, with my phono stage.
If I were in your shoes, I’d check the specs regarding input sensitivity of your amp if you end up going with a higher output cartridge. Or, I know for a fact that the Audio Technica MC cartridges will pair perfectly with the Rega and your Pro-ject. Look towards a model with the Microline stylus. They are easier to set up than Shibata and at least to me offer the best balance of detail and surface noise rejection. Microline styli also last the longest, per A/T.
You aren’t getting everything that you could. I see two things:
The Schiit is your bottleneck of your phono side. I’d look towards a Darlington MM-6 as a substantial step up. It would take a long time for your system to outgrow the MM-6- if ever.
You have really great speakers. You’d do a lot better with an amp upgrade. But what I’d recommend would not be the NAD, and wouldn’t be surround sound. I’d leave that alone.
VMPKJ
Well-Known Member
From a loading standpoint my Soundsmith sounded better at dead on recommended loading, so that's something to watch for sure. If you can't load it, it might not work.
As far as the AT goes I LOVE the ART series just as much, and his replacement would be 2-3 years. The higher replacement cost (650$) might be worth it. (225ish a year) For my money they are of the same quality.
The A/T ART9 models seem to be the only thing everyone agrees upon in this hobby. Everyone loves them.
SMeekWoodworks
Member
Ok, ordered the MM-6. I had been leaning that way anyway, so thanks for the push.
The amp upgrade will have to wait. What would you recommend there? I want to know what to start saving towards.
This may be a stupid question, but is there a way to have a separate amp for the TT but still use the speakers in the home theater set up? My gut says no, that it would require some sort of switch thing that would introduce noise or something.
Mather
Unknown Member
Okay that makes sense! Thanks for the breakdown, I'll look into that. I think my amps input sensitivity is 1VRMS. So I'm guessing that's higher but I don't know how RMS translates... Having to use an AVR and not a dedicated stereo amp probably screws me here...
What I’d recommend would depend on your budget.
There are a couple of ways to have a home theater system co exist with a two channel system:
The first would be to have a two channel amp with a home theater pass through. You would connect your front L/R speakers to the new amp and select the HT pass through input when watching movies. Your HT receiver will control the volume for all of the channels. When you want to listen to 2 channel, you’ll control everything with the new amp.
or
You could get whatever amp you want and an amplifier A/B switch. Then position A is for 2 channel for instance, position B is for surround sound.
Ok, you’d need 1V output from the Rega to get full output from your amp- or 5x higher than the Rega is rated. The Rega’s rating makes perfect sense if you consider that their MM cartridges are rated at 6.8- 7 mV. This isn’t too far above the Ortofon 2m series, which explains why you are having no issues now in regards to output. In fact, although the 2m series is rated around 5.5 mV output- many test near or even over 7mV output.
Mather
Unknown Member
Okay, yes that makes sense, kinda. Still can't totally wrap my head around all the math...
But at .5 MV the output voltage on the Art9 also wouldn't work for my setup, correct?
Yes it would. You’d use the MC inputs loaded at 100 ohms with your MC low gain setting- 63.5 dB. It’ll work beautifully.
JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
Ask them what the deal on the Sol is if you can. I heard due to part shortages production has halted. There Dac's are great value (Modi3 owner here), many people like there headphone amp stacks, and the tube preamps look great. And those low watt amps (mono's) are a deal of the century apparently.