Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Joe Mac said:
oh phew! I just saw the price tag just now 🤯

that said for half price I can see why you went there, that’s a lot of cable for not much more than I’ll end up paying for a set of bi wine cables when I get the new speakers.
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Yeah, once all the loaners went in and replaced all my speaker, RCAs and AC cables with BIS Vivat and Maestros... the change was so shocking I honestly would have sold a significant portion of my belongings to make that purchase.
 
i`ve been close to buying the Grado Prestige 2 Gold but i dont see them being recommended anywhere as a good option to go with my deck ( Technics SL1210 MK2) . i dont find the link that lead me to my doubt. there doesnt seem to be a hum but the tracking might not be as good. might have been here .
typical answers seem to be different cartridges by Ortofon, Audio Technica, Nagaoka and Denon, but most of the discussions i found involved moded turntables or discontinued systems.

what carts do the sl1200 owners on here use ?

cheers
 
BazookaTooth said:
i`ve been close to buying the Grado Prestige 2 Gold but i dont see them being recommended anywhere as a good option to go with my deck ( Technics SL1210 MK2) . i dont find the link that lead me to my doubt. there doesnt seem to be a hum but the tracking might not be as good. might have been here .
typical answers seem to be different cartridges by Ortofon, Audio Technica, Nagaoka and Denon, but most of the discussions i found involved moded turntables or discontinued systems.

what carts do the sl1200 owners on here use ?

cheers
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On a Technics, I'd highly recommend the AT-VM95ML if you are concerned about tracking. Not to simplify the issue too far, but tracking is heavily influenced by compliance match of the cart to the tonearm, stylus profile, and cantiliver design. The VM95ML is currently the cheapest way to get into the MicroLine profile, which will practically eliminate IGD, distortion and in some case reduce noise, and a great compliance match to Technics arms. It's $100 less than the Grado Gold 2, and the styli are dirt cheap (for the profile) at $150.

Lots of folks perceive AT's MicroLine carts as bright, and I get that, I've heard 440s in systems IRL that sounded neutral, and in systems that leaned bright, and needledrops that leaned both ways too. Essentially the bright ones were a product of improper loading, lots of folks on Hoffman and VE measured these carts and found them to be sub-optimal at the contemporary standard 47k load with the type of capitance you get out of a deck like a 1200. Of course this made them a bit of a PITA to use (like some Grado styli as well) These new carts correct this, load fine into 47k, and sound neutral to my ear, and measure flat as well, with no rising response in the treble.

If you're looking for an affordable cart that's neutral, tracks amazing, and works well with the Technics decks, that's my recommendation under $200. It certainly beats all the carts I've tried in that range (the ones I still own are in my signature). I can send you some rough and dirty needledrops or graphs if you're interested.
 
zombie.modernist said:
On a Technics, I'd highly recommend the AT-VM95ML if you are concerned about tracking. Not to simplify the issue too far, but tracking is heavily influenced by compliance match of the cart to the tonearm, stylus profile, and cantiliver design. The VM95ML is currently the cheapest way to get into the MicroLine profile, which will practically eliminate IGD, distortion and in some case reduce noise, and a great compliance match to Technics arms. It's $100 less than the Grado Gold 2, and the styli are dirt cheap (for the profile) at $150.

Lots of folks perceive AT's MicroLine carts as bright, and I get that, I've heard 440s in systems IRL that sounded neutral, and in systems that leaned bright, and needledrops that leaned both ways too. Essentially the bright ones were a product of improper loading, lots of folks on Hoffman and VE measured these carts and found them to be sub-optimal at the contemporary standard 47k load with the type of capitance you get out of a deck like a 1200. Of course this made them a bit of a PITA to use (like some Grado styli as well) These new carts correct this, load fine into 47k, and sound neutral to my ear, and measure flat as well, with no rising response in the treble.

If you're looking for an affordable cart that's neutral, tracks amazing, and works well with the Technics decks, that's my recommendation under $200. It certainly beats all the carts I've tried in that range (the ones I still own are in my signature). I can send you some rough and dirty needledrops or graphs if you're interested.
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Got the same recommendation from @HiFi Guy for my PLX 1000 ;)
 
BazookaTooth said:
i`ve been close to buying the Grado Prestige 2 Gold but i dont see them being recommended anywhere as a good option to go with my deck ( Technics SL1210 MK2) . i dont find the link that lead me to my doubt. there doesnt seem to be a hum but the tracking might not be as good. might have been here .
typical answers seem to be different cartridges by Ortofon, Audio Technica, Nagaoka and Denon, but most of the discussions i found involved moded turntables or discontinued systems.

what carts do the sl1200 owners on here use ?

cheers
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I have a SL1200 mk2 and run a Grado Gold 2. It's the only one I've ever had on it and I've never had any hum or IGD issues with it, so I would encourage you not to dismiss it for those reasons. I bet the AT cart is great, and it may track better, but I can't speak on that cart unfortunately.
 
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Has anyone been able to compare the AT95ml and AT540ml by chance?
I have seem numerous people prefer the 540 over 740, but not much on the lower end models. Only one person online I have even see mention for $100 or so it is around 5-10% improvement. Yet I'm interested to hear more.
I will eventually get either the 95 or 540.
 
Haimez40 said:
Has anyone been able to compare the AT95ml and AT540ml by chance?
I have seem numerous people prefer the 540 over 740, but not much on the lower end models. Only one person online I have even see mention for $100 or so it is around 5-10% improvement. Yet I'm interested to hear more.
I will eventually get either the 95 or 540.
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Think you can find some comparisons on Hoffman. Worth noting the compliance is different between the two carts, so one may be a better match to your deck which IMO is a good way to narrow down.
 
As an alternative to the sennheiser 6xx from drop there are also hifiman 4xx for 100 dollars cheaper

Planar magnetic drivers don't seem like the best (heavy and difficult). But could be cool
 
duke86fan said:
As an alternative to the sennheiser 6xx from drop there are also hifiman 4xx for 100 dollars cheaper

Planar magnetic drivers don't seem like the best (heavy and difficult). But could be cool
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I love my 4xx, but they pretty much require a decent solid state headphone amp. So that should be considered in the total cost.
 
displayname said:
I love my 4xx, but they pretty much require a decent solid state headphone amp. So that should be considered in the total cost.
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I wondered because the impedance was smaller.. will a schiit fulla work? because i want to do some good open back headphones for my computer (getting some grados for my turntable). but if it works i will use it
 
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Replaced the last of my cables a few days ago, the last one was the power cable on the UltraDeck. I gotta say, and I wasn't a big believer in the whole cable thing, but the music is more "musical" than it was and the bass has more body, so it did something, lol. I'm glad I swapped them all and went with a little synergy by staying with Pangea's all round.

Audio Cables: Pangea Audio Premier SE Interconnects and TT cable.
Power Cables: Pangea SE MKII Signature Power Cables
 
duke86fan said:
I wondered because the impedance was smaller.. will a schiit fulla work? because i want to do some good open back headphones for my computer (getting some grados for my turntable). but if it works i will use it
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Impedance is only one part of the equation. The sensitivity is also notably lower which requires more power.
I started with the Magni 3, which several people like with their 4xx. I didn’t care for it. Seemed a little dry and brittle for my taste.
I ended up with the Arcam rHead. I haven’t tried the Monoprice Cavalli Spark, but based on descriptions that’s probably the one I’d try at the $100 price point.

Edit- not sure the Fulla has enough power. With my 1w amp I usually have the dial around 2 o’clock.
 
displayname said:
Impedance is only one part of the equation. The sensitivity is also notably lower which requires more power.
I started with the Magni 3, which several people like with their 4xx. I didn’t care for it. Seemed a little dry and brittle for my taste.
I ended up with the Arcam rHead. I haven’t tried the Monoprice Cavalli Spark, but based on descriptions that’s probably the one I’d try at the $100 price point.

Edit- not sure the Fulla has enough power. With my 1w amp I usually have the dial around 2 o’clock.
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The problem with those amps is that they require another plug (I don't have thousands of power strips) and more wirework for a laptop I use in bed

I only thought about the 4XX because they cost less so the overall cost wouldn't be the 300 of the 6XX
 
duke86fan said:
The problem with those amps is that they require another plug (I don't have thousands of power strips) and more wirework for a laptop I use in bed

I only thought about the 4XX because they cost less so the overall cost wouldn't be the 300 of the 6XX
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Everyone's mileage varies. Maybe the Fulla would be enough. But I do think the 4xx requires some power.
 
I just want an affordable high quality headphone, amp, and DAC combo to get the best experience on my computer

For my turntable its easy (but an amplifier and grados). But got laptop is hard
 
duke86fan said:
I just want an affordable high quality headphone, amp, and DAC combo to get the best experience on my computer

For my turntable its easy (but an amplifier and grados). But got laptop is hard
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Audioquest Dragonfly? Not sure if it'll be enough power for the 4xx, but it's certainly highly rated and a generally affordable series.
 
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