MoFi UltraDeck / StudioDeck Owners and those interested

AnthonyI said:
You know, when the MoFi decks came out this compliance thing made people heads explode for some reason. All I kept hearing was "It can't work due to compliance" "There's no way the tone arm mass is 25g", and on and on and on.

Here's the thing, if your not going crazy exotic on your cart selection, these decks handle them quite well.
Point of reference, I've run the following on my UD without issue:
Audio Techinca VM95ML
Denon DL-103R
Goldring E3
Goldring G1042
Grado Black
Grado Gold
Grado Opus3
Hana SL
MoFi Mastertracker
MoFi UltraTracker
Ortofon 2M Blue
Ortofon Quintet Blue
Ortofon Quintet Bronze
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I wrote a lot of posts anticipating receiving my Ultradeck and wrestling with what Cart to use. At first, my choice was the Ortofon Black LVB, even bought it, but soon learned there could likely be a resonance issue with it. All that aside, it was this post from Anthony and advice of my own tech locally, who is really an engineer designing stereo equipment; but does setups for a hobby, that led me to the Hana SL. It was a problem for me initially, because my McIntosh C-42 preamp only takes MM carts. My tech had a new Trichord Reseach Dino MK3 Phono Stage a client bought but then bought a much more expensive one, so sold it to me for like 1/2 off. So in the end, using the Hana SL through this phono stage and the results are easily the largest upgrade I've ever made to my system. My amp is McIntosh MC-7200 with B&W 702 S2 Signatures.

Thank you all for your patience and input, especially Anthony who didn't hold back in his opinion of the Hana SL and oh boy I can see why. Simply amazing.
 
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Cross posting from the Audio Hardware thread regarding the recent deal on the SAE 1000LT cartridge:

Does anyone who bought the SAE 1000LT have a Mofi Ultra Deck? I’ve set my 1000LT up on my UD and everything seems correct or very close to it, and it sounds good to me.

But I cannot for the life of me figure out where the antiskate o-ring should go. I’ve read a lot and watched a bunch of videos, including Soundsmith, but I can’t tell any difference when I move the o-ring around. I’m assuming moving the o-ring away from the headshell is increasing antiskate. Is that correct?
 
Portland Sheriff said:
Cross posting from the Audio Hardware thread regarding the recent deal on the SAE 1000LT cartridge:

Does anyone who bought the SAE 1000LT have a Mofi Ultra Deck? I’ve set my 1000LT up on my UD and everything seems correct or very close to it, and it sounds good to me.

But I cannot for the life of me figure out where the antiskate o-ring should go. I’ve read a lot and watched a bunch of videos, including Soundsmith, but I can’t tell any difference when I move the o-ring around. I’m assuming moving the o-ring away from the headshell is increasing antiskate. Is that correct?
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Replied in the other thread!
 
Portland Sheriff said:
Cross posting from the Audio Hardware thread regarding the recent deal on the SAE 1000LT cartridge:

Does anyone who bought the SAE 1000LT have a Mofi Ultra Deck? I’ve set my 1000LT up on my UD and everything seems correct or very close to it, and it sounds good to me.

But I cannot for the life of me figure out where the antiskate o-ring should go. I’ve read a lot and watched a bunch of videos, including Soundsmith, but I can’t tell any difference when I move the o-ring around. I’m assuming moving the o-ring away from the headshell is increasing antiskate. Is that correct?
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I understand that Kvetcha commented on the proper notch that you should use considering the cartridge weight . Since the first notch is not used or counted for anti-skate purposes according to MoFi , you need to be a bit careful in the identification of the correct notch . I have found it easier to count the notches from the outer end of the post in ie the end notch is notch 4 . My Mastertracker cartridge weighs 9.7 g thus should be set to notch 3 . I have changed the notch location and have not noticed a describable difference in the sound to date , but this exercise continues .
 
Perhaps I’m anti establishment…I have mine right smack in the middle, between 2&3. Why? It seems right there gives me the best balance with no sibilance. I’ve also noticed when using 2 or 3 and lowering the arm that the arm will not drop straight down, it will slightly drift one way or the other.
 
I was going to try that . Did you also try to place the loop between the 3 and 4th notch . Sibilance is some thing I also experience . When playing the Cowboy Junkies The Trinity Sessions , Margo Timmins voice suffers greatly from sibilance and no matter what I do its still an issue .

I have installed a true lift on my MoFi and I do notice that when triggered the arm swings out ie back . The table is level . I cannot say that I noticed the arm drift on drop , but my turntable is positioned in a way the I cannot really get a full head on view .
 
I didn’t try between the third and fourth. My cart is supposedly 8gr, though I never weighed it. Notch 2 goes up to 8 and notch three starts at 8. Like Static Shock says, the exercise continues.

As for the arm drop, let’s say I cue the arm for track two and quickly drown the arm that’s when it swings a mm or two one way or the other. I don’t make a regular practice of dropping the arm quickly, I like my stylus!
 
Thanks , that helps . My MasterTracker is 9.7g and notch 3 cover between 8g and 10g like you note and notch 4 starts at 10g . I have never measured the cartridge weight as it was preinstalled and I dont know if MoFi included the hex screws and washers weights in the cartridge weight figure they provided .
 
On my UltraDeck with an MasterTracker , I have been playing around with the notch setting for the anti skate from the 4th notch down to the second and have not really noticed a discernible difference in sound . Has anyone played around with the tracking force , and if yes did you notice any difference . I have mine set at 2g and the recommended range is from 1.8g to 2.2g
 
Static Shock said:
On my UltraDeck with an MasterTracker , I have been playing around with the notch setting for the anti skate from the 4th notch down to the second and have not really noticed a discernible difference in sound . Has anyone played around with the tracking force , and if yes did you notice any difference . I have mine set at 2g and the recommended range is from 1.8g to 2.2g
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I kept mine between 2.0g and 2.1g.
 
My listening taste tends to go in the other direction so I think I will start by reducing by tracking force a bit . The downside of having a better quality TT and cartridge is that the recorded quality of the vinyl shows up . Unfortunately I am finding at least 10% of the new vinyl I purchase tends to have production issues ie warped and off center holes . Add on top of this the quality of the recorded material , it makes if difficult at times to tweak the sound . My listening space is imbalanced and tends to drag the center of the sound off to the right by a foot or so . An issue I will but off to the new year as tweaking speakers is very time consumptive.

At times I feel like I am being dragged down that rabbit hole we have all visited .
 
My experience is the more you improve equipment, the more you find defects. There’s always a weak link or comprise. For some that’s the thrill of the chase.

Some new vinyl is a crapshoot nowadays. Plants are rushed and backed up. However, I’ve yet to find an off center vinyl. I get lists of fingerprints and paper shards and static.

Getting the sound stage centered can be a challenge, every room is different. I like to use a digital source to adjust speakers. A good well known recording. Nothing like setting things up to discover your stylus isn’t exactly aligned, then do it all over again. Without doing a deep dive, toe in or out can get you close.
 
I should also add, I’ve bought maybe 20 new, sealed records this yr so I don’t have a huge sample size like others. Shot my wad on new equipment instead.
 
And I thought I was the only one who was having a string of bad luck regarding new vinyl . The trick with rabbit holes is to keep a firm grip on reality and come up for air once in a while .
 
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