MoFi UltraDeck / StudioDeck Owners and those interested

Hereā€™s at least one. There may be others:

JamieLang said:
New user....both of the forum and an Ultradeck.

This might be an odd question, but I ordered an Ultradeck with UltraTracker...but, visually, the cartridge on mine is the dark grey with white writing that I can only find evidence on the web is a MasterTracker. Does anyone know of a way without a microscope to ID what cartridge I"m listening to....?

Secondary related question: has anyone compared the AT 750ml (I think that's the version with the aluminum body?) to the MasterTracker?

I've had it a couple weeks. Very happy with how it tracks and sounds. BUT...I was assuming I was listening to a nude elliptical...which I'd replace with a (third party) microline when it wore out. If I'm indeed listening to their $800 Microline....I feel like I maybe need to put a third party on while I'm still in the return window and make sure my satisfaction with the deck upgrade isn't MOSTLY to do with the cartridge.
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Alright everyone, I'm here to share a mildly upsetting story. Before I get into it, don't ask me about the science or why this works. I don't know. I didn't want it to work. I'm still confused as to why this even remotely makes a difference, but it made enough of a difference that after 6 months of thinking about it I finally gave in and made the investment.

So here's the backstory. A little less than a year ago I had the opportunity to upgrade two of my power cables to Audio Quest Hurricanes for a very reasonable price, AND I got to demo them in my system before I purchased them. These cables now live on my amp and my CXN streamer/dac. Fast froward a few months, I had some friends over listening and one of them suggest that we move the Hurricane from the dac to the TT. I said "the motor, that shouldn't make a bit of difference. But I guess where here and it's not hard, so let's try it." Very much to my surprise and frustration there was a pretty instant improvement in the sound. Most specifically in high end detail and depth of soundstage. Switched between both the stock cable and the Hurricane a few times, and it was pretty conclusive for all 3 of us. Easy to hear. I've also repeated this experiment a few times on my own over the months, and I've been debating with myself if interconnects or that power cable would make a bigger difference. To make matters worse, I recently read in Stereophile's review of the 1200G which mentioned using an Audio Quest Thunder power cable to power that table for the review.

Fast forward to this weekend, I had friend come over and he was kind enough to bring his Crystal Clear Opus 2 Interconnects and speaker cables. Throughout the evening we bounced between various combinations of each out the interconnects, the speaker cable, and the power cable. Here are the big lessons learned:
- The interconnects and speaker cables made the biggest impact when they were both in the system. This hasn't always been the case when I've experimented in other systems, but it certainly was the case in my system.
- Changing the power cable on the Mofi Ultradeck had a bigger impact than changing to pure silver speaker cables that were 10x the retail price of my current cables.

Take this all with a grain of salt. This is what I heard in my system, with my exact gear, and my own ears. Your experience may be different, but I know @Static Shock has also talked about getting improvements when changing the power cables on his Ultradeck. Something interesting to consider.

After this last experience, I decided that it's time to commit to this change, and prioritize it over new IC and speaker cables. I pulled the trigger on a new to me AQ Thunder today.
 
Those puppies ainā€™t cheap! Very interesting tests and resultsā€¦.thanks for sharing! I wouldnā€™t have thought a power chord on a TT would matter either but worth a try for sure!

I have a Pangea power chord that has got to be 2ā€thick. It barely bends. I use it for my amp/integrated. It makes an audible difference imo. Also have a couple Decware power chords that I use on my DAC and 20/20.
 
displayname said:
Alright everyone, I'm here to share a mildly upsetting story. Before I get into it, don't ask me about the science or why this works. I don't know. I didn't want it to work. I'm still confused as to why this even remotely makes a difference, but it made enough of a difference that after 6 months of thinking about it I finally gave in and made the investment.

So here's the backstory. A little less than a year ago I had the opportunity to upgrade two of my power cables to Audio Quest Hurricanes for a very reasonable price, AND I got to demo them in my system before I purchased them. These cables now live on my amp and my CXN streamer/dac. Fast froward a few months, I had some friends over listening and one of them suggest that we move the Hurricane from the dac to the TT. I said "the motor, that shouldn't make a bit of difference. But I guess where here and it's not hard, so let's try it." Very much to my surprise and frustration there was a pretty instant improvement in the sound. Most specifically in high end detail and depth of soundstage. Switched between both the stock cable and the Hurricane a few times, and it was pretty conclusive for all 3 of us. Easy to hear. I've also repeated this experiment a few times on my own over the months, and I've been debating with myself if interconnects or that power cable would make a bigger difference. To make matters worse, I recently read in Stereophile's review of the 1200G which mentioned using an Audio Quest Thunder power cable to power that table for the review.

Fast forward to this weekend, I had friend come over and he was kind enough to bring his Crystal Clear Opus 2 Interconnects and speaker cables. Throughout the evening we bounced between various combinations of each out the interconnects, the speaker cable, and the power cable. Here are the big lessons learned:
- The interconnects and speaker cables made the biggest impact when they were both in the system. This hasn't always been the case when I've experimented in other systems, but it certainly was the case in my system.
- Changing the power cable on the Mofi Ultradeck had a bigger impact than changing to pure silver speaker cables that were 10x the retail price of my current cables.

Take this all with a grain of salt. This is what I heard in my system, with my exact gear, and my own ears. Your experience may be different, but I know @Static Shock has also talked about getting improvements when changing the power cables on his Ultradeck. Something interesting to consider.

After this last experience, I decided that it's time to commit to this change, and prioritize it over new IC and speaker cables. I pulled the trigger on a new to me AQ Thunder today.
Click to expand...
As displayname noted , I was equally surprised when I went through the same thing a year or more ago . I have an old school system and all components except the TT are over 20 years old . I had tweaked everything except power cables and outlets over the years . After these things went into the system I was pleasantly surprised to hear a difference with my older ears . They went in all at once so I cannot tell you what made a difference where . My system on roller bearings, is in an old Quebec armoire against the wall that takes a couple of people to move in and out ---just too much work .

On my TT I had got a deal on a demo Audioquest NRG 10 Power Cord---this went in not long after I got the TT and I did hear a difference , the rest of the cords were made by a supplier up in the Ottawa valley not far from our capital where our Prime Minister, in the news today just resigned . You know the news stuff, its not music and just keeps repeating itself until you believe and the gray stuff flows from the ears .

So you never know until you try and if you can demo the stuff in your system all the better . I had been in the Alice rabbit hole camp sitting on the edge not believing that any tweak's made a difference you could really hear . You all know , perceived hearing in your mind rather then in your ears . May not be any difference between the two . I still fall into the rabbit hole once in a while , but try to keep a firm grip on the edge so I can pull myself out . The next time I move I will sell the system and just stream ---hearing will be gone by then I expect .
 
Slimwhit33 said:
Those puppies ainā€™t cheap! Very interesting tests and resultsā€¦.thanks for sharing! I wouldnā€™t have thought a power chord on a TT would matter either but worth a try for sure!

I have a Pangea power chord that has got to be 2ā€thick. It barely bends. I use it for my amp/integrated. It makes an audible difference imo. Also have a couple Decware power chords that I use on my DAC and 20/20.
Click to expand...
I also have a Pangea cord, though it's not in use right now since I had it for my KingKo.

My Sol uses a wall wart. Maybe I could source a nicer one? I dunno.
 
Angsty said:
The engineer in me is always skeptical but what I never deny is... buy what makes you happy.
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To be honest, spending the money on a power cable does not make me happy, lol. New components are much more fun.

But now I feel confident that I have a foundation in place to get the most out of any future components that come into the system.

Sutherland 20/20 LPS is next!
 
displayname said:
Alright everyone, I'm here to share a mildly upsetting story. Before I get into it, don't ask me about the science or why this works. I don't know. I didn't want it to work. I'm still confused as to why this even remotely makes a difference, but it made enough of a difference that after 6 months of thinking about it I finally gave in and made the investment.

So here's the backstory. A little less than a year ago I had the opportunity to upgrade two of my power cables to Audio Quest Hurricanes for a very reasonable price, AND I got to demo them in my system before I purchased them. These cables now live on my amp and my CXN streamer/dac. Fast froward a few months, I had some friends over listening and one of them suggest that we move the Hurricane from the dac to the TT. I said "the motor, that shouldn't make a bit of difference. But I guess where here and it's not hard, so let's try it." Very much to my surprise and frustration there was a pretty instant improvement in the sound. Most specifically in high end detail and depth of soundstage. Switched between both the stock cable and the Hurricane a few times, and it was pretty conclusive for all 3 of us. Easy to hear. I've also repeated this experiment a few times on my own over the months, and I've been debating with myself if interconnects or that power cable would make a bigger difference. To make matters worse, I recently read in Stereophile's review of the 1200G which mentioned using an Audio Quest Thunder power cable to power that table for the review.

Fast forward to this weekend, I had friend come over and he was kind enough to bring his Crystal Clear Opus 2 Interconnects and speaker cables. Throughout the evening we bounced between various combinations of each out the interconnects, the speaker cable, and the power cable. Here are the big lessons learned:
- The interconnects and speaker cables made the biggest impact when they were both in the system. This hasn't always been the case when I've experimented in other systems, but it certainly was the case in my system.
- Changing the power cable on the Mofi Ultradeck had a bigger impact than changing to pure silver speaker cables that were 10x the retail price of my current cables.

Take this all with a grain of salt. This is what I heard in my system, with my exact gear, and my own ears. Your experience may be different, but I know @Static Shock has also talked about getting improvements when changing the power cables on his Ultradeck. Something interesting to consider.

After this last experience, I decided that it's time to commit to this change, and prioritize it over new IC and speaker cables. I pulled the trigger on a new to me AQ Thunder today.
Click to expand...
I had the same experience when I replaced all my power cables. However the only one I haven't replaced is my TT...

its-time-ufc.gif
 
I wanted to get a better idea on views of the Mofi MC carts and I didnā€™t want to read everything I could find on them. I figured this would be a great opportunity to try Googleā€™s NotebookLM ā€œpodcastā€ feature. This is basically 8 or 9 reviews and a discussion form:

Have fun!

*Edit/Update. This is my new favorite way to consume reviews. I've just started stacking reviews into this tool. Takes about 5 minutes to stack everything in and I can then listen to it while I drive. A little cheesy at points, but it gets the main learning elements across decently.
 
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displayname said:
I wanted to get a better idea on views of the Mofi MC carts and I didnā€™t want to read everything I could find on them. I figured this would be a great opportunity to try Googleā€™s NotebookLM ā€œpodcastā€ feature. This is basically 8 or 9 reviews and a discussion form:

Have fun!

*Edit/Update. This is my new favorite way to consume reviews. I've just started stacking reviews into this tool. Takes about 5 minutes to stack everything in and I can then listen to it while I drive. A little cheesy at points, but it gets the main learning elements across decently.
Click to expand...

This is at once fascinating, but also a little scary! That AI can ingest 8 or 9 written reviews and then create what sounds to all intents and purposes like a well-informed conversation between two people about a specific topic is impressive. I for one found it easier to listen to an explanation about why high mass tonearms work better with low compliance carts. I actually came away understanding this better than I had previously.

The one thing they didn't addess though was the big cost difference between the Hana ML and MoFi Ultragold. Here in Australia the Hana will set you back A$1995, the MoFi A$2699.
 
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