MoFi UltraDeck / StudioDeck Owners and those interested

Saluki79 said:
Well “I did a thing” as I’ve seen many other members on this site say!

I've been hanging out here for the past several weeks while I was searching for a new turntable. The one that was on the top of my wish list was the Mofi Ultradeck. The Stereophile Rankings: Recommended Components 2022 Edition Turntables list was the way I discovered it and I continued to read favorable reviews in other publications including its listing in the mid priced tier of The Absolute Sounds 50 Greatest Bargains in High-End Audio. It was more than I had planned to spend so I kept researching other turntables however I kept coming back to the Ultradeck.

I found N&G because of the number of postings about the Ultradeck on this thread. I’ve read this thread a couple of times and it appears that there are many happy owners here. Some have had problems but were resolved. (Hopefully @notjhill has his issue resolved.) Some have recently moved on and that initially caused me to rethink my plans, but I realized everyone is on a different audio journey. Even after they moved on it didn’t appear that they had anything negative to say about the Ultradeck. I have found negative user reviews in other forums but there weren’t many.

So about 4 weeks ago I decided to purchase the Ultradeck Plus (with the Ultratracker). It was on sale (and still is) at ABT Electronics for $2,299 ($500 less that the current/new price of $2,799). It was on backorder when I ordered it so I wasn’t sure when it would come in. I received it this past Saturday and I felt like a kid at Christmas! Set up was a breeze after reading comments on this thread and watching an online setup video and I'm happy to report that everything is working great.

I'm looking forward to spending more time with it. Thanks to everyone for the humor, knowledge and experience that you've shared in this thread.
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Welcome! I’ve really been enjoying the Ultradeck and hope you do too!
 
tomheo said:
My house is around the same age as yours...I'm not sure what they did when they fed the wires through my walls but they were covered in plaster or paint or something? I switched my outlet to the Audioquest one and don't hear any difference, haha. When I switched out my power cords, I heard a huge difference. The new outlet is much sturdier though, so I just left it.


They didn't seem too difficult...I think the hardest part is flipping the TT over w/o damaging anything. You need to undo some screws at the bottom. The electrical connector is one of those push connectors (like a JST or Molex connector).


I've run a few different cartridges on mine (Grado Gold 2 -> Hana SL -> Hana ML) and I think usually people say to give around 50 hours to burn in a cartridge?


Good luck with it! I'm sure MoFi will take care of you.
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While it took some time I finally received a replacement power switch and replaced the old one following the supplied instructions . The result is positive so far as the unit does not shut down due to the static shock when I touch it. It appears that MoFi know of this problem .
 
Static Shock said:
While it took some time I finally received a replacement power switch and replaced the old one following the supplied instructions . The result is positive so far as the unit does not shut down due to the static shock when I touch it. It appears that MoFi know of this problem .
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glad to hear they took care of you!

I guess sometimes you can’t foresee these issues until the product makes it into the real world.
 
Static Shock said:
While it took some time I finally received a replacement power switch and replaced the old one following the supplied instructions . The result is positive so far as the unit does not shut down due to the static shock when I touch it. It appears that MoFi know of this problem .
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That's awesome! I noticed something a couple of weeks ago; not sure if this is just a coincidence but I moved my Integrated (Primaluna EVO 100) closer to the Ultradeck and the Ultradeck started doing the shut-off thing again. I moved them further apart and it hasn't happened again (knock on wood), so it seems like it's some type of shielding thing?

Glad yours seems to be sorted out though!
 
Fixxman32 said:
I regreased the bearing on my UD today, how long does it take to settle?
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I used a thin film of the grease that was recommended in this thread and I gave it an hour but it probably was done in minutes.

Permatex 80345 White Lithium Grease​

Amazon product ASIN B000HBNV58
A few others have reported that if they used too much grease it wouldn't settle, so they had to remove the platter and clean off the excess grease using a Q-tip.
 
Dumb question alert...how do you apply the lithium grease? Just squeeze some right on to the bearing? Use anything to spread it around at all?
 
tomheo said:
That's awesome! I noticed something a couple of weeks ago; not sure if this is just a coincidence but I moved my Integrated (Primaluna EVO 100) closer to the Ultradeck and the Ultradeck started doing the shut-off thing again. I moved them further apart and it hasn't happened again (knock on wood), so it seems like it's some type of shielding thing?

Glad yours seems to be sorted out though!
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Your may want to reach out to MoFi on the issues as they appeared to suggest to my dealer that this was a known issue and replacing the power switch may help . My orginal part was dated 2018 and the replacement a couple of years later .

MoFi only appear to want to deal with me through my dealer and he has become a bit frustrated with them as they do not appear to reach out to the dealers when a problem has bee identified . They basically appear to allow the user to identify the problem as I did through this forum . He tells me that other companies do the same .

This is not the first time this happened as I first started with a studiodeck which was a floor model without a lot of use . I had a problem right away as the anti skate string had a blemish on it causing tracking issues near the end of the record . They kept sending replacements that were too long and the weight would not lift off the deck at all . They insisted there was only one length . Research on the forum resulted in me identifying a broken part and at this point a month in I returned the unit to the dealer and took the ultradeck home ---and experienced the power switch issue . While I love the sound of my unit , the service level from MoFi not so much . I almost wanted to send them a bill for all the time I spent trying to identify the issues .

I know a lot of people have had a good experience with MoFi , I am not one of them and I have basically had to identify the problems myself . This is a bit of a disappointment give the price paid . Being a Canadian it a lot more them you in the US pay . I may have just caught them at a busy period , but hope this is the end of my issues . I just want to be able to listen to the music and not have to deal with all the issues .
 
Static Shock said:
Your may want to reach out to MoFi on the issues as they appeared to suggest to my dealer that this was a known issue and replacing the power switch may help . My orginal part was dated 2018 and the replacement a couple of years later .

MoFi only appear to want to deal with me through my dealer and he has become a bit frustrated with them as they do not appear to reach out to the dealers when a problem has bee identified . They basically appear to allow the user to identify the problem as I did through this forum . He tells me that other companies do the same .

This is not the first time this happened as I first started with a studiodeck which was a floor model without a lot of use . I had a problem right away as the anti skate string had a blemish on it causing tracking issues near the end of the record . They kept sending replacements that were too long and the weight would not lift off the deck at all . They insisted there was only one length . Research on the forum resulted in me identifying a broken part and at this point a month in I returned the unit to the dealer and took the ultradeck home ---and experienced the power switch issue . While I love the sound of my unit , the service level from MoFi not so much . I almost wanted to send them a bill for all the time I spent trying to identify the issues .

I know a lot of people have had a good experience with MoFi , I am not one of them and I have basically had to identify the problems myself . This is a bit of a disappointment give the price paid . Being a Canadian it a lot more them you in the US pay . I may have just caught them at a busy period , but hope this is the end of my issues . I just want to be able to listen to the music and not have to deal with all the issues .
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Yeah, I reached out to them a while back and they sent me the new switch and instructions. I just never went through changing it out.

Sorry to hear you've had all those issues; I know it's a pain to deal with and puts a damper on using it.

At the end of the day, I really like my Ultradeck but it hasn't been completely headache-free. The power switch thing and then I had a weird thing where the headshell o-ring got brittle and fell apart. Then recently, one of the feet fell off of the cover. I'm really careful with my stuff but also don't know if this is just how it goes with turntables? This is only my second turntable; first one was a Pro-ject Carbon Espirit and had an issue with the hinges for the cover, so not sure if turntables are just kind of finicky?

I hope you have a trouble-free experience moving forward!
 
I will chime in:
My first StudioDeck had to have the bearing and platter replaced (by me) but first a whole month of testing.. For MoFi as they wanted ME to troubleshoot first.

After a month they sent a new platter and bearing. What sort of customer care is that? Even the store i bought it at wanted to replace the entire deck, but no. MoFi overruled them.

I got sick of that Studiodeck and exchanged it for an Ultradeck as i felt i had no joy with it.
Then, i got the Ultradeck. The tonearm-lift was defective - guess who had to install a new one themselves? Me..
 
tomheo said:
Yeah, I reached out to them a while back and they sent me the new switch and instructions. I just never went through changing it out.

Sorry to hear you've had all those issues; I know it's a pain to deal with and puts a damper on using it.

At the end of the day, I really like my Ultradeck but it hasn't been completely headache-free. The power switch thing and then I had a weird thing where the headshell o-ring got brittle and fell apart. Then recently, one of the feet fell off of the cover. I'm really careful with my stuff but also don't know if this is just how it goes with turntables? This is only my second turntable; first one was a Pro-ject Carbon Espirit and had an issue with the hinges for the cover, so not sure if turntables are just kind of finicky?

I hope you have a trouble-free experience moving forward!
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I also hope the future just brings music . My O ring is fine at this point , but I also experienced the issue with the lid bumper and its easy to re glue on . The switch is not hard to do as long as you follow instructions and ensure the arm and needle are well secured as it all has to be turned over to work on . I used a garbage can on which to set the unit ---just measure the open area to ensure it does not conflict with the upside down arm on one side and the belt /motor on the other . Lots of screws to remove and replace and the most difficult thing was centering the new power switch .

Previous turntable was an old German made Duel 505-2 from the 1980,s . To keep it going , belts needed to be changed and a lot of mechanical parts needed to be lubed ect . Still works as a backup in the shop .
 
I wonder how widespread these quality control issues are? My VPI Traveler was notorious for broken sapphire tonearm bearings when it was first introduced, due to an ergonomic design issue. It took three different bearing designs to finally fix it, but by that time VPI threw in the towel and discontinued the Traveler. The next several entry level tables all featured a yoke-style bearing that was dead-simple.

Fortunately for me, my model has been a joy to use with no bearing problems. I did have to return the plinth for service after the top plate adhesive had aged five years, but the customer service was very good.
 
Fixxman32 said:
I will chime in:
My first StudioDeck had to have the bearing and platter replaced (by me) but first a whole month of testing.. For MoFi as they wanted ME to troubleshoot first.

After a month they sent a new platter and bearing. What sort of customer care is that? Even the store i bought it at wanted to replace the entire deck, but no. MoFi overruled them.

I got sick of that Studiodeck and exchanged it for an Ultradeck as i felt i had no joy with it.
Then, i got the Ultradeck. The tonearm-lift was defective - guess who had to install a new one themselves? Me..
Click to expand...
That reflects my experience as it took me a month of research on the studiodeck to try to sort out issues that when you identified the issue's to MoFi they appeared to know that these things happened to other people . We all know there can be problems but I also found the approach they tend to use as lacking . My poor dealer was caught in the middle trying to sort out the problems with little support except from me --kind of the wrong way around . I feel I should send MoFi a bill for all the time I spent sorting out problems with new turntables .

But I enjoy the sound and hope that this is the end of my difficulties .
 
Static Shock said:
That reflects my experience as it took me a month of research on the studiodeck to try to sort out issues that when you identified the issue's to MoFi they appeared to know that these things happened to other people . We all know there can be problems but I also found the approach they tend to use as lacking . My poor dealer was caught in the middle trying to sort out the problems with little support except from me --kind of the wrong way around . I feel I should send MoFi a bill for all the time I spent sorting out problems with new turntables .

But I enjoy the sound and hope that this is the end of my difficulties .
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Its absolutely not the way to do customer service at all. I will keep my Ultradeck, but after that no more MoFi sadly.

I should too.. Send them a bill.
But, when it works and has no issues its a fine table, no question about that.
 
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