What should I upgrade on my Debut III?

[SnazzyLabs]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and hope I'll be able to become a part of the community. I am an owner of a Pro-Ject Debut III with a DJ PreII phono preamp and a WooAudio WA6 headphone amplifier with a myriad of great headphones.

I really like the warmth that analog has over digital, but I'm a little curious about upgrading some parts on this Debut III. I have about $400 I'm looking to spend right now on upgrades.

What is most important in upgrading a table? New cartridge? New platter? Speed Box II? Improved suspension set? I'd really like to maximize the performance of this table, and so should I just get a really nice cartridge, or should I do a mixture of upgrades? Any help would be much appreciated.

[SnazzyLabs]

Oh, and for whatever it's worth, did any of you have terrible alignment on your stock cartridge? It was so bad I'm surprised Pro-ject even let it leave the factory.

[ighten]

Yep mine was so bad there was distortion on everything past about the mid of the vinyl. Correction with a simple stupid protractor made about a 300% improvement. I dislike the cartridge though and its presentation soon tired me. I tried a 2m red, great improvement but on my system far to bright and showy. In fact it managed to make the vinyl take on a CD quality. Settled on the Grado Blue which has warmth and silky oozing from every note -as a side note it doesn't hum for me but should be tried before buying to make sure. Already had a speedbox and not using it doesnt really shout out a huge difference to me (seems to tighting things up) so I would say Cartridge followed by better phono amp and platter (Acryl it is next on my shopping list). I presume by suspension set your talking about the motor (are there not some issues with the US version)

One addendum. Be very careful with the leads when changing the cartridge. They are extremely delicate and tight. Tease them off slowly - once done its fine for ever but if done wrong breakages are easy as other members have found.

[SnazzyLabs]

Yep mine was so bad there was distortion on everything past about the mid of the vinyl. Correction with a simple stupid protractor made about a 300% improvement.

Yep. Same here.

As for the cart, I'm going to seriously consider the Grado Blue because I love and adore the warmth of vinyl and don't want that to go away with the 2M Red. I'll also pick up the Acryl platter, and yes, a huge update to my Phono Pre. I just picked up the DJ PreII because that is what was available around town. Any recommendations for a reasonable price, but that also sound great? I have really nice amplification and headphones so I want to get the best value I can.

[ighten]

Cant really fault the Cambridge 540p at its price point. I would still try a range of cartridges though. A 2m red may be perfect for you if the rest of your system is already warm and laid back and sticking a Grado into a system like that could become overwarm and mushy. The rest of my equipment is all Linn and it was just too detailed and bright in that set up, suits the Grado perfectly though.

[SnazzyLabs]

Alright, just got to wait for my Amazon Affiliate check, but I have the Cambridge 540P-B, the Speed Box II (they didn't have the Arcyl-it), and I decided to go with the Audio-Technica AT440MLA. Decent choice?

[ighten]

Not one I have ever tried, let us know.. Note its weight is 6.5g so bear in mind you'll need a bigger counterweight as well (Goes for most upgrades as there are not many around as light as the stock OM series)

[Sharpee]

Hi,
I have a Debut III, in my second system, and have upgraded the Cart to a 2M Red, acrylic platter and belt/pully,with Pro-ject upgrade kit. All are worth doing, but the cartride made the most noticeable improvment.


Regards

[SnazzyLabs]

Thanks for the suggestions, Sharpee. ighten, I'm searching the web for the 75g Pro-ject counterweight and it's sold out just about everywhere. Any third party ones that would work?

[Bob_in_OKC]

You can make the 6.5g cartridge work if you have a tracking force gauge. I don't know if you can get the counterweight to balance the heavier cartridge at zero, but you can get it to hold it at the desired tracking force.

[ighten]

Thanks for the suggestions, Sharpee. ighten, I'm searching the web for the 75g Pro-ject counterweight and it's sold out just about everywhere. Any third party ones that would work?

Think Henley Designs have them permanently in stock though not sure about shipping

[SnazzyLabs]

You can make the 6.5g cartridge work if you have a tracking force gauge. I don't know if you can get the counterweight to balance the heavier cartridge at zero, but you can get it to hold it at the desired tracking force.

Awesome. Don't have a tracking force gauge, but at least I can buy them—I'll be sure to pick one up.

Think Henley Designs have them permanently in stock though not sure about shipping

They do, unfortunately, there is no shipping to the Americas.