Thin sound from Pink Triangle and re-wired RB300

[southsea2015]

(Actually im getting used to the detail now, its pretty awesome.. but still, how could I give my system more meat, more poer, more weight?)

That old story of thinking I had found an amazing bargain on ebay, only to be underwhelmed once every thing had been plugged in!

My existing amp - NAD 3020i (classic.period)
Speakers - Morduant SHort MS20i Pearls (on empty Atamaca stands)

New turntable - Pink Triangle LPT, DC motor, external V1 power supply, Funk Firm Acromat, Rega RB300 with Origin Live structural modification and completely rewired (internally and externally) by Audio Origami, Goldring 1042 cartridge.

Now on paper this should sound absloutly blinding right?

Well, to be honest I think I still prefer my iphone sound connected via the Aux!

Problem is although this turntable combo reveals a lot of detail, and I must admit vocals sound awesome, space and sound stage also really good, there is very little weight or funk to the music.

I hooked up an old XLP phono amp and that seems to have improved the sound in that its louder wth a bit more weight. But what is making me cringe and laugh at the same time is that i'm doing all these tweaks with all this expensive equipment when I can just plug in my laptop and listen to my itunes library and prefer the sound!

I was wondering if the stylus might need replacing? Its said the Goldring has a warm sound, but mine certainly doesnt!

What are your thoughts out there??

[Guest]

It could be the cartridge. The Goldring 1042 is borderline low-compliance (10) while the RB300 arm is borderline low-mass (11.5g), so they are not a great match. If you put a low-compliance cartridge on a low-mass arm, the stiff cantilever can apparently cause bass information to be transmitted to the arm rather than absorbed by the cartridge, resulting in a bass-light sound.

So this could be the issue. One way to find out would be to buy an inexpensive high-compliance cartridge, such as the Ortofon OM5E, and see how that sounds.

[Guest]

P.S. Or you could increase the mass of the arm to see if this improves matters. I'm not sure of the best way to do this - perhaps attach a few grams of blu-tak to the top of the headshell. You would then need to rebalance the arm and reset the tracking force.

[Alec124c41]

Stick a small coin to the headshell with Blu-Tak, and rebalance. Try one that is about 5 grams, and work from there.

Cheers,
Alec

[southsea2015]

..so more weight then. That is the cheap way forward.

[southsea2015]

What cartridge would suit this set up bettter?

[Guest]

A higher compliance one, although it needn't be very high compliance. And it depends on the kind of sound you want and your budget.

[southsea2015]

good answer!
Turntables really arnt for the lazy

[southsea2015]

Wow
The penny and blu-tak on the head shell is pretty good!

[southsea2015]

Just a little paranoid the heavier end of the VTF is going to reck the stylus and my records. Used a simple plastic guage from Ortofon..
The sound is far more full bodied and listenable. I like!

[Guest]

So the heavier tonearm worked. If you've rebalanced the arm and are still tracking within the recommended VTF range for the stylus, you shouldn't be damaging anything. If you're using the top end of the VTF range (2g), I guess this will be a little more wearing on the stylus and records, but it should still be very gradual.

[Alec124c41]

Now you can look for something more sophisticated than a penny, knowing that it will work.

Cheers,
Alec

[southsea2015]

Thanks Alec :)
Thanks Clive :)

Although, maybe it has cut the high frequencies a little slightly too much on some tracks. But vocals very very good.

I'll reinvestigate the tracking again tomorrow!

Simple fix, my favourite.

:wink:

[Alec124c41]

If your bass is too heavy, try a smaller coin. Find the sweet spot.

Cheers,
Alec

[backtotheblack]

the LPT's strong point is the bass, the reason it might sounds light is due to you hearing more top end. the bass is still there as it was but now your hearing more detail and cleaner highs. a easy way of testing this is to drape some fabric over the front of your speakers, this will tame the top end. sit and get used to the sound for a few days then remove the fabric.

going from digital files (depending on the playback equipment) to records is just like the above ''removing a screen''.

now when you stuck the penny on the headshell of the arm did you set the static balance then set the VTF and anti skate?

there is nothing wrong with the 1042 on the RB300 and i never needed 'extra weight'. what might be wrong as i found is that the VTA with the 1042 is not ideal on the rb300 but its not that far off to cause lack of bass.

how old is the 1042?

has the tracking been set properly?

has the VTF been dialled in properly?

VTA, nothing you can do apart from get an adjustable pillar collar (but this means getting the top plate machined) or using spacers. i personally ditched the MDF top plate and made one from acrylic.

the 1042 is a nice cart when set up properly but does suffer from surface noise.