Post your stereo system!

Gern Blansten · September 2020

I thought my TT was kickass and your TT cover costs more than my whole unit

Gern Blansten · September 2020

Also....powered speakers over passive? And wired over wireless I assume for vinyl?

Tim Simmons · September 2020

mrussel1 said:

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Tim Simmons said:

You have a Dustcover for that VPI? I need one for my Prime Sig. I think their official one is crazy over priced though.

Yeah I ordered this one. It's third party and it's really good. Big, as you can imagine because you have to cover that high tonearm. https://upscaleaudio.com/products/audioshield-turntable-dust-covers?variant=21192536195132

I have the AS200, looks like you would need the 300. I bet you love that signature. Gorgeous table.

Thanks.

Yeah, I do. I'm still tweaking it, but man, is it a beast of a table. Stock arm (pre-3D printed), but Grado Sonato on it, running through my Sansui 9090. Its really come together. Very happy with it.

The dust is killing me though.

mrussel1 · September 2020

Gern Blansten said:

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mrussel1 said:

Gern Blansten said:

mrussel1 said:

Gern Blansten said:

mrussel1 said:

Gern Blansten said:

Denon AVR-S540BT

Any opinion on that receiver? It looks like I could use the USB optical cable to connect the turntable to it

No, not likely. That USB is designed to send a signal to a computer for vinyl ripping. Your Denon can be connected by using the Line switch. That will activate the internal phono amp in your TT and then you can connect to any aux/cd/whatever red-white analog input you have. If your Denon has a Phono input, that means it has an internal phono stage. In that case, you would switch to "phono" on the TT. It will send the low signal, and then the phono stage on the Denon will amplify it.

Edit - I just looked at your Denon unit. There's no phono stage. There are two sets of analog input. So you would set the switch to "line" on the TT and plug into one of those two sets.

is that a decent receiver? And you would recommend an external phone amp right?

Denon makes a nice AVR. It would not compare to a stereo that's designed for 2 channel sound quality that will run in the $500 to $1200 range. AVR's are made for home theater, convenience, etc. They have a ton of electronics and boards that add noise into the signal. So the purpose is different.
Regarding the external, I think it depends. You have to have a strategy for your system. Audio components tend to be a journey that takes time as you upgrade. You have what you need to be up and running today, presuming you have speakers.

1. Speakers - most important, not even close. They are the make or break. You should be the most particular here. What do you have today?
2. Integrated amp/stereo - A good integrated amp will likely have a pretty decent built in phono (not having one doesn't make it bad). This will be better than what's in teh TT and keep you in a good place for a while. Phono pre amp should be later, probably even after a new TT. Here's an example of a solid, dedicated two channel. There are a lot of good options that will be a clear upgrade vs almost any AVR.  https://www.crutchfield.com/p_022AS501S/Yamaha-A-S501-Silver.html

no speakers yet....any advice appreciated. Room is probably 16x16.

Man, there are so many options at speakers. You may want to use someone where you can test and return if you don't like them. Local store (demos) or Crutchfield is a good option. I will just tell you speaker brands that I've enjoyed over the years:
Bowers and Wilkins, KEF, Dynaudio, Paradigm, Monitor. I am partial to soft dome tweeters, English sound, and I don't like horns (Klipsch). This is just a preference thing. I would not recommend Audioengine or Bose. I have always been interested in owning some Martin Logans, as they are ribbon speakers. Some people really dig those, but I think they are more inclined to jazz and orchestra.

Like I said earlier, depending on where in the room you sit, you have to first decide towers or bookshelves. One is not better than the other. Bookshelves placed properly and with a sub will sound every bit as good as a tower. It's all about distance. But if you do books, you need stands and I suggest a sub eventually. So towers may be less expensive. You don't have to buy the branded stands which are always outrageous. There are excellent stands on Amazon.

Feel free to float models or ask questions. I love nerding out on stereo equipment.

I'm thinking bookshelf speakers with a subwoofer

what would you pick off of crutchfield if it were you?

I would do either the KEF Q350 bookshelves or Dynaudio Emit M10 (or M20 if you can swing it). Dynaudio makes wonderful speakers. I demoed the M20s before I moved up to the Evoke 20 because my local guy gave me a $500 discount. KEF is a great, neutral English sound. The Q from KEF is highly regarded. The LS series is better, but a big price jump.

You may/not want or need a sub. If I was in the market, I would test the SVS SB1000. It is a very musical sub for $499 that is exceptional. SB = sealed box, which is what you want for music (vs ported). Sealed will keep the bass tight. Ported is better for movies. I tested this for their 45 day trial and I loved it. I went with a PSB simply because I needed speaker (high level) outs. This is unusual. You just have to be sure your integrated amp you select either has B channel or a sub out line. The integrated I'm moving to doesn't, so I had to plan for that. https://www.svsound.com/collections/1000-series I would have kept the SVS otherwise.

mrussel1 · September 2020

Tim Simmons said:

show previous quotes

mrussel1 said:

Tim Simmons said:

You have a Dustcover for that VPI? I need one for my Prime Sig. I think their official one is crazy over priced though.

Yeah I ordered this one. It's third party and it's really good. Big, as you can imagine because you have to cover that high tonearm. https://upscaleaudio.com/products/audioshield-turntable-dust-covers?variant=21192536195132

I have the AS200, looks like you would need the 300. I bet you love that signature. Gorgeous table.

Thanks.

Yeah, I do. I'm still tweaking it, but man, is it a beast of a table. Stock arm (pre-3D printed), but Grado Sonato on it, running through my Sansui 9090. Its really come together. Very happy with it.

The dust is killing me though.

9090! That's also a monster. You have some serious equipment. I have a Marantz 2245, but I use it as a pre and feed a 150x2 amp so I get the headroom I want with the sweet vintage Marantz sound I love.
My arm is the JMW Memorial 10" which is an upgrade, but not to the level of the 3D. What's nice about these VPI's is that you can really customize them. I could theoretically get my Prime to the Signature if I wanted to do so. Doubt I will, but it's cool if you are a tinkerer.

Tim Simmons · September 2020

Thanks. Yeah, I don't have much time for tweaking it. When I went big with it, the plan was for this to be it and I would just customize as desired. To be honest I don't need to do much. The arm is great. I'm happy with the Grado. So we'll see. At this point Id rather just play some tunes rather than futz around with it.

pjpjpaul · September 2020

mrussel1 said:

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pjpjpaul said:

mrussel1 said:

I will be straight honest with you and tell you that when I used that TT with that cart, I could not hear a difference between lossless digital and vinyl. Now.. to be fair, I was also using a Pioneer Elite AVR which is not ideal for vinyl. I also used the phono built into the TT. I almost gave up on vinyl but ended up going to the Proj-ject Debut Carbon, upgrading teh platter and to an Ortofon Blue cart. Also using a dedicated 2 channel integrated made all the difference. So if you're using a dedicated 2 channel amp with a discrete phono, it will sound better than what I did. You have it, it's paid for, you might as well start with that and see how you like it. But it will probably be the weak point in your chain.

Today I'm using a VPI Scout Prime with a 2" platter and 10 inch tonearm. It's a fairly high end table. The cartridge is a Hana MC, and the phono is an Emotiva XPS-1. I like my phono because you can control the resistance, which is important for a MC (moving coil) cart.

Nice. I have the AudioTechnica AT-LP5 turntable with a 2m blue. Thinking about upgrading the phono stage to a pro-ject tube box s2 in the not too distant future.

I still have my 2M Blue and think it's a great cart. Nicely balanced and definite upgrade from the red. Well worth the money. That's cool that you're going tube. Is the rest of your chain solid state? Supposedly tube front with solid amp is the best of both worlds. I want to do a tube preamp at some point.

Yes it is all solid state. The phono stage i use now is the internal one inside the AT-LP5 and i have it plugged into my oknyo receiver which is probably 4 years old or so.

Gern Blansten · September 2020

I am going to spend some more time with it but I am not hearing much from my subwoofer. Any idea what might cause that? It is definitely on and it does buzz when I take out and replace the cable. It just doesn't seem like anything is getting picked up.

Is my receiver needing to be adjusted or something?

mrussel1 · September 2020

Gern Blansten said:

I am going to spend some more time with it but I am not hearing much from my subwoofer. Any idea what might cause that? It is definitely on and it does buzz when I take out and replace the cable. It just doesn't seem like anything is getting picked up.

Is my receiver needing to be adjusted or something?

How is it connected? LFE or speaker wire? Touch the woofer when it's playing loud. Also see where it's set to, either on the sub or in the Denon setup. 80 kHz is normal.

Gern Blansten · September 2020

LFE...I'll check the 80khz

Gern Blansten · October 2020

Ok... Got tt, speakers and receiver all hooked up. Everything sounds great via Bluetooth. Left speaker let's off a lot of crackling when using tt but not Bluetooth. Any ideas?

mrussel1 · October 2020

Gern Blansten said:

Ok... Got tt, speakers and receiver all hooked up. Everything sounds great via Bluetooth. Left speaker let's off a lot of crackling when using tt but not Bluetooth. Any ideas?

Then not the receiver so that's good. Reverse cables from the turntable and see if the static switches channels

Gern Blansten · October 2020

Not sure why I didn't think of that....when reversed the static follows. Shitty thing is that the two pronged cable that hooks into the receiver is an internal cable in the TT so I can't just swap out the cable.

What do you think?

mrussel1 · October 2020

Gern Blansten said:

Not sure why I didn't think of that....when reversed the static follows. Shitty thing is that the two pronged cable that hooks into the receiver is an internal cable in the TT so I can't just swap out the cable.

What do you think?

I don’t quite follow. Can you take a picture of the back of the receiver? You’re saying if the distortion was in the left channel, when you reversed it moved to the right channel?

Gern Blansten · October 2020

mrussel1 said:

show previous quotes

Gern Blansten said:

Not sure why I didn't think of that....when reversed the static follows. Shitty thing is that the two pronged cable that hooks into the receiver is an internal cable in the TT so I can't just swap out the cable.

What do you think?

I don’t quite follow. Can you take a picture of the back of the receiver? You’re saying if the distortion was in the left channel, when you reversed it moved to the right channel?

I'm not home right now but will do that later. Yes it did move to the right channel so normally I would just replace the white/red RCA cable but it isn't a separate cable. The cable emerges from the bottom of the TT via a small hole so it is attached internally.

I'll try to find a pic online

Gern Blansten · October 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRiQsam3-SM

you can see the cable at 6:09....power cable on right and receiver cable on left

Gern Blansten · October 2020

It seems like I might be fucked

maybe I shouldn't have let that tt sit in its box for four years before using it

Edit: I guess I could cut off and replace the end of the cable to see if that works....

mrussel1 · October 2020

Gern Blansten said:

It seems like I might be fucked

maybe I shouldn't have let that tt sit in its box for four years before using it

Edit: I guess I could cut off and replace the end of the cable to see if that works....

Well you don’t know where it goes bad. Could be the cable but could be somewhere inside. Could also be the phono amp too. Are you using the internal? Do you have an external or borrow one to test out? Or does your receiver have an actual phono in? If so or if you have an external you can borrow, I’d give that a try before cutting the cable.

dudeman · October 2020

Also make sure your stylus is firmly and correctly attached to your cartridge.

The four colored wires that connect the cartridge to the tonearm should be checked too.

Definitely rule out any possible issues that don't involve cutting anything first.

Gern Blansten · October 2020

I must have jerked on the cable or something when I was installing the new receiver. I wasn't getting that crackle before.

I had hooked up my old JVC receiver which is probably about 22 years old. I retired it a few years ago because the volume knob started shorting out...turning it up would reduce volume (sometimes) and it didn't seem like the subwoofer was working. With the new receiver the sub works great.

I ordered the updated TT from Audio Technica for $250....I figure that would probably only be slightly higher than trying to get it fixed and a lot less hassle on my end.

Getting this system set up has been quite the project. I appreciate all of the advice!

Gern Blansten · October 2020

now I'm losing my mind...

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021252/uploads/editor/b6/a1pjgofhpcqw.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021252/uploads/editor/ba/if1ht0kwuma2.jpg

Top photo is the receiver...bottom is the turntable

Got the new tt today...no more crackling in the speakers but now it only plays out of the right speaker. If I switch the R/L cable on the receiver it then just plays out of the left speaker.

What is going on? Sub is working.

Is this why I would need a separate phono amp or something? so that it plays out of both channels?

Please help before I jump out my window

mrussel1 · October 2020

Gern Blansten said:

now I'm losing my mind...

Top photo is the receiver...bottom is the turntable

Got the new tt today...no more crackling in the speakers but now it only plays out of the right speaker. If I switch the R/L cable on the receiver it then just plays out of the left speaker.

What is going on? Sub is working.

Is this why I would need a separate phono amp or something? so that it plays out of both channels?

Please help before I jump out my window

Your receiver has a phono amp built in. That means the signal is being amplified. I assume you are plugging into the MM phono input. If that’s the case, you should NOT use the phono amp built into the TT. I don’t know if that means you should have that switch on the phono or line setting. Read the instructions. Very important.

Once you get that setting correct, try it again. If you still have a problem, move the switch to the opposite setting and use the CD or other auxiliary analog inputs. DONT USE THE MM PHONO. See if that fixes the problem.

mrussel1 · October 2020

Btw, it looks like this newer model doesn’t have a built in rca cables? Are you sure the cable is good? Tryna different set. You can use the same ground. You can use a speaker wire to ground too, so don’t worry about that. You also may not even need to ground.

Gern Blansten · October 2020

ok it says to use phono setting and plug into the phono input so I think that part is ok.

I did sub out the cables and get the same thing. It just wants to play through one channel

I'm baffled

Gern Blansten · October 2020

I switched to line out and moved to different inputs and same thing...just playing out of one channel

Gern Blansten · October 2020

and in both cases when I switch the red/white cables the opposite speaker plays so it isn't a case where the speaker is blown

and when I play the FM stereo it plays out of both channels and sub

Gern Blansten · October 2020

Ok I took off the headshell and it has to be something there... I'm getting sound out of both channels but left side is not clear.

Why would this happen with two different tt though... Blowing my mind

mrussel1 · October 2020

Gern Blansten said:

Ok I took off the headshell and it has to be something there... I'm getting sound out of both channels but left side is not clear.

Why would this happen with two different tt though... Blowing my mind

Yes that makes no sense at all. Did you align the carts and plug in the wires yourself or was it assembled?

You might want to box that fucker up and send it back. Get an Orbit or entry Project. You have the phono amp on the receiver so that's nice. You should not be having this problem.

Gern Blansten · October 2020

Thanks... Could you provide links to those when you get a chance

mrussel1 · October 2020

Good.. note there are five color options which is nice. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YQ6B396/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_yaNFFbN7T036B

Very good. This has a better cart and a carbon arm. Three colors
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IIMXATU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_CcNFFbGZXGF0F

I used the Project for several years and it was great. I ended up upgrading the platter and cart to blue. But it's perfectly good out of the box.

Post your stereo system!

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