So what is everyone using for a vinyl rig?

[jsaliga]

I borrowed the title for this topic from Evan.  I looked through the Analog Devices section and felt something was missing.  And then it struck me that there wasn't a thread here where members could post about their vinyl setups.  It's a system, I feel, and it would be helpful for members to know what people are using.  If someone posts how much they really like, for example, their phono preamp then it would be useful to know what table, arm, and cartridge they are using with it.

So let me start things off.  My current vinyl rig consists of the following:

• SOTA Star Sapphire Series II Vacuum Platter Turntable finished in Koa Wood
• Ortofon Jubilee MC Cartridge
• SME 309 Tonearm
• Aesthetix Rhea Tube Phono Preamp

In the top photo off to the left is a Garrard 401 that I am getting ready.  But this is a work in progress and won't be ready to use for about another month.  So I'm not quite ready to talk about that table.

I really like the Ortofon Jubilee cartridge.  It is pretty much neurtral.  Has nicely extended high frequencies and authoritative bass slam if that is what is in the record grooves.  The mids are lush but not overly warm and colored.  It has a nude shibata stylus mounted on a boron cantilever and tracks like a champ.  VTF is set at 2.4g and this cartridge is a nice match for low and medium mass tonearms.

Other cartridges that I have experience with are: Ortofon Kontrapunkt A, Ortofon Kontrapunkt B, Benz Glider, Benz Wood L2, Denon DL-103R, ZYX R-100 SB Silver, and Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood.  The Clearaudio Virtuoso is probably the best moving magnet cartridge I have ever heard.  The Denon wasn't a good match for the SME 309 and sounded very dull, lifeless if you will.  The ZYX R-100 had no fire and was way too analytical for my tastes, so I sold it to someone on Head-Fi.  I gave away the Denon DL-103R to someone on AC who broke the cantilever on their DL-103 cartridge and was upset because he couldn't afford to buy a replacement for a while.  The Benz Glider went to someone in Australia for less than half of what a new one costs.  I still have the Benz Wood L2 but the cantilever failed (I didn't do anything to break it).  I held on to it because Benz has a trade-in/trade-up allowance and I was planning on buying another Benz cartridge -- though I never got around to it.

I also own a Dynavector 20X2L MC cartridge that serves as a backup.  It has never been on my tonearm.

The only other arm I have used on my SOTA was a classic SME 3009 Series II.  It really is a nice arm but I feel the Ortofon Jubliee is a better match for the SME 309 that I am currently using.

Moving on to phono preamps, I have only been using outboard phono stages for about 6 years or so when I went to separates.  To me this is the least important part of the chain.  I have used a TC-760LC from phonopreamps.com (a new one is about $70), Cambridge 640p, Eastern Electric Mini Max, Musical Surroundings Phenomena II, and the RSA F-117 Nighthawk.  I was pretty much satisfied with the performance of all of them.  The TC-760LC used a pretty poor wall wart power supply that put some noise into the sound, but a better power supply fixed that problem.  

I have owned lots of other turntables, some I can't even remember the specific details.  Before I acquired the SOTA four years ago I was using a Rega P7.  Rega definitely has its followers and detractors.  The P7 is the next model down from their flagship P9.  The P7 has a ceramic platter and features a RB700 tonearm with an outboard speed controller.  It was a nice deck, made great music, and I was happy with it while I owned it.  Then the chance came along to buy the SOTA at a very good price and I snapped it up.

So tell us about your vinyl rig and what led you to it.

--Jerome

[rollo]

   Nice idea Jerome. For me the Linn LP12 king for a long time. But king to what, never really had another class "A" table.  Bought it back in the early 1990s and now is fitted with Lingo, trampoline and cirkus upgrades. A Linn Arkiv cart [ .15mv] held its own until a micro Beno M2 wood body came along. The Benz was a better match for the Loesch & Weisner MM phono stage. The Linn required a step which affected the sound. Not good.  The cant. went on the Benz as well , before its time I still believe.
  That combo was so good to me that there was no desire to move on. When the CAT pre was in da house the Archiv and Linn were wonderfull.
   Needed a new cart to mate better with the phono of the LW. Selected a Goldenote Boboli mk2 HOMC [ 2mv ]. However never installed it on the Linn.
  Then the Kuzma Stobi S with Stogi S 12VTA arm came along. The Boboli mates very well with the arm and pre so far.
   I've become a Goldenote fanboy. Staying put for now.


charles

 

[BobM]

I had Larry at Hollywood sound in Florida make my turntable after hearing high praise for his work from the Harry at VPI. I wanted a VPI but did';t have room for it at the time since it all had to fit into a cabinet. Larry made me what amounts to a scout prototype using a 1" Corian plinth, a MK III platter and bearing and a stand alone motor. The Scout was released by VPI about 2 years later after what I think of was demand for a table with a smaller footprint.

My original table had an Audioquest PT6 tonearm and a Grado Platinum cartridge on it. I was using an Audio Innovations phono stage, which sounded very nice.

I then upgraded to a Hagerman Coronet phono stage and a Dynavector 20XH cartridge. After I got paid for an article I wrote on upgrading CD players I bought myself a Moerch DP6 tonearm with the commission check and swapped out my Hagerman Coronet for a Hagerman Trumpet phono stage. The Dynavector was upgraded to an XX1 and I built a Hagerman Piccolo step-up, but it didn't mate very well overall. I then built a speed controller from a Mark Kelly design and got rid of my VPI rubber belt for silk string. Big PRAT improvement overall with that upgrade.

I then got an unbelievable deal on a used Transfiguration Temper cartridge and it all snapped into place. Of course there was tube rolling and cap swapping and adjustments and isolation stuff all along the way (tuning aids).



Transfiguration Temper (very low .25mv output)


Trumpet and Mark Kelly speed controller

[evan1]

Nottingham Analogue Systems Interspace Jr. with Jolida JD-9 preamp. Temp cartridge is a Denon DL110 HOMC. Not sure I'm crazy about the Jolida yet and I will eventually upgrade my cartridge.

[_Scotty_]

I am using a Maplenoll Ariadne TT,AT 440ML and a custom inductance canceling phono-stage
Sorry about the big image I don't know how to resize it.
Scotty

[jsaliga]

Awesome guys.  It's funny that all of your setups touch on something that I have wanted to try at one time or another.

Bob, consider yourself fortunate to own the Hagerman Trumpet.  I wish they were still being made.  Used ones don't come up for sale very often.  Though I have to say that I am very happy with my Aesthetix Rhea, and I doubt very much that I would want to put something else in its place.

Evan, when I decided to go vintage and get a Garrard 401 there were a few other decks I was considering.  One of them was a Nottingham Space Deck.  The other was an Origin Live Resolution.  I was interested in decks that could take two tonearms.  I sent an email to the US distributor for Nottingham and it took him 2 months to get back to me.  By then I had already ruled out the Origin Live deck and decided that in the long run I would have some fun with a Garrard 401 and it would turn out to be less expensive.  But I have seen used Space Decks on Audiogon for very reasonable prices in the past...but there were none available at the time I was considering a second deck.

I like linear tracking/air bearing tonearms.  I've seen a number of designs and the most intriguing one I have seen lately is from Trans-Fi Audio in the UK:



I have a decision to make about my SOTA when I finish the Garrard 401 project sometime next month.  The suspension in the SOTA is getting a little long in the tooth.  The springs are getting a bit weak and the time is approaching when I will need to send the deck back to SOTA for some work.  The motor is strong and speed stable at 33 and 45 RPM...but the chassis definitely will need to be rehung with new springs sometime soon.  The SME 309 is a heavy arm.  

I can do one of three things: Send my deck back and get it upgraded to Series IV parts, trade it in and buy a brand new SOTA Star Series V ($3,800), or sell my SOTA for whatever I can get for it and replace it with a different turntable.  My SOTA still sounds great so I am not going to worry about it for now...but if I end up parting with it then I will probably consider the Trans-Fi deck.  The cost would be close to the same as a new SOTA Star.

--Jerome

[Putz]

My rig consists of:

VPI Aries 1 with the original platter. I also have the Acrylic upgrade platter that can take the ring clamp.
JMW 10.5i tonearm. Same arm that the Classic comes with.
Grado Reference Sonata 5mv
Stainless Steel/Delrin clamp
SDS
Edensounds Terrastone footers and Terrastone base for the Aries motor.
Target wall shelf with 2" thick Maple Cutting Board
Vista Phono Preamp
Cambridge 640P Phono Preamp, heavily modded with all new parts inside and Pangea upgraded Power Supply



I stopped listening to vinyl years ago when I went thru my Home Theater phase (the dark years). Had a Thorens table that sat on my Audio stand barely played, sold my Infinity RS3B speakers and went 7 channel with Martin Logan and then AV123.

Then I got the wall shelf a couple of years ago. Bought a Project Debut 3 with all the upgrades less than 2 years ago. Bought  a used VPI HW19 JR  Mark IV with the Grado Cart and sold the Project. Bought the Aries, kept the Grado and sold the HW19 to an AN member. Oh and I sold the AV123s and bought Evan's Songtowers.

Looking to upgrade the Cart to a Dyna DV20?? or Soundsmith VPI cart. Maybe get a second Armwand so I can have 2 carts. Send the Vista back to Boris to set up for LOMC. Might get some better cables. Currently running Blue Jeans with Ground wire to the Pre and Morrows from the Pre to my Jolida Integrated Tube Amp.

I like the fact that the VPI is made in Jersey and has so many upgrades available for it. Wife's not to thrilled with that but I'm getting close to vinyl nirvana.

[BobM]

Putz, since I see you've got the SDS I strongly recommend that you try replacing the VPI rubber belt with silk string and readjust the speed appropriately. Tell us what you think about listening to vinyl again after you try this little tweak.

Bob

[bpape]

I have a decision to make about my SOTA when I finish the Garrard 401 project sometime next month.  The suspension in the SOTA is getting a little long in the tooth.  The springs are getting a bit weak and the time is approaching when I will need to send the deck back to SOTA for some work.  The motor is strong and speed stable at 33 and 45 RPM...but the chassis definitely will need to be rehung with new springs sometime soon.  The SME 309 is a heavy arm.  

I can do one of three things: Send my deck back and get it upgraded to Series IV parts, trade it in and buy a brand new SOTA Star Series V ($3,800), or sell my SOTA for whatever I can get for it and replace it with a different turntable.  My SOTA still sounds great so I am not going to worry about it for now...but if I end up parting with it then I will probably consider the Trans-Fi deck.  The cost would be close to the same as a new SOTA Star.

--Jerome

If/when you decide you want to sell that SOTA, ping me, I might be interested.  Haven't had vinyl for a while but now have a good place for it and even the wife it pushing me to get back into it. 

Bryan

[etcarroll]

........ and even the wife it pushing me to get back into it. 

Bryan

Then act quickly!

[Putz]

Putz, since I see you've got the SDS I strongly recommend that you try replacing the VPI rubber belt with silk string and readjust the speed appropriately. Tell us what you think about listening to vinyl again after you try this little tweak.

Bob

I've read about the silk string tweak before but not sure:

1. What kind of silk string do you use and where do you find it?
2. What's the technique for applying it to the motor and platter?
3. Just got the SDS. Any secrets that the manual does not disclose you wish to share?

Details, details.

Thanx Bob

[bpape]

........ and even the wife it pushing me to get back into it. 

Bryan

Then act quickly!

Tell me about it....

[etcarroll]

VPI Super ScoutMaster with the Acrylic upgrade platter and ring clamp.
JMW 9 tonearm - Signature version.
Dynavector 20x2-L
Stainless Steel clamp
SDS
Optional HRX footers on Ginko Cloud base on 5 HVAC vibration suppressors on a Cambre rack.
HRX motor.
E.A.R. 834 Signature Phono Preamp with 3 smoothplate NOS Telefunkens.
Still trying to decide between the VPI phono ICs vs ZU Mission vs Sonny's diy Silver Reveal.

And a pair of NOS Tele ribbed plates in the Purity pre, so it's an all Telefunken pathway where tubes are involved.

On other rack is my 25+ year old Denon 52f with a new Ortofon cart, it's fully auto so I use it when I'm using vinyl as 'background' music.

[eleazar]

VPI HW19 MKIII with Aries platter and SME M2-9 tonearm. Ortofon Kontrapunkt A cartridge (thanks  Jerome) and Rogue Stealth phono pre. A diy sandbox made for me by ecramer(thanks Ed)

[jsaliga]

Very nice guys.

Gene, that's almost too much turntable for your platform. 

Bill, glad to see that the Ortofon has found a good home.  I've always liked the VPI HW19 series.

--Jerome