Sounds light on bass

[indus]

Thing is, you've only scratched the surface so far, in terms of carrying out the above modifications, and yet you appear to be expecting to get most of the way there by simply changing the arm's headshell and buying a mediocre cartridge...

It's time to up the ante, me thinks!

Marco.

Fair point Marco.

Perhaps I was hoping that I could get away with spending less money

Being serious though the deck doesn't sound bad, I thought if I could get it sounding a bit better with a new cart then that would keep me happy for a little while.

That was the whole point of the AT 440 but for what ever reason that hasn't quite worked out.

I'd be happy just to keep things as they are for a little while if I could just get a little bit of extra refinement, detail and bass control for now.

As I said I wanted to hear a little improvement as I went along the modding path, this would encourage me that it was a path worth treading.

Perhaps then it is worth me going for the Nagaoka for now, something to allow me to enjoy the deck for a little while until I get the courage to shell out on the more expensive mods.

I hope some of my ramblings make sense

[chelsea]

See if you can borrow some carts off members if they are local.

[Audioman]

Thanks Paul, lots of sensible comments. You are right I don't have that much vinyl, but similarly as you said I'm not happy below a certain level of sound quality

The Whest however is not going anywhere

I've never read/heard a bad thing about it, so its a keeper for as long as I have a vinyl system. I'll go forward, sideways or stay still, but never backwards

Thanks again

David. I do worry that you are buying based on reviews and other peoples preferences via the internet.

OK accepting you don't want to part with the Whest. I heard a fine sounding system at Scalford that matched an Orbe SE/Audiomods arm with your Whest 30RTD. Don't remember the cartridge but would suggest a Dynavector 20XL for a fuller midrange and bass. Would cost around £3.5K about the same as the Whest new. I think this would provide a good balance with your existing components and a lot less than the full blown Techie mods a la Marco.

Why do I get the impression that there is some psychological pressure on this forum to buy DD turntables ? The best upgrade IMHO is to go out and buy some top quality music on well mastered vinyl. So don't spend it all on the hardware !

Paul.

[Marco]

OK accepting you don't want to part with the Whest. I heard a fine sounding system at Scalford that matched an Orbe SE/Audiomods arm with your Whest 30RTD. Don't remember the cartridge but would suggest a Dynavector 20XL for a fuller midrange and bass. Would cost around £3.5K about the same as the Whest new. I think this would provide a good balance with your existing components and a lot less than the full blown Techie mods a la Marco.

Nothing wrong with that suggestion, but an Orbe will never sound like a modded Techy, providing that the latter is what David is looking for... Perhaps it isn't?

Why do I get the impression that there is some psychological pressure on this forum to buy DD turntables ?

Why do I get the impression from certain quarters that there's a bias against the Techy, and as such, some people will never consider it as a 'serious' turntable, no matter how much it's modified and/or, even when it is, that somehow it's still not 'worth' it?

Do you think that there's any truth in either your above assertion or mine - or is it simply a question of perception?

The best upgrade IMHO is to go out and buy some top quality music on well mastered vinyl. So don't spend it all on the hardware !

Absolutely!!

Marco.

[synsei]

In standard form the Techie sounds quite special (the only upgrades I have fitted to mine at the mo are a set of Vantage Audio feet and an SME Series III arm). To put this in perspective my Techie replaced a rather special Thorens TD160 MKII simply because it sounds way better than the Thorens. I was sceptical about the merits of this so called DJ deck up until that point, I'm a total convert now...

[Audioman]

Nothing wrong with that suggestion, but an Orbe will never sound like a modded Techy, providing that the latter is what David is looking for... Perhaps it isn't?

I'm not sure that David knows what he wants exactly and may lack the vinyl playback experience to do so. I do think given he wants HQ sound now and given the amount of vinyl he has my suggestion will more than satisfy him. Particularly as he does not want to spend too much and he thinks CD will remain more important a source. Also the softer BD sound may well integrate better with his Monitor Audio speakers.

Why do I get the impression from certain quarters that there is a bias against the Techy, and as such, some people will never consider it as a 'serious' turntable, no matter how much it's modified and/or, even when it is, that somehow it's still not 'worth' it?

Do you think that there's any truth in either your above assertion or mine - or is it simply a question of perception?

Personaly I have no doubt it is a serious TT when upgraded and perfectly adequate at its selling price (when in production). I'm sure others may feel differently. All depends what sound you want to achieve and how nuch modding you are prepared to do. Heard good and bad of both Belt and Direct drive systems.

I do get the impression though some people are being convinced that DD is superior without finding out for themselves. If you just select equipment by reading internet forums (not necessarily AOS) you are not going to end up with a system you are satisfied with. Just as bad as selecting from What Hi-FI 5 star reviews IMO.

[synsei]

Obviously I can only speak from my own experience Paul, but I listened to the Thorens and the Techie side by side (I was lucky enough to own two Series III arms at the time so I had one fitted to each deck) and I can honestly say that the SL1210 walked all over the Thorens (incidentally I didn't want it to, I loved the look of the old girl, especially with its white Bob Bean top plate). How it would fare in standard form against something a little more upmarket I can only guess...

[Audioman]

Obviously I can only speak from my own experience Paul, but I listened to the Thorens and the Techie side by side (I was lucky enough to own two Series III arms at the time so I had one fitted to each deck) and I can honestly say that the SL1210 walked all over the Thorens (incidentally I didn't want it to, I loved the look of the old girl, especially with its white Bob Bean top plate). How it would fare in standard form against something a little more upmarket I can only guess...

Dave.

I had a Thorens 20+ years ago. I imagine it will sound rather warm and sluggish against your Technics as well as modern high quality belt drives. Mitchell decks are in a different league. I hope your not trying to suggest that a standard Technics outperforms an Orbe by implication. A belt drive with heavy platter and accurate electronic speed control will sound extremely stable in playing music. As you say you can only guess against more expensive products.


I think this is the sort of posting I was aiming at with my comments though i'm sure it is unintentional. An opinion in the context of your own experience with totaly different products becomes a definitive statement that converts the lazy 'internet shopper' to purchase something without verifying for his or her self.

I have no problem with people coming to conclusions after auditioning the alternatives. I am quite happy to believe that the SL1200 produced the best sound at it's price point. Then again some people will prefer Rega 3's. I just think there are so many here declaring their Techy love that vinyl newbies may be taking 'Technics SL1200 is best' as the definitive truth. YMMV.

I am pretty sure in this case David is looking for something more refined than the standard SL1200 as he has such a high quality and revealing system.

[synsei]

I have not heard a standard, or even a reasonably standard SL1200/1210 next to an Orbe so I really couldn't comment on such a comparison, which is why I didn't...

[indus]

Thanks all comments appreciated.

Paul, perhaps the tech was a lazy purchase but I wanted an entry into vinyl that wasn't too expensive and suited to my genre of music. I also needed something that would play 45/33 rpm at the flick of a switch.

Before we go any further though I need to spend some time on the system tomorrow. I listened to some cds today and must say that they sounded a little light on the bass as well. Everything is working and wired correctly so it may be my room correction device.

As I've been playing around wiring and positioning the deck over the last few weeks I've had to move the speakers quite a few times.

The room correction device is quite sensitive to even small movements. It is set up with a mic in the listening position etc.

It could be that these movements of the speakers have upset the RP1. In which case I could.have been wasting everybodies time for the last x pages