+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 9 of 9

Thread: Benz Micro Ace SL set up.

  1. #1
    Join Date: Mar 2016

    Location: East Sussex

    Posts: 419
    I'm Nat.

    Default Benz Micro Ace SL set up.

    First please excuse the newbie questions this is only the 2nd cart I have ever fitted I have always, always paid a pro to do it before.

    I have just acquired a Micro Ace SL and have managed to fit it to my Ittok but am wondering if I have it at it's optimum with my deck and phono stage. When I first tried to fit it the screws it came with where too long so as I tightened them the plastic body came away well it looked so nice nude I decided to fit it that way first. I tested it with a new LP I have never heard before and it sounded fantastic better than any cart I have ever had to say it put a smile on my face is an understatement.

    I had forgot to change the weight from the 2.2 that my old 10x5 used to have and I later discovered that my test LP was 45rpm I had been playing it at 33rpm but it sounded so good by the way my Trichord Dino was set to 100 ohms.

    Anyway I decided to give it a try with the body on with shorter screws and it just does not sound as good I have correct weight now at 1.8 the cart is sat slightly forward in the Ittoks head with about the first 1/4 showing and is still set at 100 ohms in the Dino.

    I have read that this cart likes the arm's vta to be slightly tail up so should I try this? Also the cartridge tags are a bit loose on the pins would this make a difference? Lastly should I set the cart further back in the ittoks head so it is flush?

    Would having the cart nude and that extra weight really have made a difference I have read not? Don't get me wrong this is a lovely cart as it is but it just does not sound as good as it did when I set it up nude.

    ps. I played my Mrs one of her favourite LP's and she said it sounded far away it was an old well loved and well played flimsy 80's press in need of a good clean but she said it didn't sound that way before.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Jan 2016

    Location: Shenfield

    Posts: 573
    I'm Slav.

    Default

    Benz plastic body certainly will add some unwanted resonance , run it nude if sounds better ,
    In my case 100ohm loading works which is within advisable x8-10 cartridge impedance , some swear it sounds amazingly better at different loading , I tried , measured and the difference is unmeasurable and tbh I couldn't hear any difference .
    I tend to set tracking force bit higher(safe side) and run Ace Sl ~1.85g , cartridge bottom parallel to the record , azimuth - this makes big difference , mine is tilted 0.2 clockwise (looking from the front) I use dr. Feickert Adjust plus and oscilloscope for this .
    What geometry do you use , Baerwald? Benz needs very accurate setup.
    I would send it for microscope inspection to check the wear on the tip of the stylus , but it's me .

  3. #3
    Join Date: Sep 2012

    Location: Derbyshire

    Posts: 542
    I'm mark.

    Default

    I didn't know it could be nuded, so thats a new one on me, I worried about not having a cover let alone a body to protect it!

  4. #4
    Join Date: Apr 2011

    Location: London

    Posts: 4,419
    I'm Robert.

    Default

    I think a lot carts can be nuded, plastic bodies removed the idea being reduced resonance from the plastic body.

    Obviously you have to know what your doing, go carefully or potentially it's a ruined cart and tears.

    Also, everything exposed can impart a sense of dread and vulnerability that some might struggle to overcome and therefore wont go there (me for instance )

    Must be something in it in terms of improvement though - The Sumiko Blue Point I believe it is comes manufactured that way / nuded and then you have the high end Ortofon A90 / A95 that have a bit of an 'exposed' design about them too.
    My System:
    Amplification - Sansui AU-alpha 707 DR
    Turntable - Technics SP10 MK2-Technics EPA-250 Tonearm-Yannis Tome 423.5Plus tonearm cable-Eichmann KLEI Absolute Harmony plugs.
    Ortofon Cadenza Black moving coil cartridge-Fritz Gyger S re-tip. Panzerholz plinth.

    CDP - Pioneer PD-91
    Speakers - Spendor D7 on Soundcare SuperSpikes
    QED Silver Spiral speaker cable-airloc banana plugs
    Mains - Ultra Pure silver plated un-switched socket-Missing link EPS 500 silver plated plugs-Hi-Fi Tuning gold plated silver ceramic 13 amp fuses

  5. #5
    Join Date: Mar 2016

    Location: East Sussex

    Posts: 419
    I'm Nat.

    Default

    The body of the Ace comes of very easily as it isn't fixed at all and is a snug fit but as RobbieGong says not for the faint hearted cue up after one too many and you could be crying. Although the Ace body comes of easily enough it is not easy to take on and off on and off it's either on or off.

  6. #6
    Join Date: Mar 2016

    Location: East Sussex

    Posts: 419
    I'm Nat.

    Default

    Last night I took the body off for listening and put it back on when I'd finished there is a knack to this with a steady hand and it is a bit of a pain but worth it IMO.

  7. #7
    Audio Al is offline Pishanto Specialist & Super-Daftee
    Join Date: May 2012

    Location: Dagenham Essex

    Posts: 11,215
    I'm Allen.

    Default

    I sat in my listening room last night nude , Didnt sound any different to me
    [

  8. #8
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Audio Al View Post
    I sat in my listening room last night nude , Didnt sound any different to me
    so you stripped the wallpaper off eh?
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
    FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -

    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  9. #9
    Join Date: Mar 2016

    Location: East Sussex

    Posts: 419
    I'm Nat.

    Default

    As an update after a week or more swapping around I have found I prefer the Ace with it's body on because nude it is more open to interference and the slight improvement in sound became less noticeable as I got used to the over all sound signature.

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •