Please help! Ortofon 2M Bronze on a PL-71

[RobbieGong]

UPDATE

Over the weekend I took the 2M Bronze off the Pro-Ject Signature headshell. I had a brand new Ortofon SH-4 headshell that comes in at 9 grams. I decided to mount the Bronze on the SH-4. I used the lightest mounting screws I could find to save as much weight as possible. I re-aligned the cartridge, set VTF with a digital scale and then checked Azimuth. The cartridge need the tiniest bit of Azimuth adjustment to get it spot on. This may have been fine for most but my OCD wouldnt let me leave it. I loosened the fixing collar on the tonearm and was able to put clockwise pressure on the headshell while re-tightening the collar. I checked Azimuth again. BOOM! dead on! I then used the Azimuth gauge to check how level the headshell is to the playing surface. It was a little more tail down than it was with the Pro-Ject Signature headshell. I left it as is to see what the effects would be. So to be clear I left VTA exactly at the arm height it was at prior to swapping to the SH-4 headshell. VTF is set to 1.7. Used test record and set anti skate.

I was very uncertain that I would notice any results that would make me happy. BUT I figured that using a headshell that is 3 grams lighter had to make a difference right? I know the calculator said I would need a headshell that weighs about 7 grams to hit the 8-12hz sweet spot and I DO have the stock pioneer headshell which I believe is 7 grams, BUT I wanted to try the more rigid Ortofon headshell. Plus I have my 2M Blue on a SH-4 and it sounded great on this arm. Well...... I was totally floored! To my ears I hit the sweet spot and oh my is it sweet! The sound stage is huge! I gained height and width. The highs are perfect. I keep thinking they are going to miss behave at times but they have not! The mid bass is finally full and detailed. The bass is awesome. Its not smeared or bloated. Very fast and deep punch. Not overpowering in any way. I now have 10 full records on the Bronze. I know I have a long way to go before break in but wow does it sound amazing now. I played my pretty used copy of Steely Dans Gaucho last night. I couldnt stop smiling. The sound raised the hairs on my arms. I think I have nailed it guys! I want to thank everyone for all your help. And thank you for being patient with my rookie questions. I have learned a ton in the last month of tinkering with this PL-71.

Now do I replace it with a Rega Planar 6 or keep it haha?

Dave

Best news ever Dave, proper chuffed for you, meticulous set like a lot of things in this game is worth the pain simply because the rewards once bang on are what makes us go through this - The music and a system to support that, the passion thereof

[Dizastical]

Many thanks to you all! Great bunch of people on this forum. Now if I could figure out how to post pics haha.

Dave

[RobbieGong]

Many thanks to you all! Great bunch of people on this forum. Now if I could figure out how to post pics haha.

Dave

Lol, been here since 2011 and only just learned how to do it without begging the Admin guys to enlarge my piddly little jpegs.

Here you go http://theartofsound.net/forum/showt...tobucket/page2

Post 14 changed my life Easy like peasey - Thank Audio Al not me

[alphaGT]

Congrats Dave! I like the old saying, “ if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”. Lately I was on an upgrade roll! Getting all the bugs out of my system, everything I did made an improvement! Then I got to a point like you describe, everything sounds right. I had every plan in the world to upgrade my preamp, but the more I listen, the less I want to mess with it. So if it’s working for you, why hurry to mess it up? Stay with what you have for a time, if you’ve still got urges to upgrade your ‘table in 6 months then revisit the idea. It’s not everyday that the magic happens.

Russell

[Svend N]

Congrats Dave! I like the old saying, “ if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”. Lately I was on an upgrade roll! Getting all the bugs out of my system, everything I did made an improvement! Then I got to a point like you describe, everything sounds right. I had every plan in the world to upgrade my preamp, but the more I listen, the less I want to mess with it. So if it’s working for you, why hurry to mess it up? Stay with what you have for a time, if you’ve still got urges to upgrade your ‘table in 6 months then revisit the idea. It’s not everyday that the magic happens.

Russell

+1 Great advice!

[RobbieGong]

+1 Great advice!

Agreed - That 'magic window' is also very small and sensitive - one meddle and it can be lost