Hello

[rtrt]

A (not so) brief intro;

Reinvigorated my old system recently;

Manticore Mantra with RB250 and Goldring 1040 - in good condition for age. Stylus was relatively lightly used as I recall
Pioneer A400 - in great condition
Kef C95/Technics SBM300 - also in good condition

Cleaned and fettled everything that I could think of / see!

Started cleaning my old LPs a few at a time, at a local 2nd hand record shop and also buying some new (old) LPs as I go.

Generally pretty happy with what I'm hearing, also interesting getting up off my backside every 20 minutes - forces a more interactive approach!

You can hear a 'but' coming...

I think the sound is a little lacking in the bass area or maybe more accurately to say that the bass is very definitely there but it just needs to be a bit more assertive!

So I was thinking about a standalone phono stage with selectable capacitance, so that I can select a lower value. But then I thought that maybe i'd be better investing in a new stylus and investigating the capacitance values in the A400.

Google then led me to here...

[walpurgis]

Hi rt. Welcome to AOS.

Nice turntable the Manticore. The pioneer A400 is well liked too.

Your bass limitations could just be down to something as simple as your choice of turntable mat (or lack of).

Cables also, can influence the sound a fair bit too. I find silver plated copper conductors give a lighter, more forward balance, something like you describe. Maybe trying pure copper might help, especially from the source.

I'm sure you'll find plenty of info here.

Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.


(by the way can you please add a name to your profile instead of just rt. We like to operate on a name basis here, it adds to the friendliness :))

[Tarzan]

A (not so) brief intro;

Reinvigorated my old system recently;

Manticore Mantra with RB250 and Goldring 1040 - in good condition for age. Stylus was relatively lightly used as I recall
Pioneer A400 - in great condition
Kef C95/Technics SBM300 - also in good condition

Cleaned and fettled everything that I could think of / see!

Started cleaning my old LPs a few at a time, at a local 2nd hand record shop and also buying some new (old) LPs as I go.

Generally pretty happy with what I'm hearing, also interesting getting up off my backside every 20 minutes - forces a more interactive approach!

You can hear a 'but' coming...

I think the sound is a little lacking in the bass area or maybe more accurately to say that the bass is very definitely there but it just needs to be a bit more assertive!

So I was thinking about a standalone phono stage with selectable capacitance, so that I can select a lower value. But then I thought that maybe i'd be better investing in a new stylus and investigating the capacitance values in the A400.

Google then led me to here...

That was a weakness of the A400 a poor phono section as l am led to believe.

[rtrt]

Thanks for the replies both. I'd like to continue the discussion but not sure if better here or in forum?

[walpurgis]

No harm with a chat in the Welcome area Rich, but If you'd feel more comfortable with it why not start a thread in the Blank Canvas section outlining things as you've done here. Take your pick or why not do both! :)

[rtrt]

Thanks for the warm welcome Geoff. I'll open a thread in Blank Canvas tomorrow as its late, but will respond to you and Andy here for now.

Yes I'm very happy with how the Manticore has cleaned up :)

The cable is the standard Rega arm & phono cable so likely pretty basic. I've cleaned the various contact areas with Isopropyl Alcohol btw.

Mat is a relatively thick felt - c3mm. I do have a thinner felt mat but it has the hole off centre so i havent used it - maybe i should try it - cant do any harm after all.

Re the Phono part of the amp, I believe that the MM is better than the MC, but as you suggest I'm sure it wouldn't set the world on fire!

Whats interesting is that the cartridge spec here

http://www.vinylengine.com/library/goldring/g-1040.shtml

shows the capacitance needed to be lower than I suspect I have in the system. I'm assuming the amp is c220pF and the cable additional on top tho not sure by how much - maybe a total of 300pF?

So if its too high then could it possibly be a cause of the sound i'm experiencing?

To be honest at this stage i'd rather spend as much as possible on new/old & the odd new LPs and so if I can find a cost effective way to deal with 'the problem' that'd be my preferred option. I do recognise that a new stylus might be sensible - still pondering

It's at times like these that a tweak on a bass control or even better something like a quad tilt control would probably be all I need.

[walpurgis]

If you feel that a new stylus may be due, perhaps a change of cartridge might be a better option? There are many good MM cartridges about and a few high output MCs, which would also meet your requirements.

As for the RB250 arm. The cables should be OK, Rega aren't silly. I don't think it's the same Klotz cable as used on the RB300, but it should be OK (the couple I've owned did not seem affected by cable shortcomings). As for the mat. I've found that on glass platters, a thicker non ribbed rubber mat beefs up the bottom end a bit in comparison to a felt one. At least, that's my experience with Regas. Not owned a Manticore.

As for the phono side of things, I was not aware of shortcomings with the A400, but I've not used one. The sky's the limit if you want to try a separate phono stage into an aux input. But there are a few sensible choices that can be made, within a given budget.

To be honest, if I was confronted with load matching issues for a cartridge, I'd move on and get something that's less bother. But I've never had such problems in over forty years of vinyl use.

Where in London are you by the way? You may be near me.

[struth]

I would be inclined to improve the phono stage by getting a decent separate. There are some pretty good ones new or second hand for the £150 area that you will notice an immediate improvement with imo

[rtrt]

Hi both sorry for delay in replying been busy &away for a bit. Thanks for the thoughts.

Right now I'm keen to minimised additional spend - initially I was hoping that I could maybe diy tweak the phono stage of the amp, but I see that the OP for the A400 mod hasn't been online here for quite a while.

So I'll probably swap the speakers next as thats easy to do - probably shouldve done it already.

The other thing for this weekend, is that I hope to borrow a cd or 2 that I also have the record of - so I can do direct comparison. Level matching and potentially different mastering notwithstanding.

I'll take my time and work things through. In part because as the same time I'm working through a small issue with my old CD player too!

I'm based in south east london SE5 btw - so a bit away.

[Eagle owl]

Hello and welcome Rich.

Geoff. :wave: