Logic Tempo/Datum Turntable query

[minnie0093]

My separate music system, currently MF A3.5 CD (impulse buy, and well pleased), Trends 10.1 t-amp, Royd A7 speakers (bought from new approx 1982). I have ordered a NVA pre/power amp which should arrive next week.

I also have the said turntable, complete with AT95 cartridge, which has lay unused for a number of years, I do have a large collection of vinyl and want to enjoy it all again.

Whatever I do I will have to purchase a suitable phono stage, do I go NVA, Cambridge or ???.

Options
1. Stick turntable in and give it a go. What should I check so I do not do any damage to bearings etc?

2. Sell turntable and buy Project, Rega or ?

I am leaning towards Option 1 as from what I can remember the Logic sounded pretty good, that was through Naim amps and SBL's, I do have a history of Linn/Naim flat earth tendencies but do not want to go to those lengths again.

I am going to keep the Royd's at least until the turntable is sorted and see how it sounds, but any suggestions accepted.

Any help most appreciated.

S

[pure sound]

I'd recommend the Cambridge phono stage & possibly later a more civilised sounding cartridge. The turntable and arm were pretty good iirc.

[Marco]

Hi Susan,

A warm welcome to you our second (as far as I know!) lady member

In my opinion you have a very good turntable, which with a few judicious tweaks, will be better than any Project or Rega. Modern T/Ts, certainly in the budget to mid sector of the market, just aren't as well engineered as classic decks like your Logic, and solid engineering is a very important part of turntable design.

So I would stick with what you've got as you have a good foundation there already, and then look to get the most out of it. This discussion on Audiogon should give you some pointers:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr...openflup&5&4#5

Since you've ordered NVA amps, which I'm sure will be excellent, my advice would be to go for the matching phono stage as it will have been designed with the amps in mind and therefore both should form a synergistic partnership. If you fancy something different then there are a number of excellent phono stages on the market, not least the one Guy (Puresound) has in his avatar!

I agree with him that the AT cartridge is the weakest link in your system so I would advise on an upgrade in that area as a priority. If you give me an idea of your budget I would be happy to offer you some appropriate recommendations.

Marco.

[Nick]

Hi Susan,

Welcome to the forum

I can at least comment on 50% of your question. Way back in the day my first really serious little turntable was a Systemdek and to avoid the ubiquitous Linn Basik (yuck) I invested in the Logic Datum arm. It was a great little arm pretty rugged and also good sounding. I went through a fair range of various cartridges on it and it never missed a beat. I'd keep it and give it a go if I was you.

I even kept it for a while on my next turntable, a lovely Pink Triangle, until I was lured to the darkside with a Voyd Ref/Helius Cyalene/Audionote IO

The Logic deck, if memory serves me correctly, was well rated against others in it's day with some touting it as one of the best.

Cheers

Nick

[Lily Munster]

Hi Susan,
nice to have another girl around so welcome to the forum

Lily.

[minnie0093]

Lily

Thanks for the welcome.

I have been doing some reading which suggests that the Denon DL110 may be a suitable choice as a cartridge.

I will need some aids in setting up/aligning whatever choice I go for, any suggestions?

I chose the NVA amps partly because they do not have any dealers and partly through research and I nearly bought some many moons ago.

Lily, you must have some tales of going into a dealer and being so patronised!

I will let you know how things go.

[Lily Munster]

Hi Susan,
Yes a hairy man called Ken Kessler was being rather patronising to women during a talk at a hi-fi show in London where I was with my husband, he obviously thought he was safe in a room full of men, and when he saw little me near the front row I just glared at him and he stuttered and quickly changed the subject!!

Lily.

[Filterlab]

Yes a hairy man called Ken Kessler was being rather patronising to women....

That doesn't surprise me at all. I went to the Scottish hi-fi show last year with a woman (Sam) who was seriously into hi-fi and had a lot of knowledge and a fine fine system. I could almost feel the 'what are you doing here?' aura floating in the air, that was until she asked some very intelligent questions and also undertook the most ballsy blind listening test I've ever seen.

Top girl, knocked them for six.

It's a shame in this day and age that sexism exists in a hobby that's open to everyone, shame on you Mr Kessler. I'll be writing to Hi-Fi Choice magazine this weekend to report your comments.

[Marco]

Hi Susan,

Sorry for the delayed reply!

I have been doing some reading which suggests that the Denon DL110 may be a suitable choice as a cartridge.

Yes the DL-110 is an excellent cartridge, and like all Denons superb value for money. However it's a high output MC - is there any reason for you needing to go down that route, for example, is the phono stage you're going to get MM only?

If you're going for an NVA stage to match your amps I would get Richard to design one with an active MC stage and use it with a low output MC cartridge such as the Denon DL-103 or, say, an Audio Technica OC-9 or an Ortofon Salsa, or one of the entry level Dynavectors, depending on the type of sound you prefer. High output MCs in my opinion are compromised and lack the 'magic' and finesse, and certainly the 'sweetness' of quality low output designs. It's up to you, though, and I can advise further if you wish

I will need some aids in setting up/aligning whatever choice I go for, any suggestions?

There are a number of alignment protractors on the market. Clearaudio make a good one, as do Russ Andrews and numerous other manufacturers, and there's the Dr Feickert, which is an altogether more elaborate and expensive affair, but if it's ultimate accuracy you're after then there is no finer tool for the job. With regard to any other aspect of cartridge setting up I will be happy to assist if necessary when you've chosen the cartridge you want - indeed if bought new from a dealer ask him to set it up for you and earn his money!

I chose the NVA amps partly because they do not have any dealers and partly through research and I nearly bought some many moons ago.

Nice one. They are undoubtedly fine amps and have somewhat of a cult following. A few of the guys here use them, although I have no direct experience of them myself.

I hope this helps, and if you have any other queries don't hesitate to ask.

Marco.

[minnie0093]

Thanks Marco

I have managed to pick up a Cambridge 640p phono stage to use for the time being. I will keep on the lookout for a NVA unit as well.

I have already ordered the DL-110 and a Van den Hul alignment gauge. Just heard DL110 is out of stock, so will explore your alternatives, I lean to Rock based music but also anything except modern R&B and 'pop'!

Hopefully everything will arrive this week and I can spend some time getting things together.

I will report back when I have things together and have had the chance of an extended play.

S