So having changed my TT and moved to a Voyd, which I am extremely pleased with, I tried out a JELCO 10" TK850M arm on it, instead of the SME IV and the result with the Benz Micro LP-S has been excellent. The arm was supplied by the knowledgeable and very helpful Henrik at Lydprodukter DK, he suggested that once I was happy or not with the arm(I ad the option to return it) I should try two other possible changes. Firstly a LFD phono cable, he said that the LFD MMC phono stage can be quite sensitive to what cable it is used with, I had been told this from another knowledgable dealer. Secondly it was suggested a worthwhile exercise for me would be to switch the LFD MMC to run for moving magnet cartridge and to then put an EAR MC4 SUT unit in the equation. He said he had a couple of other customers who had done this and found a big improvement.
So I thought well lets be open minded and give it ago. I would point out before going further that whilst I accept cables can make a difference I am not that convinced that they can make a big differences especially when entering into high prices. Secondly I had heard a SUT in my system with a friends ALLNIC phono stage and neither of us were that impressed or thought that their was much difference, having said that the MC stage within the ALLNIC may have been very good anyway, it did sound very similar to my LFD MMC running as MC.
So earlier this week a box arrived from Henrik with the EAR MC4 and LFD phono cable (sorry but I do not know which model it is). The cable is black with a dedicated cable for each channel, each cable wrapped in black mesh, a separate part for each channel and a third earth for the arm, gold connectors and RCA's plugs look good quality. I also have no idea at the moment on its cost.
So what did I find, well I started initially with the phono cable on its own and listened to my 12 favourite evaluation tracks, what was immediately apparent was more detail, a bigger soundstage and what seemed to be better dynamics. I was a bit taken back as my Furutech AG12 is a reasonably good cable. I even switch cables and replayed tracks back to back with each cable to make sure I was not imagining stuff. I can do this easily as I have a very short shielded high end cardas cable from arm to male 5 pin din, this is so the suspension on the Voyd is not impeded by plugging a phono cable into the arm. I am definitely not imagining anything, dammit, the cable is quite a big improvement, with one reservation on some tracks it could be described as slightly bright, so I suspect a high silver content.
Next step put I back the Furutech AG12, switched my LFD MMC to MM use and listened to the same tracks again but through the EAR MC4. Well this was a big ear opener, everything came to life, more clarity/detail, bigger soundstage, better separation, and dynamics sounded better. This was a bigger improvement than what I had heard with the just the LFD phono cable.
I listened with both speakers, my Vienna Acoustics and the JBL L100's and the improvement is evident with both, with the VA's the top end has a bit more detail which I would expect with more modern tweeters and mid range drivers, however the bass is better and more defined as well. With the JBL's the improvement again is good across the board. I couldn't resist and then tried the JBL's with the EAR MC4 and the LFD phono cable and all I can say is the sound is pretty superb, great soundstage and very natural.
So here is my dilemma, I really did not intend to change or add anything to my system but the EAR MC4 is a big improvement and with the LFD phono cable it is getting to near perfect sound, for me anyway. So what do I do, I don't really have the dosh easily to hand and my better half may not be very accommodating spending more on the hifi? I still have my SME IV arm which I intended to keep, I thought I might use it again on the Voyd or possibly put it on another TT if one came along in the future, but I am not convinced it gives any better result on the Voyd than the JELCO, different but not necessarily better.
So any thoughts or advice on this would be helpful and interesting.