Help with Pro-Ject turntable sound

It's not an argument
Suggesting that the best way (or any way) to compensate for a piece of gear that's too hot to begin with, using wire EQ is just plain bad thinking and flawed advice)
You have to remember, others will be reading these threads years from now thanks to the almighty power of the search engine
Just telling it like it is

 

Nothing wrong with a spirited exchange between passionate audiophiles. Its just keystokes on the internet.

The people with the most information to share have the poorest social skills. I think Einstein said that.

 

Besides, it is well recognized that your particular Ortofon cart does in fact exhibit exactly the characteristics that you do not like by definition as reported by more than a few

There's your answer

Try a SHURE M97xE and see if your complaints don't disappear

 

Gosh dang it. I have had the 2m red, blue and black and i have loved them all. I think it is also well documented that the red is one of the best loved cartridges at that price point.

I'm so darn tootin mad i may post something that gets deleted by a gort or earns a frownie face.

 

I'll give you that.

 

That, it most certainly is
But there is also a fairly sizable group out there who complains that the cart is too bright for their tastes and that is essentially what I understood to be the OP's "complaint"

I wasn't knocking on the cart

 

Understood, i was just having a little fun.

 

Well, I played Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge over Troubled Water (from the Collected Works box) this afternoon and I thought "Mmm, the horns and the strings are a bit too bright for my taste...". Maybe that's how this particular pressing sounds, then maybe this cart adds a bit of brightness to the records.

 

Hello there,

I'm in the same situation and maybe this could help us both to understand what's going wrong.
My setup is:

TT-Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Esprit DC SB - Ortofon 2M RED (purchased 15 days ago)
AMP- SONY TA FE 570 Integrated amp + Phono (old from 2002 but not used between 2004 and 2011)
Speakers- Def Tech SM45 (purchased 1 month ago)
CD Player- Samsung DVD player (purchases 1 month ago around $30)

In my situation the sound of my TT is very flat and poor comparing to the sound of any CD playback from my cheap Samsung DVD player (that I purchase to use for CDs playback)
In general the sound of the TT is not awful to blame it on a defective cartridge or any similar issue, but comparing its sound with the much cheaper DVD player oddly sounds poor.

There is nothing else to consider than the poor phono stage that my Sony AMP is equipped with!
About cabling, the connection between TT and AMP is with the Pro-ject cables that was in the TT package. COnnection between Samsung DVD player and AMP is with a $1 RCA cable!

Any idea?

thanks guys!

 

No buzz or other connecting issues? Just not happy with the sound in general?

Have you heard the table on other systems and thought it sounded better?

 

I replaced the felt mat on my pro-ject with a cork one. I also recommended a friend do it to his.
We both felt that it improved thing in several areas. Tighter bass and.smoother highs.
You can actually make your own for a little bit of nothing if you are inclined.

 

well there is a minor grounding hum (even though TT is properly grounder to amp it hums by just turning to phono channel before even starting up the TT to turn) however I don't think it's the reason, the hum is minor.

No I didn't have any chance to try it on any other system

 

makes great sense however my platter is acrylic and some people recommend to use it without any slip mat. Cork mat could give an improvement but I don't think that it could be so significant!

 

It might be helpful to plug the table into a friends system just to see if what you are hearing (and do not like) is consistent. I really like your table but taste is subjective, if you don't like the way is sounds out of the gate it could be a long hard road of upgrades that doesn't take you very far.

Not being familiar with your receiver this may not be on point but that may be the weak link in your playback. You have a new $500 table plugged into a 12 year old receiver that was dormant for 7 years, it may not be ideal. In 2002 it was certainly put together with CD playback being the priority over LP. Have you used the Phono stage on that receiver before?

A new Phono stage might be just the fix but you can quickly go beyond the value of your receiver if you get a very good one (or one that I would recommend). Putting a couple hundred dollars into a used Marantz receiver might give you more bang for your buck.

As mentioned anew mat is a must. I didn't find it made a huge difference in sound quality but it will help with the static issue and keep from coming off the platter every time you flip a record. The Acrylic platter is an upgrade I would recommend as well.

 

excellent advices many thanks I'm glad! I'll try to test it on another system, or maybe could be easier to put back my old TT (Technics SLBD22 + a 30$ audio tecnica cartridge) and see at first if there is any significant difference between them. Normally, regardless the amp,the phono stage and music tastes, the difference between the 2 TTs should be significant!

 

so I finally tried it on a friend's hifi system but the sound was completely different comparing to my system so I wasn't able to get conclusions.
So considering that the sound from the cheap samsung dvd player is great in my ears I thought that a phono stage could improve my TT sound.

I have found a second hand "Pro-ject Tube Box SE II" in great condition for $170 and wondering if it could be a good investment
Otherwise I was thinking of a new integrated amp like "Marantz PM6005" as Marantz is known for good quality phono staged integrated in their amps

I know that there are many other options and proposals but unfortunatelly I don't have chanes to try different combinations and setups to select from

thank you in advance

 

Jump on it.