Make my concerns dissappear...or support them! Choosing a new turntable *

While I did not carry my old Turntable into the shop to ask them to hook it up and compare the sound to the other tables I was considering buying (Honestly can’t imagine doing this, I am sure some will scoff at my lack of due-diligence) I did compare the AT-LP120 with the pre-amp ripped out and an LP120 set to bypass side by side in the same room with same cart (exact same cart swapped) and there is a huge difference.
It was a difference we (somebody else was with me and the lp120 with amp still intact belonged to them) could hear so obviously that the other owner ripped theirs out immediately following the test. Had I known better I would have done a needle drop or something to document the test. There is probably some out there detailing this?
At any rate, you may see it as a waste of time and uneccessary, but I didn’t hear it that way at all.

 

Most high end shops would spill their tea if you brought in an LP120.

 

You bought a nice table. Way better than the LP-120. You are happy, as you should be. You don't need to drag the LP-120 anywhere to hear how much better your new turntable is. You can hear it in the best place possible- in your home with your system.

 

Review coming, just need a little more time

 

He can check out Ian's HiViNyws channel budget TH face off and hear that the lowly Pro-Ject Primary sounded better than the LP-120. I think the big 9 can eek out the victory.

 

I had the 2Xperience and was way underwhelmed. Hated the cart (Sumiko) and found the tt a rumbly thing. Nothing special at all for the price.

 

That's a whole lotta badass right there.

 

So I suppose my review of the Pro-Ject Xtension 9 is overdue....

First I will start with stuff that I “think” are a factor of the table and arm itself...

- This beast is heavy ...40+ lbs......walking it out to my car on the ice and snow was scary. That said , I have to believe the weight of the body has something to do with the lack of rumble ....this probably coupled with the tone arm blow the lp120 away in that regard. Sitting on the same stand as the lp120 , I can crank this bad boy up and no rumble....the lp120 couldn’t go past about half volume. Once you crossed over the halfway point it got dicey , especially once you got up to about the 7th notch on the ol’ Volume knob. A slow rumble would begin and eventually start raging out of control. That said, you could hear the music get a little ragged even before that 7th notch on the dial.

- clarity is definitely better in that there seems to be less to almost no noise. The LP120 was not a quiet table. I first noticed it way back when I played an album I owned on a friends U Turn Orbit. With the LP120 there was a steady sound....not a hum so much as a higher pitch hiss in the quiet parts of songs. It wasn’t enough to even make me think of it until I listened to a table that did not have it. The 9 has none of this.....dead quiet.

- The feet are cool and make leveling the table easy. I think their design also cuts some of the vibrations out. To that point the build quality of everything is rock solid , no issues from a quality standpoint.

- I thought finger prints and stuff would be an issue....but with the light wood finish i notice nothing, if TT was piano black I think you would have an issue.

- My wife loves the appearance of it. For the record the LP120 was a gift from her because she thought I would love records....she was right.

- Finally, one experience I can refer to that gave me an aha moment (it took me a bit and a few different familiar albums to really nail down what I was hearing) One of my regular albums is John Coltrane - Soultrane and on this album Paul Chambers, the bass player, has a few solo sections on some of the tracks. With the lp120 and the 440mlb cart the bass solo’s would just drop out almost. Couple that with the fact that my copy is an original, yet a somewhat noisy copy, and you have bacon sizzling over a barely audible base solo. I could never figure it out as to what was happening, my lp120 seemed to play bass just fine and I assumed it was a poor recording of this specific part of the piece.
Well, when this part of the song came on when playing on the 9 I nearly jerked my head out of socket. First of all, the sizzling bacon throughout the album was almost suppressed, which I thought was a product of the spherical cart so I swapped and low and behold the 440mlb had far less dying bacon too!
This will sound crazy, but can a turntable and arm suppress the pops and clicks of a generally worn record? Does not seem likely but I know I am not hearing things or the lack of things.....nothing else in the chain has changed, the record is the same. I don’t know, but along with this the bass was all of the sudden present.....what gives? Is this just the difference between a $2500 Turntable and a $300 table? I have side by sided these things to make sure I am not hearing things and no such matter.

Now I am not saying these pops and clicks are gone.....just saying they are not as present and up front. The music on the other hand ....including the bass solo sounds rich and wonderful.

So maybe some of this is due to the cart or the table or the combo , or maybe I am just high on a new purchase ....but I swear it sounds better and each album I listen to it stands out more.

So the bad stuff.....

- I do miss the simplicity of the Lp120 to some degree, changing The arm height and anti skate (which doesn’t even work on the lp120 with a cart set over a gram or so) were easier.

- I do not like the power button/speed button that engages the belt. You press once for 331/3 and then again for 45 but you have to hold it down to put in standby but sometimes it goes to 45 instead of shutting down the motor. It can be annoying.

- the table runs a touch slow as Turntabulator has it at 33.15 which is a hair slow. It has not bothered me to this point musically, more or less something I noticed when I checked the speed at first. The guy at the store used a disc and it showed 33 1/3 with a strobe. Not a biggie except it is in my head and so occasionally listen to see if I can tell. Maybe there is an adjustment I need to make?

All in all an awesome table that sounds great to these ears and looks awesome too. A very happy buyer. Pro-Ject makes a fine product.

Once again, thanks for all the help to the community members. You guys are all helpful and knowledgeable

PS- next up I want a Phono pre with a mono switch on it that plays mm and mc for less than $500 and beats out the Cambridge Audio CP2 that I currently have......anyone?

 

How often is it that the wife actually gets the credit for starting the journey down the rathole? (She may be crazy as a fox, though, if she was actually looking for a way to get you out of her hair...)

Your description of the LP-120 was....well, not exactly a ringing endorsement.

 

Nice review of your new table. FWIW, I found the speed adjustment a little awkward at first but got used to it pretty quickly and don’t have any trouble with inadvertently setting the wrong speed. I’m not familiar with your method of checking the speed but it seems unlikely that the speed changed from the dealer checking it with a strobe. Is there an adjustment on your table that may have gotten changed or a way to check the accuracy of your Turntabulator?
I bought mine with the Olive wood veneer and find it looks stunning in our room.

 

After re-reading what I wrote about the lp120 I was a bit harsh, but it’s true. All of that said, for $300 I honestly am not sure (after modifying the table a bit) you can do to much better for a new startup table. That said, yah there are some things, but the lp120 is going in the man cave so I am not casting it off.

 

I have been eyeballing this one Bluemooze

 

I am getting used to the speed adjustment.

I took a reading today on turntabulator and it is bumping up closer to that 33 1/3 about 33.22 now......maybe needed a few spins ?

 

I recently got one as well. I don't have any MC carts to test it with but initial impressions with my main cart are very good. I have loading plugs to take the resistance down to 39K. Mono records with the switch engaged sound amazing. Still need to try my other two carts.

 

Hmmm, good to hear and I like he price. My understanding is there are two ...the studio and Ultra.....is the main difference the headphone jack?

 

Supposedly the Ultra has slightly better SNR and THD specs. I did not need a headphone amp so I went with the Studio. My integrated amp already has a headphone amp and I barely use it.

 

I was told the SNR is 6dB better with the Ultra, so not slight.

 

I never asked for Ultra Phono specs, so I don't know what they are, was just going by internet chatter.

Here are the Studio Phono specs, straight from MOFI. Not all of these are on their website, I had to ask for them:

Measurement are A-weighted with 40dB gain.

-78dB SNR, 0.01% THD+N and -98dB distortion with a 4.0mV input.