Audio Note M1 RIAA arrives today... let the SUT wars begin!

That looks lovely! A great way to integrate your system into the family room.

Like Rafe, I am using a SUT (Audio Note AN-S2/H) and I have moved my SUT down onto the floor below and behind my audio/video stand. I found that location to be vastly superior to other more convenient locations. I also moved my iPhone dock farther away from the turntable and SUT. Is yours powered on all of the time or is it truly off when you are playing records and not using the iPhone dock? If it is still on, that will be contributing noise into your system, in my experience. It might be worth trying a new location that is still convenient but a little farther away like the shelf above or over to the right where the records are. Possibly swap the records into the dock's location. Or to the spot to the right of the records and try putting those photo albums/books where the dock is, as long as the ventilation holes aren't covered. Just some thoughts, as I have been doing the same as you....moving stuff around while still trying to make it look nice.

By the way, I love all of the family photos being mixed in with the hifi and television pieces. It adds a nice personal touch to something that can end up looking a little sterile otherwise : )

Don

 

Big. It's an open plan, ceilings are around 12ft, length of room is around 30ft, width (uneven) but around 25ft. I'm in a corner as you can see. You're thinking the P3ESRs are too small?

 

I just wanted to further add to my previous posting regarding placement of the SUT that I tried a couple of one meter length cables and moved the SUT as far away as possible. Then completely turned off the digital part of my system and finally I ran a proper grounding wire from the turntable to the SUT and another from the SUT to the integrated amp or in your case, to the phono stage. The overall effect was not subtle and it was free! We (my dealer and I - while certain other visitors were scarfing pizza) cut up a couple of older interconnects to create the grounding wires.

I would suggest trying this without moving stuff around the wall unit, other than the SUT and phono stage and if you hear an improvement, then you know that it's worth moving a few items around. Heck, you can always put it back afterwards if you don't like the new setup : ) I doubt you will though as each time I have gone to the trouble of isolating components in my system over the years, I have always been happier after a little bit of work.

 

Hi Don, thanks for the great feedback. I should have room in the cabinets below the amps for the SUT so that may be a good way to isolate it. Right now it's wedged behind the turntable, which can't be good. It hadn't occurred to me to put it that far away, but I guess I can splice the ground wire so that it can still reach the phono stage. Good question regarding the IPod dock, I'm not sure what happens when it's not in use. I can start by removing it and listening to some music for a few days without it. Thanks for the compliments on the unit!

 

I don't blame you for wanting to keep that lovely Harbeth midrange sweetness. I have always liked their speakers. If you get the chance, have a listen to the O/93 and more so the Audio Note AN E SPE HE. These two are roughly the same price. The AN definitely has that lovely midrange and is very efficient as well. They are rated as 98db when placed against or near corners. I am running mine with 9 watts of 300b goodness, so your 30 watts should be loads. I have heard nothing but positive remarks about the O/93 as well, so you would probably really like those as well.

 

Yes.
I have a pair of original P3's that I take out every once in a while. My room is 22' x 24'. They sound very small in this room. I also find that my EL84 based amp isn't up to the task of driving the P3's, I have to drag out my 60 watt ARC D70 and even that is borderline.

 

oh man, I would never leave the room with that gear, love me some audio porn, buy more vinyl and enjoy...

 

Yep, that would be the idea.

 

Looks like a relaxing and enjoyable place to spin some vinyl, I'm digging the system...

 

I missed this very helpful post earlier. The A23 SUT has nowhere to attach a ground, so I attach both the TT ground and the SUT ground to the phono stage.

 

Good idea. My dealer, Don Thorne at Sound Hounds in Victoria recommends having a ground connection between all components. He told me that in the past that included drilling a hole in the chassis of a component like an integrated amp, to ensure a common ground. It has saved quite a few headaches over the years. The noise floor on my system went down quite a bit and I was just being lazy! I knew that it meant digging around a bit to make it work.

By the way, it would be nice if you filled out the information page on your profile, it lets others see more about you and your system : )

 

done!

 

You could also try shielding around the SUT, such as Mu-metal foil. I know someone who cured his hum problem this way when radical changes in location of the SUT was not practicable.

 

Actually not a hum problem. Ultimately I think it was a head shell problem....way too heavy for the Jelco arm, changed to a 14g head shell resonance around 9hz now.

ultimately I think it was a head shell problem. Had a very heavy 18g head shell with a 4g stabilizer, my resonance was dipping down close to 7hz, now with the original Jelco head shell resonance is around 9hz.