MoFi UltraDeck/UltraTracker early review

Waiting for the 411. I hope it's a winner. Are you keeping the Rega?

 

Not keeping the Rega. It finally arrived at 10:40 tonight. Grrrr. All set up except for getting the anti skate weight attached to the post at the rear of the arm is a bear. Build quality appears to be quite good.

 

Surprised you aren't keeping the Rega. Does it already have a new home, or are you keeping it around long enough to do some side by side tests?

 

The new MoFi tables look really nice. The StudioDeck is definitely on my uprgrade shortlist.

 

I've lived with the Rega long enough that comparisons are easy.

Two big differences so far:

The noise floor has dropped to zero with the MoFi.

Speed stability is better. This sounds more like open reel tape than vinyl.

The cartridge is obviously still breaking in, but it's nice. I hate that the stylus isn't user replaceable. Not sure if I'm going to keep it as is for a while or mount my Nagaoka when it arrives. Another plus- I'll bet this won't hum with a Grado.

I haven't listed the Rega for sale yet, I'll do that this week.

Getting the anti skate weight on is easy if you do it before setting the tracking force. Not my normal order, but it works.

 

From my limited experience so far, move it to the top of the list.

 

That's pretty high praise! And I'm honestly a little surprised the speed stability is better with all the upgrades you made on the Rega. I'll be curious to hear more thoughts as you get more familiar and the cart breaks in. At $500 and no replaceable stylus I think you basically need to hold it to the same standards as an MC cart. But it sounds like right of the gate though this is a real bang for the buck table.

 

I'm interested in what you think of the cart as well. I have the Studio Tracker and its an excellent cart for $199 bucks!

 

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, regarding the stylus on the Tracker, whether Ultra or Studio, is it replaceable or not replaceable?

 

Has anyone tried using an outer ring on the MOFI tables?

 

All signs point to not replaceable.

 

Quite the oppsite. These are AT MM cartridges, so an AT needle would fit.

 

If you can figure out how change it, let me know. As it sits, they aren't user replaceable.

And while I agree that they appear to be A/T, I read somewhere that the cartridges were designed by Allen Perkins and hand built in Japan. So A/T? Maybe yes, maybe no.

 

speed stability is usually better with a motor to platter drive belt compared to a sub platter for a variety of engineering reasons, good to see they used sound design practices.

would you say the sound is as lively as the rega?

just noticed it comes with a dark smoked duct cover, sweet!

 

Does seem weird that they wouldn't be replaceable. A throw away cartridge?

 

If I had a cartridge at hand I would figure it out, but I have not. And they are AT.

 

It's lively sounding so far. But I need to get more hours on the cartridge to really get a grip on things. I can say I'd pick this over a Rega, even a P6, which I've heard.

 

I'm not arguing with you. I was thinking A/T, until I saw it was designed by Allen Perkins. Could he have designed it and A/T build it? Absolutely.

 

More like a trade in. When the stylus is worn, you exchange it for a replacement at a discount.

 

No it´s AT design. But it has a different body.

 

That makes sense now that I think about it. The design descriptions on both the MoFi carts and AT's new VM series are similar. I'll still stick with the AT's simply because they're a better value. Even with their recent price hikes, it's ridiculous that still no other manufacturer is offering the same quality of styli for the prices AT is.

 

And that answers my ultimate question about these two tables. Thank you!

 

I don't know if you are the same guy on AK who was saying the samae things, but can you give some proof other than your own conjecture these are AT carts please?

 

I'm really digging the Studio Tracker cart! I've it on a MH 2.1 table and using a Musical Surrounding Phonmena ll+ phono stage and I wouldn't say its lively...but transparent, clear, dynamic...its not noisy at all. I like it better than the 2M Red and the Blue which at times made cymbal taps a little congested... and its an excellent tracker.