Upgrading the turntable

Hey, so I'm still new to turntables and upgrading the gear that I have, so i was wondering if folks had an opinion on what I could buy without breaking the bank. I want to upgrade the cartridge I have on my turntable, but I don't want to spend... 800 dollars on it. Any suggestions on what's good quality to look for at the moment? Or would it just be smart to save up and get something super high end?

 

What cartridge and turntable do you currently have?

 

Your profile doesn't mention a turntable. What are you running now (turntable, cartridge, phono stage)? What are you missing from your current musical experience that you want to achieve with this upgrade?

 

Nice! 1 minute faster than me!

 

Isaac if you are using a tehnics 1200 or similar model I suggest one these three:
1.AT120E
2. Denon DL-110
3.Shure M97xE with added on Jico SAS stylus

 

Here's another vote for the Denon DL-110, which is a high output moving coil. You could also go with a 'regular' moving coil, requiring an additional pre-amp.

As others have asked, what is your current turntable and cartridge, and what kind of music do you usually listen to? Also describe the rest of your system, it might help us figure out some more precise suggestions.

And, apart from not wanting to spend $800, what *is* your budget for this upgrade?

 

Haha, sorry I have a AT-LP120 turntable. It sounds good, I tend to like everything audio technica does, it's always good quality. Forgot to mention that up top.

 

Another thumbs up for the DL-110!

 

Generally I love classic and hard rock, I'm using the stock cartridge with the system, and I have a pair of vintage infitity r series speakers which sound super sweet in the midrange. They're passive speakers and I paired it with a mid line Sony pre amp which generally sounds pretty clear, although I have no sub, so there isn't too much bottom end to my set up.

 

The DL-110 looks sweet, I was just checking it out. It's definitely in the price range I was looking at too. Would it work with the my AT120?

 

For 200.00 you can't go wrong with the Ortophon 2m Blue. I finally heard the 2m Bronze and it's a winner at 400.00. If you're looking for something warmer go with a Nagoaka MP200 or MP300. I listen to some of the same music as you and am really enjoying the 2m Blue on a Rega RP6 and its fantastic with Rock and Vocals and is a good all rounder for everything else. Obviously your TT is going to play a big part in what cartridge you end up with. You definitely want to match the cartridge to the tonearm so keep that in mind

 

yes would work with your AT120, but IMO the best bang for the buck is the AT120E for $119. Natural sounding cart (spherical .3 x .7) good for rock. Make sure to set it perfectly with Baerwald alignmnet.... For $299 yes the DL110 is HOMC and is excellent too!

 

Grado Ref Platinum 1 - if you love midrange this is the cartridge to get.

 

Here are my thoughts. First, for the money, the AT-PL120 is hard to beat. For a first foray into vinyl, that's a good choice. It can be improved upon with some mods, though.

One, are you using the built-in preamp? If so, consider getting an outboard preamp. The AT's built in one is known to be noisy. I've heard good things about this one:

http://www.amazon.com/ART-II-Preamplifier-Output-Switchable/dp/B000AJR482/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425585326&sr=8-1&keywords=art phono preamp#customerReviews

and I own this one:

http://www.amazon.com/TC-760LC-BLACK-Moving-Phono-Control/dp/B000J2JFWI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425585451&sr=8-1&keywords=moving coil preamp

which works very nice IF you throw away the wall wart and run it off of pure 12vdc batteries. A 12V lantern battery lasts about a year if you don't leave it on when not being used. This one also allows you to go with a Moving Coil or a Moving Magnet.

Two, LP Gear makes a number of upgrade styli for your cartridge, the AT95E, that came with your turntable.

Here's a Line Contact stylus that ought to really make your records come alive. However, you'll have to make sure you carefully align the cartridge with this type of stylus.

http://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGATN95VL.html

You're under $150 and you've already made great progress.

Now go over to Audiokarma.org, sign up, and search their forum on your turntable model. There's a bunch of threads on that table. Yes, some people are very critical of it. But there's more than one thread on simple mods to improve the performance and sound!

I would start with these improvements. Expect a much quieter, much more detailed and expansive sound stage.

 

So, using a separate phono pre-amp can help without having to completely remove the one that's built into the turntable? I remember reading on a different thread about the ATLP120 that the signal path still has to go through the built in pre-amp and that the problem wouldn't be solved as effectively. But if you're experience tells you otherwise, then cool

I've been using this table since 2010 and love it, but some A-B comparisons between cds and LPs show the table to be a little lacking in high-end.

 

That may be the case, but it wouldn't be all that hard to bypass it. I'm sure google would produce some mods.

 

Everything you need to know.


http://scouringthebins.blogspot.com/2013/03/tweaking-audio-technica-at-lp120.html

 

Denon DL 110 is solid, cause i have one, upreaded it from Orto 2M Red

 

Do the wood bodies have the same resonance problems as the plastic bodies? meaning sibilance.

 

None that I've noticed on either a vintage Revolver Red and Nottingham Analogue Horizon SE. I'm about to mount a Grado Ref Sonata 1 on my new Oracle Paris MkV.

 

AT440MLa for me. Great tracker and excellent with rock music. Clear without being bright or harsh.

 

New to the forum. I went through upgrading my whole system last year for the first time in 20 years. I was going to go without a TT and was ready to sell my Rotel with Van den Hul MM cart. I always loved how it sounded, but due to moving/divorce the records were 'lost'. My Ex found them in a move and gave the boxes back to me. The table and cart worked great and sounded awesome. I started to love analog again, but since my upgrades were major ones, the tt and old phono stage just didn't cut it. I ended up getting a Basis with Benz cart and a Heed MC phono for a great price used. It was then that I realized that I can mix new and used. I also started to follow all the sales sites and realized that you don't need to spend an arm and leg and you can always get nice upgrades.

Obviously you need to figure out what 'sound' you want out of your cart. Brighter to more rolled off? Type of music and what else you are using. The one thing I noticed was that I'd rather spend a bit less on a cart and get an outboard phono stage. Find a used Bellari and you are going to probably notice a huge difference in sound in any cart. Even a used NAD will sound very good. Lot's of choices out there and I'm sure that no matter what way you go, you'll love music all over again as it's alway like getting a new system when you make changes/upgrades.

 

My last table was a technics 1210 and I had the Goldring 2500 on it. Any of the Goldring 2xxxx series carts will sound great. There is a very small improvement on a better table over a better cartridge. Go with the later.