This is truly a spectacular little turntable and cartridge for the money, I have had mine set up about 2 weeks.
Merely relayed what I had read. Having said that, my Dynavector carts sound better but that's an unfair comparison due to cost and, really, it's all subjective in the end. But it does sound much better than the 2M Blue that we tried on it! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised and personally can't wait to read your thoughts once you get it. As for the setup, though the protractor advice is spot-on, nothing wrong with using the default setup. The Marantz was super easy to set up and its sound and operation is terrific. My only niggle is the arm descends too quickly for my tastes as I've been spoiled by the VPI Prime where it goes down much slower, therefore allowing me enough time to head to the couch before the stylus hits the LP, but again, this is purely nitpicking. That and the power button being awkwardly placed. Since I'm paranoid about having the motor touch the plinth and there's little wiggle room, I suggested to my father-in-law to use a power bar right next to the Marantz he could power on and off so as to prevent the need to reach all the way back to activate/deactivate it and possibly disrupt the location of the motor. Easy cheap fix. When are you getting it?
I used one of these with my TT15 for the motor power. Worked great! And if you find out your don't need it later down the road, use it for your X-mas tree! https://smile.amazon.com/Woods-3255...ix=outdoor+remote+o,aps,149&sr=8-7&th=1&psc=1
My father-in-law uses one. Unnecessary on the Marantz, in my experience. It was dead-on out of the box but my FIL is a tinkerer and gadget lover by nature and having a simple setup is something he is seemingly allergic to. I've read of a few people who had some puzzling issues which were traced back to that device. My personal opinion is if it's unneeded, best not to use one. Keeping the setup as simple as possible is always what I recommend.
The Marantz is spec'd at 5W and the Speed Box DS says "up to 3W". I guess your FiL didn't have any problems though?
Usually, an LED light is installed underneath the plinth. Since the plinth is essentially transparent, the light propagates easily.
Yup, the power thing was the LEAST of my worries! I already use an easily accessible power strip, so no problem here. Sounds like the issue with the belt riding too low can be worked around too, so I'm already on that thanks to the many helpful posts in this thread. Looks like it should arrive early next week, and I'll probably take off of work on Wednesday to set it up and play some records. I will post in the other thread what I find, probably first my immediate observations and then again after I've had some time with it (where I will certainly compare certain LPs played on the Marantz and the VPI Scout).
I'm finally getting around to setting mine up and am getting no sound (only buzz) in the left channel. Can someone with one of these units please confirm the correct cartridge connections for me? The manual seems to suggest that looking from the back of the cart, the colors are: top left: white, top right: red, bottom left: blue, bottom right: green. Am I reading that wrong? Can someone take a look at theirs and confirm? I'd like to know for sure before I fiddle around with those tiny wires more.
I sell them, unlike what you see for $380.00, 3/16", mine are 1/4" with rolled front and rear edges, it's a brute!k Here is your link to the cover page. https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/custom-dust-cover.886333/
Strat-Mangler has it correct, an LCD light that changes color placed under the table. It really works out nicely.
Another option for the Emotion and the one that I use on mine is an acrylic cover and stand from an old Pioneer PL41 tt. A custom wooden base completely separates it from the Emotion so airborne vibrations do not get transmitted to the plinth.
I notice something strange in your pics. Your tonarm wires going to the Clearaudio cartridge have a different order in colour than mine. You have white and green in the upper row while I have white and red.
www.accutrak.us/clearaudio-satisfy-unify-universal-verify.html You have to download it and then use a graphics program to scale it perfectly before printing it.
Just got this beauty in today and set it up, which was an absolute breeze.....I came from a Project Expression III with a ortofon red...wow, what an upgrade...so happy with this table. I poured over this thread for days before I made the purchase...thanks all for the advice, input, thoughts etc...
Bought this TT two weeks ago. Out of the box, it actually sounds worse than my old Rega Planar 1. Surface noise is more noticeable, so are clicks and pops. Is this normal for a new TT and cartridge?
How is the tonal quality, the imaging/soundstage, etc., compared to your previous turntable? if the exact same LP sounds like it has more pops, clicks, and surface noise on the Marantz compared to your previous turntable, it might be because the Marantz is more revealing and transparent?