I read some reviews from magazines online etc. some notes are about the not so great bass, but maybe they are too strict review it...
great review, actually I had in mind too the 1200GR, but I'd always feel that technics arm is meh... but the 1200GR is on my mind. also curious about the new Technics SL-1200MK7 for $999, I need read the differences between (I don't care anything about DJs... I need a table for play audiophile records, you know... MFSL, AP, AF all the stuff that we discuss on this great forum).
Looks like Music Direct has some refurbished Marantz TT-15S1 turntables in stock for $1,199. Marantz - TT-15 Acrylic Turntable **Factory Reconditioned** | Shop Music Direct
I’m in! Package is waiting at FedEx for pickup tomorrow. This thread has me ready. I moved my Technics 1210-m5g with Shure m44g out to the sun room to make room for the Marantz. Thank you for all the insightful replies. Cheers, Adam
Yeah, I wonder if one of those could be the one I refunded on Amazon when I decided to get my SL-1210GR?
Mine came today. Unfortunately, tonearm kept swinging back to the right toward and then resting against the tonearm rest. This occurs even with anti-skate totally removed. Going to get a replacement sent out. Patience
When playing 45rpm, my belt seems to slip around a lot. See the video I made below. Is this normal or do I have it to high up? When I lower it down, it seems to fall off sometimes.
Not normal. Mine is about4-5mm up from the low edge and stable. Is your motor sitting on the solid surface? Looks like some sort of misalignment.
Mine was doing that a little bit. I think it stabilized a little after I monkeyed with the motor, but I can't remember quite what I did. Or it could still be doing it, and I just stopped noticing. (Doesn't seem to affect the speed stability.) One suggestion I've seen is to put the motor on top of a coaster or a piece of cork to raise it up a bit. Sorry, update/edit: Now that I think of it... Try pushing down on the little plastic disc that the belt notches into. The first time I set the motor up, I thought I'd pushed it all the way down. But the belt kept falling off, and it turns out I hadn't pushed that part of the assembly far enough down. There's a little bit of play there in how high or low you can adjust it, but it waggles more at the top. You have to use a little more pressure than expected, or I did anyway. I don't think you want to go all the way down, just somewhere in the middle.
Looks like your belt got twisted when you put it on, take it off and untwist it. It's a bit like uncoiling a garden hose.
To avoid the slipping of the driving belt, the correct position of the pulley is at the same height as the top of the motor spindle; when you pass a finger on the top of the pulley you should not perceive a difference with the top of the spindle
It looks like you have cardboard or something under the feet of the turntable. The motorpod feet have to be exactly parallel, on the same plane, as the turntable feet, otherwise the belt will do just what is pictured in your video.
I recently upgraded the cartridge from Grado Prestige Gold with 8mz stylus to the Grado reference sonata ( bought from someone here on SH forum ).. It is much heavier cartridge but sounds very good. Seems to extract more detail out of groove and tracks better with the inner grooves. Here's a picture:
Got this table yesterday and put it together last night. It sounds amazing in my system. Really impressed. It's incredibly quiet. A clean record in good condition has absolutely no background noise whatsoever. The separation, clarity and detail is excellent. There's plenty of bass too in my set up, although Ive read others feel its a bit light. I'd been planning on buying a second hand gyro se or gyrodec but ended up pulling the trigger on the marantz instead. Now I'm not saying this table is as good as the very well regarded michell. I'm not in a position to compare. However, I feel like I've got an amazing table, brand new with a three year warranty, and saved myself the best part of a grand. The marantz cost me £1049. Its a big step up from the Pro-Ject debut carbon dc with acrylic platter and ortofon 2m bronze I was previously using. Looking forward to trying the bronze out on the new table for a fair comparison with the virtuoso. The rest of my system - Lounge Audio LCR mkiii phono stage with silver wire upgrade, Musical Fidelity M3Si amp, and Dali Helicon 800 speakers. Just want to add a few things regarding some of the criticisms/set up issues others have reported on various threads. A few people have mentioned the motor moves when switched on/off due to the switch being located on the motor itself. Placing a finger on the top/side of the motor opposite the switch as you press the switch button solves this issue so its not really a problem unless you have the table somewhere where its difficult to access the motor/switch in the first place. Ive seen quite a few posts where the poster has had issues with the arm swinging out to the right. I had this issue. I was gutted and thought I had a defective arm which would need replacing. However, I resolved the problem by taking the counter weight back off, removing the antiskate screw, rebalancing the arm with the antiskate out of the way, and then refitting it after the arm was properly balanced. The arm now drops straight down on the record. Its def worth investing in a digital tracking force scale for this table though (less than a tenner on amazon uk), as using the scale on the weight seems pretty hit and miss. Anyways, apologies for the long post and I hope other owners of this table are enjoying it as much as I am. It seems like a real bargain.
Question: Is the arm completely level, or is it tail end UP or Down? Lots has been written about this!
Just follow the manual instructions and you will be fine. In my experience "tail down" emphasizes bass too much and produces a "muddy" sound
I just ordered the TT-15s1 for $1200 (supposedly new but open box) out of frustration with unexplained distortion and sibilance I have been experiencing with my current setup (described in a different thread). I've seen a lot of comments here in this thread about the sound of the included cart, but it mostly talks about detail and bass, but only one or two off-hand comments about other carts tracking the inner grooves better. Inner groove distortion, sibilance, and overall distortion is what will really drive me crazy and make it difficult for me to enjoy playing records. Can anyone with this table comment whether you experience sibilance or inner groove distortion often? I mean, I already pulled the trigger, but I'm curious to know if I should get my hopes up or expect to end up reselling it. Thanks.
I initially set it up as the manual recommends, and was quite happy, but then I changed from the Loefgren alignment to Baerwald and the sound is significantly better, and very, very clean. I did hear a bit of sibilance when it was Loefgren aligned, but not too much, but once I changed the alignment, and the cartridge broke in and opened up, it's very rare now. I really like this TT.
Congratulations! Glad to hear it. You'll love its simplicity. It comes with a cart that's already based on the AT95e design so its sound signature should be somewhat familiar to you. Maybe you'll like it even more than you did the AT33. My father-in-law ordered one which I've configured and used. I've heard no IGD or sibilance using the bundled cart. An Ortofon 2M Blue was temporarily used which exhibited no such symptoms either. Same with the SoundSmith he currently uses. Considering the problem with fur and dust you've experienced, I would suggest getting a cover for it. Can't wait to read your thoughts on this turntable.
Yup, a dust cover is certainly a must. I really hope once this is setup, I can enjoy my records again and not focus on the anomalies. But if it doesn't work out for me, it'll be another troubleshooting step for sure. At least if I don't love it, I can sell it for very nearly what I paid. Funny though, because at the start of this thread and apparently before hearing it, you were a real non-believer in this TT/cart! As I read it, I thought, "Oh no, and he's the one who recommended it to me!"
I suggest you to use an arc protractor for the Satisfy tonearm, then you will forget IGD and sibilance forever. You can download it for free from Accutrak. Pay attention there is an error in the manual regarding the position of the headshell, just trust the arc protractor. And when setting VTA choose the option with mat on, so you can remove it when you play 180g records which are thicker than old records, and still have the correct VTA removing the mat. For VTF I found 2.3g is the sweet spot for The Virtuoso cartridge Sorry for my rusty English, hope you can understand what I wrote
