Advice for friend's system - TT based

[Deleted member 195594]

Hi

Looking for some advice for a friend and his system. He has:

Rega P5 TT (which he won 😊)
Cambridge Audio axa35
Dali Spektor 1 speakers

I was around at his house this weekend for pre-Christmas drinks, and to listen to his system which I hadn't heard previously.

He likes to listen at a fair old volume, not ear splitting but loudish.

What I couldn't get away from was that the highs/high-mids from his diminutive Dali's were distorting all over the place. The brightness was uncomfortable.

I'd taken a spare pair of QED XT40i speaker cables for him to try, and some spare ICs I have. I'm not sure what cables he was using, but the QEDs definitely helped, as did the Chord C-line ICs, to smooth the top end out a little, but I fear he has a more fundamental issue.

I know the Dali's have a low sensitivity rating, and this combined with the CA amps limitations may be causing the problem?

I feel he may need to either upgrade on his amp, or find a higher sensitivity speaker, or even look at a speaker with a bigger cabinet.

His room is not hifi dedicated at all; he lives in a typical UK semi-detached with front/back rooms knocked through in to on open plan living area with all the furniture you would expect in a family home. He has to move his equipment rack and speakers/stands out in to the room to listen. So on that front there isn't any significant solution.

Would be most grateful to hear any thoughts and/or suggestions for my friend. I don't trust my meagre knowledge to offer him definitive advice.

I forgot to mention his phono pre-amp 🤔. I'm not sure what it is, it's a tiny, Internet switch sized box. I didn't think to look at brand/model; I live in the digital domain, these things just pass me by 😊. I'm not sure if this could be contributing in some way

Thanks in advance

Kind Regards and Seasons Greetings 😊

L

 

[lee711]

I'm no expert, but all the items individually are well reviewed so I would start at the beginning of the chain and make sure the TT is set set up correctly
- tonearm balanced and correct tracking force dialed in
- correct anti skate applied
- no damage to stylus
Next try removing the phono stage and use the AXA35's in built stage and see if that effects the sound, then maybe see if you can add in another source ( cd player ) and see if the results are the same, start simple first.

 

[Al ears]

For a start I am surprised you heard anything as Rega don't make a P5.....
However, as stated the external phono preamp is an unnecessary complication as the AXA 35 has an inbuilt one.
As with all analogue setups of it doesn't sound right then change the cartridge or the speakers.

 

[Deleted member 195594]

For a start I am surprised you heard anything as Rega don't make a P5.....

😂 I rest my case, when it comes to TTs, I really am an ignoramus. 🙄😜. Its a Rega something... 🤔

Thanks for the replies, I'll tell him to plug the TT in to his amp's phono inputs see if that improves things. 👍

 

[lee711]

😂 I rest my case, when it comes to TTs, I really am an ignoramus. 🙄😜. Its a Rega something... 🤔

Thanks for the replies, I'll tell him to plug the TT in to his amp's phono inputs see if that improves things. 👍

They used to but I'm sure it's discontinued now - Rega P5

 

[Al ears]

They used to but I'm sure it's discontinued now - Rega P5

Forgot that one, perhaps it is the one in question. I was assuming a current modern one if he won it ........