What turntable for the Leema?

[bigfish786]

For all intents and purposes, the clearaudio carts are Audio Technica “engines” with custom bodies, whether wood or metal. I only found this out as I bent the cantilever after only hav8ng the cart a few weeks, and obviously feared the worst.

I did a little research and found the YouTube video and bought an atn95e cart, cut the centre out, the part hold8ng the stylus and fitted to my Virtuoso body, easy as that, the sound was very similar, only I found I was getting more pops and clicks. Another accident followed, and the atn95ex was bought, wow, what a difference. All the clarity of my original stylus and very little, almost no pops and clicks.

This little upgrade is well worth the experimenting, as it costs very little, I thorough recommended it.

 

[bigfish786]

If you still have the classic wood cart, send it to me and I’ll put the stylus in for you.

 

[alchemist 1]

David a great article, just an observation on your web site.

I think you need to check the 1200G price tag [ unless your doing a special new year promotion*preved*]

Haha, that’s what you get for “duplicating” a page, not updating every little bit you’re supposed to, and not properly proof reading it! Of course, the more eagle eyed would’ve noticed that the rear pic is a GR, and only one of the other pics is actually a G...

I’ll update in the morning when I get in (I can’t update via tablet). If Amazon wouldn’t have let me down before Christmas, I’d have had a mini PC at home right now to update...

The devil's in the detail as they say...*smile*

How good is that 1200 G.....*dirol*

 

[plastic penguin]

Kind of you to offer.

Yes Classic Wood is still around somewhere, but I would guess it's hidden in the attic somewhere. If I stumble across it I'll let you know.

Thanks

 

[nopiano]

Well, it never occurred to me that Clearaudio didn’t make their own cartridges! Well, well! One learns something new every day in this hobby!

 

[plastic penguin]

According to ClearAudio themselves they made cartridges before turntables. Does that mean they had some sort of a collaboration with AT back in the early days?

 

[Al ears]

Well, it never occurred to me that Clearaudio didn’t make their own cartridges! Well, well! One learns something new every day in this hobby!

They are not the only ones. See my comments regards AT . You'll be surprised how many turntables manufacturers have now idea how complex cartridge manufacturer is and its often not worth their while to find out.

If you want to add a cartridge to your turntable leave it to the professionals.

 

[davidf]

It's not exactly a revalation that Audio Technica make cartridges for other people! Although I've got to put to bed the nonsense that seems to be floating around here at the moment. You only have to look at the cantilever of the Virtuoso cartridge and the cantilever of one of the 95 carts to see that they're not the same. The Virtuoso cantilever is one of those very fine ones that look like it'd break if you breathed on it, whereas the 95 looks like many other carts whose cantilevers are quite thick in comparison.

 

[davidf]

The devil's in the detail as they say...*smile*

How good is that 1200 G.....*dirol*

Sounding rather nice! Had it playing Thursday and Friday with numerous albums, after trying a couple of carts (settled on the AT33Sa), a couple of phono stages and a couple of interconnects to get the best balance through the Hegel Rost and Amphion Argon 0 speakers.

Never thought I'd get to hear an SL1200 being able to compete with other circa £4k turntables. This things weighs a ton (well, 18kg to be precise, which is actually about 50% more than some competing models), which does give you piece of mind that it's not wobbling around all over the place like some do, and that it's using its mass to help minimise any vibration. The soundstage is huge, with some great bass power and definition, and that's just with it sitting on an IKEA cabinet. Despite the phono stage needing running in as it is new, Peace Orchestra's self titled album was sounding stunning. Virtually zero clicks and pops and no background noise that I've heard yet.

Looking forward to playing with it a little more tomorrow

 

[iceman16]

Life too short Pp get an mc

 

[Diamond Joe]

I'm kind of glad I turned my back on vinyl a long time ago, the choice is just utterly bewildering, good luck making your choice PP, I'm so indecisive that I don't think I'd ever make my mind up!!

That said, I still like the look of turntables and a little voice at the back of my head keeps saying that one would look nice on top of my rack.

 

[chebby]

TBH i’d just buy the best Rega I could afford from their current range. (In your case the latest Planar 6 package with Neo-TT PSU and the Exact MM or entry level Ania MC.

(The gloss red option for me )

 

[bigfish786]

Sorry to disappoint you but, I have both, and they are exactly the same size.

 

[plastic penguin]

Nop. I'm starting off with a good quality MM. If I feel the need may look at MCs much further down the line.

 

[plastic penguin]

TBH i’d just buy the best Rega I could afford from their current range. (In your case the latest Planar 6 package with Neo-TT PSU and the Exact MM or entry level Ania MC.

(The gloss red option for me )

I really admire Rega tables but, somehow, they just don't 'do it' for me.

 

[Al ears]

Nop. I'm starting off with a good quality MM. If I feel the need may look at MCs much further down the line.

Good plan, many entry level mc's are sub-par to equivalent priced MMs, often involving the purchase of anew phono preamp, and are a good way to drain your bank account. ;-)

 

[plastic penguin]

Not too long ago, when I mentioned I had a pimped up cart, people used to, not necessarily scoff at the notion, but would suggest the cartridge was the lowest denominator when it came to upgrading tables. Now most people on here have the opposite view.

Things come in and out of fashion, so is the cart the up-to-date fad?

 

[iceman16]

There’s a Pro-Ject Xtension 9 with Quintet black cart on PFM atm for £1450 (rrp £2300) which may worth checking

 

[plastic penguin]

However, I dislike the Xtension's colours: Migraine red, white and black.

I have my two table list and I'll stick with it, unless they are completetly underwhelming.

 

[plastic penguin]

The Tucana and Pro-ject is boxed up ready for tomorrow's dem. Undecided whether to take the speakers. Problem is parking. Can only park on a side street, which is approx 100 yards from the shop. Demoing within the hour will be a challenge if I was to take all my gear.

The dealer did say he has PMC Twenty5 22, so I'm tempted to leave the TB2s at home.

 

[bigfish786]

Good luck with the demo. You are following good advice, taking the time and making the effort to do this.

Meanwhile, I’m doing the total opposite. Buying blind.

Lets compare notes and experiences tomorrow .

 

[CnoEvil]

Not too long ago, when I mentioned I had a pimped up cart, people used to, not necessarily scoff at the notion, but would suggest the cartridge was the lowest denominator when it came to upgrading tables. Now most people on here have the opposite view.

Things come in and out of fashion, so is the cart the up-to-date fad?

My somewhat out of date knowledge, would have had a pecking order of TT, then Arm, then Cartridge...with MCs generally being better than MM.....but that was in the 80s.

I haven't had a TT for 25 years, so don't know if the thinking has changed.

 

[plastic penguin]

I was generalising on the comments from a few years ago.

Not sure if anyone still subscribes to my theory that a better cart makes a difference. I've owned a £200 table for years, and my 'go to' dealer in Hampton Wick spent the whole morning swapping over carts to make a deal: Ortofon (around £90), then a Goldring (£110) but settled on the Clearaudio (£115), but was selling for about £300 before the Concept cart came into being. This was back in 2005.

As vinyl has been the only constant format since 1978, I think I know a little bit about TTs and cart matching. No idea about MCs but affordable MMs is a different matter.

Perhaps I'm getting too old for all this demo s##t. I know the sound I like. If I don't hear it in the first few notes of a song I generally lob it out.

 

[davidf]

If I don't hear it in the first few notes of a song I generally lob it out.

So presuming a carbon copy of your system has been set up for the audition, how do you do that if you don’t know the room?

 

[iceman16]

David .. Have you heard the Project prm5 ?