Why does my turntable sound bad?

[Cass]

I have a 17-year-old Systemdek II X900 turntable that I recently took out of mothballs because I fancied getting back into my extensive vinyl collection.

The problem is that it doesn't sound as good as I remember from its early days - too quiet, with little top-end. Nowhere near as good as my Marantz CD-6002 CD player, which is not what I would expect given that the received wisdom these days is that vinyl sounds better than CD.

I have a Cambriddge Audio A5 amp and Mordaunt Short Avant 902i speakers. The deck has a "Moth" arm (actually a Rega?) and a new Audio Technica 110E cartridge. I recently replaced the drive belt and topped up the spindle oil so everything should be in working order.

I'm wondering if the phono stage could be to blame. When I bought the amp, I went for a cheap internal phono stage. Would it be worth investing in a decent external phono stage? How much difference is this likely to make? I really don't want to spend cash on a phono stage if it won't make much difference and the money would be better spent on a replacement deck.

Any thoughts welcome.

 

[fatboyslimfast]

From memory, the internal phono stage is adaquate, nothing more. The 640p is a whole step up, but then the A5 becomes the weakest link.

The Systemdek with Moth arm is a great TT so that shouldn't be causing any issues. You do say a "new" AT110E - this is a restrained cart, so if you previously had a more sprightly cart, maybe that is the issue.

Why don't you have a word with your local Richer Sounds - they might let you borrow a 540p or 640p on a home-trial basis. At least you then know.

But if they'll let you do that, I would ask to dem both the 640p and maybe a Marantz PM6002 - a great amp with a decent phono stage already in it.

I would think you will then find the A5 to be the culprit... I had one, and thought it ok, until I bought a 25yr old Rotel RA820 for 20 quid, that absolutely blew the A5 away...

 

[John Duncan]

I had the very same deck and would expect it to sound great. I can think of three things which might be giving you issues: firstly, as you rightly point out, is the phono stage - if you can borrow a better one like the Cambridge 640p to try it out, see if that gives you the sparkle you're looking for. The Systemdek can certainly handle a much better stage than the cheap Cambridge one in any case.

Secondly, check the height of the Rega arm - I had to put a spacer on mine to get the height anywhere near right. Rega do a set of three different ones which can be combined to get the right height, though I think I only needed one.

Lastly, can't remember what the tonal balance of the AT cartridge is - it might be a bit smooth. Maybe others here can advise.

 

[John Duncan]

(jinx)

 

[fatboyslimfast]

We both have too much time on our hands JD.

Don't forget also to check the tracking weight - balance the arm, then dial in about 1.8g of force. That's about 7/8 of a full turn on the moth.

 

[DistortedVision]

I'm not familar with your turntable but have you tried setting the tracking force to the upper limit of the manufacturer's recommended range? Also which protractor did you use to adjust the alignment? Also check the anti-skate and try experimenting with the VTA.

I'd do these fundamental checks before considering changing components in the rest of your system.

 

[Henley]

The turntable and arm combination are great and you should be happy with the sound, what about.....

Have you allowed the cartridge to run in?
Check tracking weight, this is critical.
Try another phono stage.
It may be worth getting someone to check the tone arm to verify that the bearings are still OK.
The cartridge may not be to your taste.
Try another set of interconnects between turntable and amp.

 

[Cass]

Thanks for the very useful responses. Interesting that the PM6002 gets mentioned, as I have had my eye on that. I hadn't realised it came with a phono stage - that makes it even more appealing. I can see that amp being part of my long-term solution when funds permit. As regards TT set-up, I must admit that when I got the deck down from the loft I assumed that tracking weight etc would all still be good to go, even though it hasn't been checked since the day I bought the deck in 1991! Not necessarily a valid assumption, so I will do what I can to check the set-up. The AT cartridge is the same model I used back in the day, so I'd expect it to be OK, though I will investigate other, possibly brighter-sounding options.

 

[Anonymous]

There are a number of variables in turntable setup that can all cause suboptimal performance -- of course the tracking force and vertical tracking alignment as have been mentioned, but anti-skating and azimuth might also cause weirdness on one of the channels if not set correctly, and it may be that loose screws or bearings might be allowing macro-vibrations from the motor or micro-vibrations from the stylus to prevent you from extracting every last bit of detail from your music.

I've found these links helpful:

http://www.recordtech.com/ttsetup.htm

http://www.audiophilia.com/features/cartridge_setup.htm

And I suppose it's obvious but perhaps your records need a cleaning?

Be interested to know whether you're able to get it sounding the way you remember it.

Lydgate