I've been having bad luck trying to get help anywhere else - may as well start asking here.
I've been trying to finally get together a decent turntable that is properly setup and calibrated and all, and every time I try this, it turns into a situation where I throw money at it, I try a few things, and it all fails miserably and I end up with something half assed and not at all what I have in mind.
It started with the cartridge. I had an opportunity to put some money into a decent upgrade, and decided....may as well get a nice MC cartridge. I decided to take a look at what Ortofon had to offer, as at the time I was in possession of an Ortofon MCA-76 head amp. And that's how I've ended up with an Ortofon Rondo Bronze cartridge.
At some point a friend gave me his Luxman PD-121 turntable. I've been happy with it....but it came with this rather crappy Denon tonearm on it. It's one of those turntables that would come without a tonearm, to give the flexibility of buying it separately. The Denon was a bit wobbly, and also didn't have enough counterweight for the Rondo Bronze cartridge. I've half-assed it for the past 10 or so years by adding extra weight onto the end....but while that's worked, it seems that I'm not operating within the expected specs, so I can't expect it's performing to it's potential. This has always bothered me. (Although....I suppose the tone arm is adequate for the CD-4 signet cartridge. But even then, I don't like how loosey goosey the arm is - although some have suggested it's supposed to be)
So, this has led me down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out how I can pair another tone arm to this turntable. Vinyl is in fashion. You can find documentation for just about anything online. Forums are filled with audiophiles that seem to suggest they know how to setup turntables. I figured...how hard can this be? But anytime I look to get advice, all I'm met with is generic suggestions that I'll need to research things to make sure they pair nicely. And sure, friendly advice is appreciated. But.....like....duh! How is telling someone that they need to pair things properly, who is asking how to pair things properly, actually offering any help?
I'm not sure if people are just not looking to be helpful, or if all these audiophile types that hang out on audiophile forums like audio karam or the hoffman forums are just idiots that don't actually have a clue what they're talking about. I'm not looking to put anyone down....but when I've spent 10 years looking for advice on these things, and have gotten a bunch of useless tips, and not a solid piece of advice on anything relating to pairing these things, well....I'm beyond a bit frustrated at this point. Especially after all this....
So....one thing I did find out was that the Ortofon Rondo Bronze cartridge will not pair with an MCA-76 head amp. And that information came from Ortofon's support. Basically, the output of their modern cartridges is more than their older ones, so they won't pair. That led to me ditching the MCA-76 head amp, and I do now have a more modern pre-amp with both MC and MM inputs, that works well with my cartridges. So I decided I may as well turn to Ortofon support again and see what they would recommend as far as pairing a tonearm with the cartridge and my turntable. The support rep recommended an SME 3009 tone arm as a common choice of tonearm for the luxman turntable, that would be a suitable pairing with the rondo bronze. And so I dropped $700 on ebay and bought one.
What arrived is a tonearm with a base plate, and 4 tiny wood screws, and instructions to use a guide to drill a hole in a wooden base, and use the wood screws to secure the base. Which is not at all how a luxman turntable works. Mind you, I did try to do all my homework before ending up with a bad match like this. I cannot express how frustrating it is to go around in circles asking anyone and everyone how to buy parts that will work together, download every piece of documentation you can find on the equipment you have, read it all over, and after following advice, having a bunch of expensive parts that will not work! The turntable documentation tells you how to remove the part that has the slot to add in a tonearm - doesn't tell you what tonearms will work with it. Anyways - before I pulled the trigger on the ebay auction, I did compare the pictures in the auction with pictures online, as I did find examples online of this tonearm in use with luxman pd-121 turntables, so add pictures to the recommendation from ortofon, and I figured, there must be a way for this to work, it should be safe to drop the money on the item. But NOOOO! Not at all! The surface I have to work with on the luxman is metal/plastic. Not a desireable surface to be mounting things with wood screws.
But, ok.....this is what I have now. This is what others have recommended. This is what there are pictures of onilne - and I do see it adhered to the metal/plastic base with screws. So....may as well give this a go. So I carefully drilled 4 holes in the base, and carefully broke the heads off of 4 tiny wood screws.
Ok - off to the hardware store to buy more screws.
I bought 3 packs of screws. One pack of slightly heavier screws that looked like they should fit, and would hopefully have more strength to not break off the head, one pack the same size but a little longer than the original screws, and one pack that were pretty close to the original screws.
Bigger screws wouldn't fit.
Longer screws gave more length that would have to be secured in before breaking - more opportunity for fail.
Plan C ended up working - just long enough to grab in before they could get stuck.
So, I have the tonearm secured to the base.
But then I find out - neither of the 2 counterweights that came with this tonearm work for the ortofon cartridge. One is too light, the other too heavy. Neither will balance it properly no matter the adjustments made.
Great.
So, the tonearm that Ortofon recommended to me to pair nicely with my turntable and cartridge, pairs with neither! It takes a bit of half assing to get it on the turntable, and the ortofon cartridge is in a no mans land between the 2 provided counterweights. And from looking online, it seems those are the 2 normal counterweights for SME tonearms - I've not found an in between size.
So I'm back to having to modify weights if I want this to work.
So then I figure, ok then, maybe I can get the signet cartridge on this for now.
And once I start balancing that, I find that, even with the tone arm lift lever in the down position, the needle hovers up over the platter.
Which is ironic given that the instruction manual suggests the opposite problem might exist, that an added platform might be needed if the platter is over a certain height.
So, once again, I throw a chunk of money at my system, and all I get is crap that doesn't do what I expect.
Is there anyone out there that knows how to setup a turntable, how to pair these things, that can give me any solid advice?
And sure, at this point perhaps the best advice many could give is to sell it off, and just buy a new turntable. But - that's typically the answer to give to someone "that doesn't want to bother with this", which suggests an element of laziness. That's not really the case for me - I welcome chances to learn a bit, I'm up for the opportunity to put a bit of effort into this. I just actually want the right knowledge. Like I said, I've gone online and pulled up the documentation and specs for all the equipment I'm working with. I've gone to the forums and asked for help and advice. I've gone to the manufacturers. I've turned to every resource I can find out there. But all I end up with is vague advice, or specifications that relate to the specific equipment it's about, without any useful information on how to use it with other equipment.
There's got to be some people out there still that have knowledge of these things that can pass it along.
I've been trying to finally get together a decent turntable that is properly setup and calibrated and all, and every time I try this, it turns into a situation where I throw money at it, I try a few things, and it all fails miserably and I end up with something half assed and not at all what I have in mind.
It started with the cartridge. I had an opportunity to put some money into a decent upgrade, and decided....may as well get a nice MC cartridge. I decided to take a look at what Ortofon had to offer, as at the time I was in possession of an Ortofon MCA-76 head amp. And that's how I've ended up with an Ortofon Rondo Bronze cartridge.
At some point a friend gave me his Luxman PD-121 turntable. I've been happy with it....but it came with this rather crappy Denon tonearm on it. It's one of those turntables that would come without a tonearm, to give the flexibility of buying it separately. The Denon was a bit wobbly, and also didn't have enough counterweight for the Rondo Bronze cartridge. I've half-assed it for the past 10 or so years by adding extra weight onto the end....but while that's worked, it seems that I'm not operating within the expected specs, so I can't expect it's performing to it's potential. This has always bothered me. (Although....I suppose the tone arm is adequate for the CD-4 signet cartridge. But even then, I don't like how loosey goosey the arm is - although some have suggested it's supposed to be)
So, this has led me down the rabbit hole of trying to figure out how I can pair another tone arm to this turntable. Vinyl is in fashion. You can find documentation for just about anything online. Forums are filled with audiophiles that seem to suggest they know how to setup turntables. I figured...how hard can this be? But anytime I look to get advice, all I'm met with is generic suggestions that I'll need to research things to make sure they pair nicely. And sure, friendly advice is appreciated. But.....like....duh! How is telling someone that they need to pair things properly, who is asking how to pair things properly, actually offering any help?
I'm not sure if people are just not looking to be helpful, or if all these audiophile types that hang out on audiophile forums like audio karam or the hoffman forums are just idiots that don't actually have a clue what they're talking about. I'm not looking to put anyone down....but when I've spent 10 years looking for advice on these things, and have gotten a bunch of useless tips, and not a solid piece of advice on anything relating to pairing these things, well....I'm beyond a bit frustrated at this point. Especially after all this....
So....one thing I did find out was that the Ortofon Rondo Bronze cartridge will not pair with an MCA-76 head amp. And that information came from Ortofon's support. Basically, the output of their modern cartridges is more than their older ones, so they won't pair. That led to me ditching the MCA-76 head amp, and I do now have a more modern pre-amp with both MC and MM inputs, that works well with my cartridges. So I decided I may as well turn to Ortofon support again and see what they would recommend as far as pairing a tonearm with the cartridge and my turntable. The support rep recommended an SME 3009 tone arm as a common choice of tonearm for the luxman turntable, that would be a suitable pairing with the rondo bronze. And so I dropped $700 on ebay and bought one.
What arrived is a tonearm with a base plate, and 4 tiny wood screws, and instructions to use a guide to drill a hole in a wooden base, and use the wood screws to secure the base. Which is not at all how a luxman turntable works. Mind you, I did try to do all my homework before ending up with a bad match like this. I cannot express how frustrating it is to go around in circles asking anyone and everyone how to buy parts that will work together, download every piece of documentation you can find on the equipment you have, read it all over, and after following advice, having a bunch of expensive parts that will not work! The turntable documentation tells you how to remove the part that has the slot to add in a tonearm - doesn't tell you what tonearms will work with it. Anyways - before I pulled the trigger on the ebay auction, I did compare the pictures in the auction with pictures online, as I did find examples online of this tonearm in use with luxman pd-121 turntables, so add pictures to the recommendation from ortofon, and I figured, there must be a way for this to work, it should be safe to drop the money on the item. But NOOOO! Not at all! The surface I have to work with on the luxman is metal/plastic. Not a desireable surface to be mounting things with wood screws.
But, ok.....this is what I have now. This is what others have recommended. This is what there are pictures of onilne - and I do see it adhered to the metal/plastic base with screws. So....may as well give this a go. So I carefully drilled 4 holes in the base, and carefully broke the heads off of 4 tiny wood screws.
Ok - off to the hardware store to buy more screws.
I bought 3 packs of screws. One pack of slightly heavier screws that looked like they should fit, and would hopefully have more strength to not break off the head, one pack the same size but a little longer than the original screws, and one pack that were pretty close to the original screws.
Bigger screws wouldn't fit.
Longer screws gave more length that would have to be secured in before breaking - more opportunity for fail.
Plan C ended up working - just long enough to grab in before they could get stuck.
So, I have the tonearm secured to the base.
But then I find out - neither of the 2 counterweights that came with this tonearm work for the ortofon cartridge. One is too light, the other too heavy. Neither will balance it properly no matter the adjustments made.
Great.
So, the tonearm that Ortofon recommended to me to pair nicely with my turntable and cartridge, pairs with neither! It takes a bit of half assing to get it on the turntable, and the ortofon cartridge is in a no mans land between the 2 provided counterweights. And from looking online, it seems those are the 2 normal counterweights for SME tonearms - I've not found an in between size.
So I'm back to having to modify weights if I want this to work.
So then I figure, ok then, maybe I can get the signet cartridge on this for now.
And once I start balancing that, I find that, even with the tone arm lift lever in the down position, the needle hovers up over the platter.
Which is ironic given that the instruction manual suggests the opposite problem might exist, that an added platform might be needed if the platter is over a certain height.
So, once again, I throw a chunk of money at my system, and all I get is crap that doesn't do what I expect.
Is there anyone out there that knows how to setup a turntable, how to pair these things, that can give me any solid advice?
And sure, at this point perhaps the best advice many could give is to sell it off, and just buy a new turntable. But - that's typically the answer to give to someone "that doesn't want to bother with this", which suggests an element of laziness. That's not really the case for me - I welcome chances to learn a bit, I'm up for the opportunity to put a bit of effort into this. I just actually want the right knowledge. Like I said, I've gone online and pulled up the documentation and specs for all the equipment I'm working with. I've gone to the forums and asked for help and advice. I've gone to the manufacturers. I've turned to every resource I can find out there. But all I end up with is vague advice, or specifications that relate to the specific equipment it's about, without any useful information on how to use it with other equipment.
There's got to be some people out there still that have knowledge of these things that can pass it along.
