Tardcore Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 I completely rebuilt/resetup all my gear. Rearranged both my setups to accomodate. I finished (or so I thought) last night and was extremely happy after 6mo of hating my setup location. Why is the cart nerve-wracking? mostly because if I bust it, I'm out $$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Man, don't remember if I ever mentioned this, but I've learned that upgrading my analog gear has been as much of a relief as it was a pain in the ass. Don't know really how to explain it, but I find that I'm actually listening to vinyl far less than I was back when I got my first shitty 70s JVC table. The thing is, now it takes much more... effort? It's also more stressful and takes more precision I guess. The listening experience is of course much better, but I go for it much less often because of all the hassle. Sometimes I wish I could go back to my old setup, when I was spinning records all day long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 I think that the little annoyances that you used to ignore bother you more because you spent $$$ and hours getting everything to work perfectly and when something distrupts that, it's bothersome. I am now realizing how filthy some of my records are. May be time to pull the trigger on a 16.5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I spent all day yesterday stressing on where I was going to put everything. To the point I got sick to my stomach. Then as I was stuck in traffic it dawned on me what to do. Stayed up til 1:30am getting things all setup. Only to realize it had to be redone today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I am now realizing how filthy some of my records are. May be time to pull the trigger on a 16.5. They're worth it man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Looking forward to hearing your impressions. I'm a pretty simple guy. My sort of benchmark is Weezer - "Say it Ain't So". If that one song sounds good, everything else should fall into place. So the first record I played was the blue album and I have to say I was impressed. The thing that struck me most was the bass. It is more present without being boomy. (I am terrible at describing this stuff). My old system had decent bass for bookshelf speakers, but now I can feel it in the floor. The output on this cart seems to be much lower than the 2m Red. using the on board phono pre on my PM8004, I have to crank the volume up maybe 50% further to get to the same volume as my digital channel. Although, even at that higher volume, everything is silent. An outboard phono pre may be in order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobNY Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 When it is raised, the lift is even with the rubber piece that holds the arm in place on the rest, so when you release it slides right over, so I guess it is being raised to the correct height, ^^^^ This is correct and exactly how it is on the one here. Here are some pictures for reference. Cue in raised position Cart above record in raised position . Lowered onto record to show VTA. There is no adjustment for the cue height. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 if it's not too much trouble, can you measure the distance between the bottom of the lift mechanism and the plinth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobNY Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Yes, I will in a little while. Keep in mind this one has the mat installed, so the thickness of the mat will have to be taken into account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I'm surprised you can't adjust the cue mechanism independently of the arm height, I guess this arm is only intended to be used on tables with the same platter width and distance from the plinth. Pity I always liked the look of them and have often looked at buying one to play with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 appreciate it. I just want to compare your measurment to the distance I ended up going with. I ended up taking a stack of poker chips and stacking them under the left mechanism until I got to a reasonable height (so scientific). I still have the little round felt piece they included, it'll be pretty easy to add that to the stack and measure. One thing that I see different in your picture is that the rail on the lift arm has felt on your turntable. Mine is just bare metal. That could make enough of a difference to keep the needle above the record when lifted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I think these normally come with just bare metal lift/rail. However there's a benefit to sticking something like a felt to it. Often when lowering the arm it will slide slightly outwards due to the anti-skate force and putting something on that lift helps reducing/eliminating that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Just finished setting up. No issues on my end. I went pretty slow as I was nervous at the price of everything. Mine came without a box... It was weird. But material wise, I couldn't find any flaws. Maybe just a damaged box? I did get two motor fly wheels... Did you? My cue mechanism is fine. It's a little slow when lowering (cold?) but after balancing the tonearm and anti skate, it works fine. It sings. I'm one track in (Postal Service - Sleeping In), but you're right. Surprisingly good bass. Considering I had to completely move my system around, I still need to work on speaker placement, but first impression, I'm really happy. I always say I notice improvement by hearing things I've never heard before. I can already say that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 One thing that I see different in your picture is that the rail on the lift arm has felt on your turntable. Mine is just bare metal. That could make enough of a difference to keep the needle above the record when lifted. Mine has felt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobNY Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 The distance from the plinth to the bottom of the cue box on ours is 13/16". That is with the mat. Couldn't find my metric ruler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 The distance from the plinth to the bottom of the cue box on ours is 13/16". That is with the mat. Couldn't find my metric ruler hmm...that comes out to a little more than 2 cm. I ended up raising mine to a little over 2.5 cm without using the mat. that little bit of felt may very well make the difference in whether the arm is lifted above the platter when raised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Just finished setting up. No issues on my end. I went pretty slow as I was nervous at the price of everything. Mine came without a box... It was weird. But material wise, I couldn't find any flaws. Maybe just a damaged box? I did get two motor fly wheels... Did you? My cue mechanism is fine. It's a little slow when lowering (cold?) but after balancing the tonearm and anti skate, it works fine. It sings. I'm one track in (Postal Service - Sleeping In), but you're right. Surprisingly good bass. Considering I had to completely move my system around, I still need to work on speaker placement, but first impression, I'm really happy. I always say I notice improvement by hearing things I've never heard before. I can already say that. Mine came in a brown box with the model info hand-written on it. only one motor fly wheel included. I guess there must be slightly different versions of the tone arm around. I looked at a few pictures online and didn't see the felt on the lift arm. was it pre-applied or was it just in the box and you applied it yourself? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Nope already attached. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 only one motor fly wheel included. Both 50 and 60Hz ones ajxd? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Well one was loose in a bag. The other sealed. But they look identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannibal Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 We're these advertised as being demo/return/damaged box, etc? It sounds like that's what they may be. Nothing wrong with that, but it is a little disappointing to find out after the fact of you thought you were getting brand new/sealed box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 They were B-stock reboxed by Marantz. Mine had a few marks on the bottom side of the acrylic platter. well worth the $500 off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 dethrock 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobNY Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 ajxd, Looks great!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Now that's hidden! But it pretty much eliminates the need for a dustcover, so that's a plus. Are these supposed to come with two flywheels (I'm guessing you're talking about pulleys)? Because there really is no need for two haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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