kfp673 Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 (edited) Hello All! Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide as I am new to this forum. A bit of background.. I worked in the residential AV industry for many years from the late 90's but it has been a decade or more. Back then I enjoyed listening to vinyl but have been out of it for at least 15 years. Ironically, it has now become a fad for teens so my daughters asked for a record player and some albums for Christmas. Of course they asked for a suite case player and I was not able to bring myself to buy that. But, I also did not have the budget to spend "rea; money" for a player like I used to sell back in the day. So I set out to find an entry level TT that had counter weight, anti skate, and seemed to be built well and I ended up with the Mitchel Acoustics TT2 (Standard price is $300). It came with an AT91 cartridge. Now my audio system is dual use Home theater and music and is pretty nice stuff in my opinion. I use a Yamaha theater AVR with the pre-outs running to old B&K amps (other than Atmos speakers run from the Yamaha). Speakers are old Sonus Faber Grand Piano's which I love. The TT2 has a built in phono pre-amp with on/off option, but I am not using that and instead using the phono inputs on the Yamaha AVR. Anyway, after getting everything connected and heading to the record store to buy a few Jazz records I remember loving, I have been sucked back in. For an entry level player, I am loving the sound and am hooked already on the analog and natural sound of Vinyl. So here is where the questions come in... As much as I am enjoying this, I can hear that there is room for improvement, however I do not and will not any time soon have the budget to already upgrade the entire TT. So I am looking for the most impactful way of improving the sound from this table. I remember believing that a cartridge upgrade would make the most immediate impact. What do you think? Many decades ago I owned Sumiko and I think I had a Pearl. It appears they go for around $100. Would that (or another cartridge < $200) make a substantial impact? Does a platter upgrade really matter? What about a platter mat / cartridge upgrade to get started?? You can see where I'm going here.. Also, can you add a record weight to any TT or will this burn out the belt drive motor? I appreciate anyones thoughts and suggestions. Also, from a music stand point for cartridge suggestions my is very wide. I enjoy classic rock (Big Dead / Allmans fan etc), Bluegrass, Folk, Jazz, Blues, Old country, and many other types of music. Basically anything other than Pop Rock or metal and I can enjoy it. Thanks again! Edited January 9 by kfp673 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billich0986 Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 When I was at the store listening to a bunch of speakers, amps, receivers, etc., the guy told me that the biggest impact to any sound is the thing that produces the sound, the speakers. So if you want the most impact from an upgrade, I would recommend upgrading the speakers. After that, it would be the cartridge. Just my two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smellman Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 If your speakers are in good shape I would say they're of much higher relative quality than your cartridge. I've a had a different Sumiko that I liked and always read good things about the Pearl. I always recommend the Nagaoka MP-110. The Ortofon Red is popular but I found it too clinical sounding compared to the smoothness of the Nagaoka. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.