It's been a while. Been busy with work, home, and life in general.
Finally...
I replaced the 401's stock rubber mat with a gun-metal piece called the Tenuto from Puresound. I had done some reading on this product and was intrigued by the positive reviews it had received. So, I did a comparison. Everything in my setup stayed the same, all I did was remove one mat for the other. VTA stayed the same, no adjustment was necessary.
With the Tenuto, I noticed tighter and fuller bass, a more refined sound from the mid and high frequencies and a more pronounced soundstage. Voices and instruments that were somewhat centred previously now took a more specific place on stage.
Plus, it looks really sharp!
The other pending item was the cartridge. After trying a couple of different ones, I settled on the Denon DL-S1:
Along with its companion SUT, Denon's AU-S1:
A sweet sounding combination!
So, I picked a bunch of quality pressings from my record stash and devoted a couple of weekends just to sit and listen. Critical listening, as they say.
From the bass lines of The Ray Brown Trio "Soular Energy" (Concord) half-speed mastering by Stan Ricker, to Dead Can Dance "Into The Labyrinth" on Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, to Ella Fitzgerald "Let No Man Write My Epitaph", to Willie Nelson "Stardust" on Classic Records 45rpm single-sided clear vinyl (Quiex SV-P), to Frank Sinatra and Count Basie Orchestra "Sinatra At The Sands" on Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, to Rickie Lee Jones "It's Like This" on Analogue Productions 45rpm, to a variety of Japanese jazz pressings. I threw as much material at the table as I could, always challenging the upgrades (mat, cart and SUT). The transformation in sound was quite remarkable.
Project complete.
Thanks for following.
No affiliation to any product mentioned.
