Finally getting a little serious about vinyl, advice appreciated on setup

[lattiboy]

Hey all,

I've been running an Ortofon 2mm red with an old Dual turntable for very occasional vinyl listening and it's been fine, but the left channel is going out and the dust cover is busted. Because of the winter cold I'm spending a lot more time in my living room where the TT setup lives, so I decided I would give this whole vinyl thing some attention.

I found two very good deals on TTs last week, so ordered both and plan to keep one and sell the other here on AK in the next few weeks. They are:

1) Pro-Ject Carbon DC in lime green (in a VERY bright shade of lime green)

2) Pro-Ject Essential III Sgt. Pepper edition

My TV/living room/vinyl setup consists of a Onkyo A-9010 going into a pair of Vienna Acoustic Bach speakers. I'm using the phono stage of the A-9010 as opposed to an external phono preamp. I have a whole lotta speakers and amps to choose from, but I picked these for the aesthetics and the IR compatibility with my Sony TV. I run optical out to the A-9010 and use an IR blaster to control volume with the TV remote. The built-in DAC on the A-9010 is also very good. The TT lives on top of the A-9010 (space requires it).

Questions:

• Am I missing anything obvious?
• Did I make decent choices with the TTs?
• Is the amp/speaker combo a pretty good vinyl system?
• Is it "worth it" (a very subjective question!) to invest in an external phono preamp?

 

[daveg3588]

Clean the contacts on you Dual head sled, simple fix.

 

[45rpmspinner]

Just my opinion, but if I ended up owning a lime green Project TT....as well as some kind of St. Pepper version.....I might well swear off drinking for at least a month.

But then, what do I know? I'm just an old guy from Texas.

 

[Onebean]

Lattiboy, I had the Pro-Ject Carbon (non-dc). I liked it. Mine was the lime green too, I'm pretty sure it sounded better than the other colors. In all seriousness, I swapped the thin factory mat for a homemade cork and dynamite one, and thought it was way better sounding. My had the Ortofan Red, and if it's set up right, it pretty great. I can't comment on the Essential.

Onebean

 

[ScooterMcTav]

LOL, my initial suggestion was going to be “spend more money” but we know money doesn’t but happiness.

I’ve never heard the VAs but have heard nothing but good things about them - I would suggest your speakers will do you well.

That being said, and although I do like Onkyo budget stereo gear, I would suggest it’s phono stage is weak (vs it’s DAC which is good).

From my end, my vinyl experience only improved when I improved the preamp, the amp, and the cartridge. Unfortunately, these all cost money unless you’re a bargain or vintage hunter.

That being said, my main deck is a fully manual Rotel deck, and is of a modest build - quite probably no better than either deck you ordered.

However, my preamp is a vintage Proton which can handle MM and MC cartridges, has a further gain adjustment, and switchable impedance loading.

Oh, plus it has those horrible tone controls which are so bloody useful with the variety of conditions we find in vinyl.

Bought locally for $100.

Moving to an MC cartridge also made a huge improvement in my vinyl experience, and I moved from two decent MM cartridges (Grado Green and Shure M91ed) The noise floor dropped, the soundstage widened, and both the top and bottom frequencies improved. I went with a vintage Denon DL-103S, a medium compliance version of the DL-103 with an elliptical diamond.

Bought on eBay from a reputable seller with great pics of the diamond for $170 shipped.

For my power amp I’m using a 60w/ch tube amp, and it is the icing on the cake. Certainly any good power amp would work, and possibly you’d be happy with your Onkyo in this role.

In short, until I changed up some key components (pre and cartridge were most important) I could never get past sort of a “meh? What’s this vinyl thing all about.” kind of sound. Today, I listened to my mint German pressing of Pink Floyd’s “Wish you were here” and truly understood what a good vinyl system can deliver.

 

[illini]

• Am I missing anything obvious?
• Did I make decent choices with the TTs?

Well, if you're serious you need to think about record cleaning machines, polylined innersleeves, etc. Also, 'vintage' turntables are almost always a better deal than 'modern' turntables.

 

[lattiboy]

LOL, my initial suggestion was going to be “spend more money” but we know money doesn’t but happiness.

I’ve never heard the VAs but have heard nothing but good things about them - I would suggest your speakers will do you well.

That being said, and although I do like Onkyo budget stereo gear, I would suggest it’s phono stage is weak (vs it’s DAC which is good).

From my end, my vinyl experience only improved when I improved the preamp, the amp, and the cartridge. Unfortunately, these all cost money unless you’re a bargain or vintage hunter.

That being said, my main deck is a fully manual Rotel deck, and is of a modest build - quite probably no better than either deck you ordered.

However, my preamp is a vintage Proton which can handle MM and MC cartridges, has a further gain adjustment, and switchable impedance loading.

Oh, plus it has those horrible tone controls which are so bloody useful with the variety of conditions we find in vinyl.

Bought locally for $100.

Moving to an MC cartridge also made a huge improvement in my vinyl experience, and I moved from two decent MM cartridges (Grado Green and Shure M91ed) The noise floor dropped, the soundstage widened, and both the top and bottom frequencies improved. I went with a vintage Denon DL-103S, a medium compliance version of the DL-103 with an elliptical diamond.

Bought on eBay from a reputable seller with great pics of the diamond for $170 shipped.

For my power amp I’m using a 60w/ch tube amp, and it is the icing on the cake. Certainly any good power amp would work, and possibly you’d be happy with your Onkyo in this role.

In short, until I changed up some key components (pre and cartridge were most important) I could never get past sort of a “meh? What’s this vinyl thing all about.” kind of sound. Today, I listened to my mint German pressing of Pink Floyd’s “Wish you were here” and truly understood what a good vinyl system can deliver.

Thanks for the detailed reply!

I guess I should've said this will be for "occasional" vinyl listening. Essentially, I want it to sound good enough to justify standing up and flipping records rather than casting Tidal to my TV. I feel like I am pretty much in the realm of "good enough". If I decide to go bonkers, I might get an Ortofon Blue and a real phono pre. The Emotiva XP-somethingorother is supposed to be quite nice for not much coin. I also have a Nexus Engineering preamp (I believe it was designed by some famous audio figure, but the name escapes me) sitting in the garage I've been meaning to fix.

Honestly though, the A-9010 is as good and detailed as any amp I've owned. And I've owned some pretty nice amps! It isn't a powerhouse, but the VAs are pretty efficient and I don't listen too loud.