tlarwa
Vinyl Lover
I have the day off, so I've been down in the listening room (aka the "man womb") fooling around with my equipment and listening to a ton of music. Since I have been enjoying the tables so much today, I thought you might too. Pics are attached!
The first table is my newest; a Pioneer PL-50A in pretty much mint condition, and sporting a Dynavector DV 10x5 HOMC cartridge. The second table is my Empire 398 (with the 980 tonearm), which sports a Denon DL-103 MC cartridge. The Pioneer is running through the phono stage of my Fisher 400, and the Empire runs through my Parks Audio Budgie MM/MC tube phono stage. Power is supplied by my Fisher 400 with all the Bizzy Bee mods, and the speakers are modded Klipsch Forte II.
I just got the Pioneer last week, and the 10x5 was installed yesterday. The Empire has been my main table for a while now. I've been doing A/B listening comparisons all morning, and I can honestly say that I'm not sure which set-up has the edge right now. I'm surprised by this, since I thought for sure the Empire would still reign. But I think the Dynavector makes an otherwise mediocre table (albeit a pretty cool looking one, IMO) a pretty good table. I just ordered a second cartridge mounting sled for the Empire, and I plan on trying the 10x5 on that table once I get it. If the compliance works out okay, I think it could be a pretty killer combination. Likewise, I'll try the DL-103 on the Pioneer to see what happens.
Anyway, it's been a fun day, so I thought I'd share! Here's the Pioneer ...
Tom
The first table is my newest; a Pioneer PL-50A in pretty much mint condition, and sporting a Dynavector DV 10x5 HOMC cartridge. The second table is my Empire 398 (with the 980 tonearm), which sports a Denon DL-103 MC cartridge. The Pioneer is running through the phono stage of my Fisher 400, and the Empire runs through my Parks Audio Budgie MM/MC tube phono stage. Power is supplied by my Fisher 400 with all the Bizzy Bee mods, and the speakers are modded Klipsch Forte II.
I just got the Pioneer last week, and the 10x5 was installed yesterday. The Empire has been my main table for a while now. I've been doing A/B listening comparisons all morning, and I can honestly say that I'm not sure which set-up has the edge right now. I'm surprised by this, since I thought for sure the Empire would still reign. But I think the Dynavector makes an otherwise mediocre table (albeit a pretty cool looking one, IMO) a pretty good table. I just ordered a second cartridge mounting sled for the Empire, and I plan on trying the 10x5 on that table once I get it. If the compliance works out okay, I think it could be a pretty killer combination. Likewise, I'll try the DL-103 on the Pioneer to see what happens.
Anyway, it's been a fun day, so I thought I'd share! Here's the Pioneer ...
Tom
