Got me a record player!

OK I know some of you will be shocked but today I got what appears to be a bit of a bargain

A trip to Wales resulted in the purchase od an 18 month old rig that is as follows:

Mitchell Orbe SE
SME V with VDH silver wiring
Koetsu Cartridge
Delphini Phono Stage

Now I need help


I need to get this baby set up properly, any recommendations

We also cannot identify the cartridge, the seller was representing the estate of a sadly deceased gentleman and knew little, although the setup was purchased from The Listening Rooms last Febuary.

Now the Koetsu is made from a solid stone body that looks like onyx, with gold bottom with Jap writing Now would it be something other than the Onyx Signature, because if it is one of those, I got a dirty bargain and my household insurence needs updating

Any help apreciated

 

So merlin, does this mean that you are going to get rid of your graphic equaliser and get a proper system now

 

nice find mate
whats it replaceing?

 

Er it's not replacing anything as such

I had an LP12 many moons ago and just fancied trying to see what all the fuss was about.

This thing really needs setting up, it is clearly way out of alignment. I fancy getting a pro to do it as I have just found out the cost of the cartridge

It's not a Platinum I think, but even the earlier ones were serious dosh. When you think I picked up the whole lot for 2K, and it seems in good nick, I think it really was a bargain. Really need to get the arm and cartidge set up before assessing further.

Not yet Robbo It sounds mighty fine being converted to digital at 24/192

 

For £2k, that is a gold plated bargain!

Seriously, the Michell orbe/SME is meant to be almost CD sounding in its presentation ie very analytical and so it's probably your kind of sound I feel. Its a very good deck. Not sure what the FE squadron will think of it though.

 

Do I sense someone moving to the dark side... :force:

 

Merlin, for £2k you truly are a @$*%!£@

 

I doesn't sound analytical to me, but I guess Koetsus are reknowned for being generously warm. It certainly has something, although much to do with setup, isolation, cabling...

But it's quite funky having to get up after a few minutes and listening to whole tracks cos I've got no remote

 

Orbes are easy to set up. Don't use the springs to level the platter. Ideally get the plinth and armboard absolutely level with the platter off before doing anything else. Then slap the platter on and adjust the springs so you get a nice up and down bounce with no lateral movement. Too little bounce and it will sound thin, too much and it'll sound muddy. Experiment. You'll need to recheck the level and the bounce a few times for the first day until it settles. (While the platter's off you might want to check the oil level in the main bearing.)

If you haven't got one, buy a stylus gauge (Shure do one for about £25 from audiophilecandy.com), don't trust the weight the arm is telling you. If you don't know what cartridge you have it's hard to know what to suggest as a tracking weight, but it's best to set it in the middle of the recommended range and then adjust it until it sounds right. VTA adjustment is easy on SMEs and again, you should be able to hear when it's right. Set anti-skate to approximately the same as tracking weight and you should be OK. It's worth spending a bit of time on all this, as even small adjustments make surprisingly big - and audible - differences. Luckily the Orbe is pretty much fit-and-forget once all this is done - a quick check every few months is all you should need. If it's set up right you should have absolutely minimal background and groove-wall noise, and no end-of-side distortion.

Buy a stylus cleaning brush and a carbon fibre record cleaning brush. IME liquid stylus cleaners are to be avoided.

About bloody time Merlin.

-- Ian

(Oh, and GET A PROPER PHONO STAGE. Using an ADC with a quality TT like that is A CRIME)

 

Merlin, you've been done mate. You'd be lucky if it's worth even a few hundred. Tell you what, I'll take it off you for £500 - cut your losses. What do you say?

Actually I had a good vinyl day myself. I finally found a home for my nearly-new Rohmann (£200 from Loot). I bought a Silver tone arm from Origin Live to replace my old RB300. So I'm rediscovering my old vinyl once again. Love it.

Steve

 

We'll see I reckon the novelty might wear off, but we will get it properly setup first before I declare my preference. One thing is, at the moment, it is definately er...coloured.

Errr... I've got all those in spades at the moment, plus the output is 15db lower than the CD Still, we'll give it a good shot.

 

Well WM's been listening to some TT's and cdp's back to back today, as well as a spot of Wadia ticking , got to say, the man who builds the delphini was slightly impressed with the result, the TT needs some TLC, but a very different presentation, and showing the limitations of Vinyal, but also the appeal at the same time, pure horses for coarses nothing more WM

 

Hi

The cartridge sounds like a Onyx Saphire. It does look like a Platinium. Have a look here

Well done for getting the turntable setup at a good price. I would get the cartridge checked & setup. The cartridge needs alignment & the tracking weight set. I think the cartridge is 12g. Not sure what the tracking weight is.

Give it a good go & report back.

BTW if you don't like it, I'll give you £510 for the lot. I don't like to see a mate stuck.


SCIDB

 

Real hi-fi, eh? I might try and make that trip sooner than planned. When you throw the record player away it may be too late.

 

Get it set up properly first. At Henrys there was virtually no difference between his DCS combo and his orbe/sme/vdh/iso TT. the TT really sounded uncoloured and CD like in its presentation.

Of course the ADC may not be helping things here. I suspect that a TT will never really shine in that kind of system.

 

Coloured? How so? Could you be more specific? I don't agree with those who say Orbes sound like CD players, but they don't have the colourations of your old LP12, for example.

It may simply be that you're hearing the sound of *music* wafting from your speakers, and aren't used to it

Are you enjoying it? If so, that's all that matters. Have it in the system for long enough and you may even realise why some of us prefer vinyl.

-- Ian

(Oh, and did I mention not to use an ADC? You might as well get rid of the TT now if you're going to continue with that route)

 

or maybe the DCS combo sounded vinyl like Whatever, the 2 sources were very similar sounding.

 

I going to have to agree with the TT boy's here :cry: Yestaerday, the Mitchelle TT we were using had a Full Delphini (Plus extra's ) super trick motor/psu (more Never conects than your average Mc Donalds student Zit count), plus some serious cables and a rather special cartridge/Orca was sounding well very good then we swopped to CDP and arh, Home sweet Alabama intresting trade off for the Vyinal heads, the Wadia into to a 'orca' (not stock) quite a different twist, I feel a lot of TT's boys would have been smiling, me not so sure, but just shows what you can do if you are prepared to have a play

 

Yes I would have to use the word coloured. It's in the midbass, a distinct colouration that is noticeable on drum kits and male vocals to me. I'd also question the bass extension. Bass impact is certainly fabulous, but as for pure extension, the CD has it.

There is still much to do, I am getting terrible noise from the Delphini, which clearly doesn't like being in close proximity to digital electronics ( would have though Trichord would have that one sorted without the need for expensive upgrades). Certainly comparing Dire Straits Making Movies last night, the CD had it by a considerable margin, lifting of veils, ya deya, ya deya.....

I am borrowing an analogue amp to try out plus hopefully getting the deck and arm setup properly later. The low output is worrying. I understood that the gain can be adjusted on the Delphini. Is this done internally and would it be apropriate?

I have a feeling that digital done properly, like I believe I have done, along with WM and Graham N, is surprisingly good, and quite capable of making the vinyl diehards think a little. But I would love to have to eat my words.

 

i would like to kindly propose an offer Merlin
send me the TT and acroutriments so as i can try it out on my setup. I will then forward a full report enabling you to decide if it is compatable with digital front end etc....