Pro-Ject Debut mk3 cartridge tweaks

I've recently started using a small light weight compact system due to my year old son and lack of space.

It uses a Pro-Ject Debut mk3 phono USB as the front end which comes as standard with a pre aligned Ortofon OMB5e cartridge, ok to get you going but not great by any means.....

So, I fitted a 30 stylus which i've had for a couple of years with low miles on it. It did sound different but not the large jump you may expect. Overall it sounded 'quieter',bottom end went lower and there was a little more detail and separation, but it sounded 'edgey'.

TBH, I prefered the 5e....

Anyway, over the holidays I had a little more time to play and after considering other cartridges to buy in to try, I thought wait, why not try the 'Super OM' body that the 30 stylus was off, i've already got it?

So I did. I realigned it using the Pro-Ject supplied cardboard protractor, fitted the 30 stylus, did all the usual antiskate & tracking weight adjustments and tried it on my test record just to check everything was 'OK'.
I couldn't get the 30 stylus to track past 70 microns cleanly no matter what I did, which I found was unusual to me because it's a very good tracker on other tables (90microns) i've owned and produced a very clean sound. Of course I listened to some music with it to, but it just didn't sound right to me.

So I stuck it the 5e. Did the tracking wieght, bias/antiskate to suit, it tracked wonderfully, and sounded GREAT, a huge improvement over the standard OMB body, much larger than the stylus change alone.

So there you go, is my 30 stylus a gonner ( i don't think so as it's been well cared for and low miles ) or is the 5e just a better match for the simple pro-ject arm ? I reakon the arm just can't handle the 30 stylus, it's not good enough, it also has no VTA adjustment;-).

So my messgae to anyone out there with a Pro-ject debut with an OMB cart body on it whos wanting to upgrade easily is try and get yourself a 'super OM' body and fit that instead of upgrading the stylus, it's better in my experience.



I belated Happy xmas and new year to all readers !

 

Hi FFRob

Hi FFRob,

my name is Joyo. I just wanna share my experience using the ProJect Debut turntable. Mine is Mk II, I believe.
First off, I am not an engineer or sort of thing. So, basically removing and replacing my audio stuff is the last thing I wanna do. I am afraid I cannot replace the stuff back as original.

My ProJect Debut II has been serving me 3-4 good years, and has no problem on it. However, until recently a very good friend of mine, who also is an audio enthusiast, told me there's something wrong with the sound of my turntable.
He was also unsure what went wrong, but advised me to have it checked with someone who understands about turntable.

I personally do not understand about the mechanical or technical stuff about the Debut II (or any turntables). What is the first thing to check if you want to make sure the turntable is properly setup? I only made sure the table is level ( I use Mana table and its spirit level). And that's about it.

I don't know what a gauge is. When I bought it new from the dealer, he set the whole things up, and repacked it back into the Debut's packaging. I don't check the weighing stuff at the end of the arm either. Another question: what is a cantilever?

Sorry if I have bombared you with some silly questions. I hope we can just have a little chat regarding our stuff here.

Oh yeah, my other system consists of this stuff: ProJect Debut MkII, a Pioneer CD player, Project phonobox (rarely used now), NAD 3020 integrated (phone section is generally employed), and a pair of Harbeth C7 sitting on Target stands. Interconnects are Nordost, and speaker cables are QED 79-strand copper. What's yours?

Well, nice to meet you. Hope to hear from you soon, FFRob.

Cheers,

Joyo