too much bass from the phono

[pete almquist]

hi all,

i'm almost embarrased to post this question to such an august crowd but since there is so much accumulated knowledge within this group i hope for some advice. i have a set of klipschorns driven by an NAD 320bee amplifierand usually listen to cd's played on the best Pioneer cd player i could buy at the time from crutchfield. my wife has a really nice collection of lp's that she listens to but only recently i found at some local antique shops (?!) some classical lp's that are in excellent condition and therefore developed more of an interest in listening to vinyl.

i didn't realize the turntable we have, an old technics direct drive with a technics replacement cartridge, played with so much bass. to my ear it's all bass and lower midrange with the upper range very subdued. i crank the tone controls full on with the treble and full off with the bass to try to half enjoy the music. it's awful. so here's the question. in your opinion, would a different cartridge make any real difference? i can't afford a good turntable and can't really afford a very good cartridge. still i would really like to get some decent sound from playing lp's. what would you suggest as the best low cost solution?

by the way i'm using the NAD phono preamp that mates with the amplifier. it's a small box that sits seperate from the amplifier.

thanks for you advice...

[sfogg]

Any chance you are passing the signal through two phono pre-amps? Either in your external box and then in your pre-amp or perhaps the table has one built in then through your external box? I've seen a few tables that had phono stages built right into them.

Going through two phono stages would tend to really boost the heck out of the bass and roll of the top end.

Shawn

[3dzapper]

Pete, It sounds as if the Vertical Tracking Angle of your tone arm/cartridge may be off. If it is too low the bass predominates, too high and the bass goes away.

Here is a link to adjusting tonearms: I(I replaced the first link with a better one)

http://http://www.xs4all.nl/~rabruil/ttadjust.html.

the vinyl engine may have a copy of your manual you can download:

">http://www.vinylengine.com/

.

[pete almquist]

hi all. thanks for the replies. i downloaded some info on setting the parameters for the arm, cartridge, etc. and played with it some. it seemed to improve slightly but not much. still an incredible difference from the sound of the cd player and the phono. way too much bass and muddy sounding mid-range from the record player. i wonder if i can try out another cartridge from an online store with the possibility of returning it if it doesn't solve my problem. has anyone done this? thanks again for any advice you can offer.

[Mighty Favog]

That stylus may be worn out. Before you replace it have you given it a good cleaning? When you said it was a Techincs ctg. I had to think when the last time was I saw one. Clear yellow?

If you do decide to get one for the ol' SL I would suggest maybe a Shure V15VXmr. You can pick one up on the net for around $200.

My two brothers both used their SL1200 MkII's with Stanton 681EE's but I don't think they had near the detail as the V15. But then again, I'm using one on my trusty old Yamaha PF-800 belt drive that I've had since it was new in 1984.

[garymd]

Pete,

I had a Technics SL-1800 that I bought new in 1976. I resurrected it about 3 years ago and even with a couple very nice carts, I just couldn't get any really good detail out of it. In fact, I don't know how I ever listened to the thing. I ended up buying a really cheap Thorens TD165 to replace it and it was like night and day. I eventually bought a nicer table for my Khorn system but still use the Thorens with my cornwall/scott 299 system and it sounds great.

And yes, I did have it set up properly. A couple very knowledgable folks helped me out to make sure setup wasn't the problem.

[boomac]

Several people on the Forum have this table, including me, and for the money, around or just under $300, it's hard to beat. I want a better/more sofisticated table but for now, the Pro-ject works great.

(Pro-ject 1.2 with Sumiko Oyster Cart)