Christinas starting up-system

[Christina]

Hello everybody,

I`m a new and not at all experienced member, so I`m hoping to get some good advise and to learn from you guys. My desire to improve the system has of course had a boost after listening to Azazellos scarily well-sounding system. So let`s start!

Starting with my turntable, a pro-ject RPM 4 with a pro-ject 9 tone arm and a marantz cartridge (and this is where I would like to start changing).

the CD-player is a Musical Fidelity CDT Class A single-ended triode.

They are attached to a t-amp, that has been built in an old audiogram chassis.

After this it gets a little fuzzy. There`s an internally amplified servo-subwoofer (called "the Volkswoofer") that supposedly works as some kind of amplifier for the Miller & Kreisel -loudspeakers, but works by itself as regards the bass.

Further it goes through an internally amplified servo-subwoofer that distributes the sound to the Miller & Kreisel -loudspeakers.

I have been recommended to put the AT95SA with the Shibata stylus into a Linn K9-shell (if I can get my hands on one). This means I need to find a person to attach it to the tone arm, and I live in Milan, so any italian help would be particularly useful here

Talking to the guys at MU here in Milan they recommended that I put on a Linn-cartridge, and so I`m thinking about the Adikt. The problem is however that I`m not sure if it`s worth my while at this point. Maybe it`s better to spend time and money on other parts at the moment.

Please remember I`m a beginner, so have some patience!

[Charlie1]

Hi Christina,

Welcome to the forum!

Presume your budget is equivalent to that of an Adikt. Also, you don't say if you mostly listen to vinyl or CD. But Personally I'd start saving up for a better source, either an old LP12 or a 2nd hand/ex-demo Linn DS or CD player.

If your current stylus is worn then I'd get an AT-95 fitted in the mean time. The cartridge is less import than the arm and arm less important than the table itself, so you needn't spend too much on a new cartridge at this point.

Good luck.

[Azazello]

This means I need to find a person to attach it to the tone arm, and I live in Milan, so any italian help would be particularly useful here

I suggest that you post this as a separate question under "HiFi". With some instructions, you might be able to do this yourself.

Regards

[lejonklou]

Welcome here, Christina!

I agree with Charlie that starting with the source is a good idea. The AT-95E is a good cartridge for a bargain price and it works well on the Project. I haven't yet listened to the Shibata stylus. The K9 body is probably a bit better than the plastic body of the AT-95 and the AT styluses fits that too, but the combination does looks a bit strange to the eye as the stylus shell is "too big" for the K9 body.

An Adikt is of course a lot better, but in my opinion the turntable is not really up to it and this will reduce some of the benefits. It works well, but you won't hear just how good the Adikt really is. Since you don't do the cartridge installation yourself, I suggest you either go for the budget solution of fitting a new cartridge or get yourself a Linn turntable with an Adikt. That would be a really big step up in vinyl performance!

Regarding digital sources, the choice is just like Charlie wrote: Either take the big leap to a DS system or search for a second hand Linn CD player (now ridiculously low priced compared to what they cost new). The Ikemi is where things start getting fun in my opinion, it's also quite reliable and still serviced by Linn. Is DVD of any importance to you? In that case a Unidisk might be of interest. A Unidisk SC (Source + Control) would replace the T-amp as well, as it sounds like your speakers are powered by the subwoofer.

Just a few ideas. Never heard about your speakers before, care to tell us more? Can they be fed with a line level signal through a cable that has a phono (RCA) connector in the speaker end?

[paolo]

Hello Christina
and welcome to the forum!

The rule is to start upgrading from the source, and it always works.
So the more musically satisfying option for you would be looking for the best turntable you can afford (eventually saving for a used circused LP12), then thinking about the arm, finally the cartiridge. Same on the digital side were if you like the DS concept I think you could consider a Linn Sneaky DS, which is a great source and a quite accettable all in one system. Very flexible in your situation, it could permit to you to experiment variuos configurations with your system.

With this in mind, I'm not sure an Adikt on a Project turntable could give you a musical improvement worth the price, though it would probably give you a big change with the *sound*.

And yes, if you need an italian help, I live in Rome and it's not rare I am in Milan for work. Feel free to contact me with a PM if you want.

Ciao,
Paolo

[ThomasOK]

Welcome Christina,

I agree with the others that the Adikt is a bit overkill for the ProJect. I would definitely recommend going with an LP12 when funds allow if vinyl is an important part of your music listening. If you want to go with the K9 body/AT95SA or E stylus I can probably get you a K9 body although it would be shipped from the US. I would definitely recommend Paolo for turntable setup if that works for you, it is unlikely you would find anyone better in Italy.

The M&K Volkswoofer/Satellite speaker was one of the early sub/sat systems and was actually a pretty good setup if my memory serves me correctly. From the models I remember the sub does not have an amplifier for the satellites, just a crossover. So you feed the outputs of your amplifier to the subwoofer which feeds the bass to the sub amp and feeds the rest up to the sats. I don't recall it being a servo controlled sub either but it has been a long time so I'm a bit fuzzy on the exact specs. There were also a fair number of different models from them so some may have had servo control.

Anyway, the K&K setup is definitely good enough to allow you to hear the upgrades made in the front end so that is definitely where to concentrate on upgrading the system. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Christina]

Hi guys!

Thank you all for your replies and the welcomings!

I`ll start by making a few clarifications on the system (and on the fact that we are two in this household, one who is new to the world of turntables and listens to a lot of jazz on the CD-player, and the other who listens mostly to american folk on the turntable).

Regarding the amplifier, we aren`t one hundred percent sure of what`s inside it. It is based on the t-amp, but it isn`t exactely that. I`m sorry I cannot be more accurate. However, my boyfriend confirms Thomas description of the volkswoofer. If it`s servo-controlled or not I`m not competent to tell. Both the volkswoofer and the amplifier give us great satisfaction at the moment. We are not planning to create a completely new system, but to make smaller modifications where we feel they are necessary. I just noticed that Miller & Kreisel has shut down the factory (some time ago too). We have have tried some different combinations with the volkswoofer and the amplifier, trying other amplifiers, but we have always found the current setup the most satisfactory.

Regarding the CD-player, it is (as you`ve probably already understood) very old, and works on it`s own conditions really. It usually needs some fifteen minutes of "warm-up" before it sounds it`s best, it doesn`t allow you to change tracks, but prefers to play each disc from beginning to end, but it has a warm, non-intruding sound, that accompanies you quite gently and smoothly, without diminishing any elements on the lower volume-scale and without exaggerating any on the opposite side.
It has broken down a couple of times, and we have chosen to repair it, the last time changing the "ottica" (don`t know what it`s called in english), because it does have a good sound.

In any case, changing the turntable or not, in my opinion the marantz hasn`t got anything to do with it, and therefore, an AT95 and a shibata stylus are on their way. This means, that we are interested in the offers made by Paolo and Thomas.

Best regards,