Any Audiophiles Out There?

Smoker's Lounge
#61

It looks like it has a phono input, but NOT the internal phono pre-amp & RIAA stage. In the manual’s troubleshooting: “If your turntable doesn’t have a built-in phono preamp, you must connect one between it and the AV receiver/AV amplifier. If your turntable uses an MC cartridge, you must connect an MC head amp, or an MC transformer and phono equalizer.”

The manual: https://www.intl.onkyo.com/downloads/manuals/pdf/tx-sr705_manual_e.pdf

After turntables dropped in sales in the early 1990s, many companies stop putting phono pre-amps in receivers to save money & because they also sold turntables that had their own built-in phono pre-amps. The SR-FX70 is from the 80s & would not have one.

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#62

Look at page 39, at the top I tried to connect it via A. That’s RCA TT out to INT 2 CD Player channel.
I could barely hear anything.

It’s connected RCA (TT) to Phono (A/V) and it gets loudish, but could do with 8-15db more really. Sure it’s listenable but sometimes you need full vol.

I don’t know to be honest! I just assumed the TT had a amp in it. There’s a removable cover on the bottom. It says user serviceable so tonight I’ll pull it and see what’s in there. :sunglasses:

Thx for the help!! Gotta run but should be back later tonight. :pray:t3:

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#63

tosh
tosh744×929 350 KB

No built in pre-amp according to the spec sheet. You also should buy a new cartridge if you are serious. A damaged needle on a cartridge will chew your records - probably destroying them.

Now that Needle Doctor is closed, the only decent vinyl store I know of in the US is Turntable Lab in NY. we did business with him for other products. Honest & fair.

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#64

“Got a reply about a pre-amp and here is what the guy said…
The SR-FX70 has no built-in preamp. Assuming you’re connecting to a receiver’s line level input (AUX, CD etc) because it has no phono input, you will need an external phono preamp. We’d recommend our TC-750, or the TC-756USB if you want to make MP3 copies as well as listen thru the receiver. RE the cartridge, just about any standard mount MM (moving magnet) will work fine with this table; the Audio Technica AT-VM95C (conical stylus) and AT-VM95E (eliptical stylus) are both reasonably priced good matches for your arm and are available from multiple sources online.”

So the TT has no pre-amp…BTW this is the place I spoke with
https://www.phonopreamps.com/TC-756USBpp.html

He suggested the TC-756USB if I ever wanted to rip D.C.'s from it. Or the https://www.phonopreamps.com/tc750pp.html
If I just wanted a plain pre-amp.

I would rather go with the TC-756USB so I can have that option.

And on the Cart he suggested the AT-VM95E (eliptical stylus)
Which I’ve seen posted a lot on the forums.

I think the amp is $65-70, I think that sounds about right. There’s plenty of them out there to pick from…

Edited: Not sure why he is assuming that I don’t have a phono Input, but ok.?.

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#65

That should work. Have fun with it.

I gave up on analog many, many years ago . . .

Now I use Tidal streaming + SPL Director DAC + Focal Solo 6BE powered monitors . . . and it is good enough for my old ears.

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#66

I did to! Used to roll my eyes at those peps digging through records. But Now, it’s changed!

Yes most of my physical media is now online, along with Apple Music. Here’s the thing that got me…

When you buy a album or even a CD, you hold it, open it then dig through it. Never know what you might find, esp in albums. Most of my collection are CD and DVD’s, with maybe 25% albums.
When I bought something online, it was a click and it’s over with.

I have the same problem with Magazines. I cannot read a mag on a tablet.
Never have been, I like to carry the mag, make notes, etc…

I suppose it’s differ if you have grown up never knowing anything else.?. :wink:

BTW Albums are a pain in the Arse! They warp, melt, scratch, cleaning involved…But its interactive, unlike other forms.

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#67

LMFAO! And I thought my speakers were expensive.
Geez man, that’s hummm…Nice! :+1:

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#68

I retired last year out of the Pro audio equipment biz. I forgot to mention that I also have a Focal Pro sub to help balance the room & add some thump. Since most of my listening is online streaming, I put my money into a killer studio desktop monitoring system. And unfortunately, I am fussy, which is why I pony up for Tidal HiFi streaming every month - because it gives me at least CD quality resolution (& often higher). Spotify sounds thin & painful in comparison. QoBuz is good as well but limited music. I haven’t tried Amazon’s hi-res yet. Apple is OK but not CD quality yet (if ever).

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#69

Yeah I’m about to ditch Spotify! Looked at Tidal today actually…Need a HiFi Player for it though, hopefully they will come down a bit. Any thoughts on a portable player, Sony, maybe?

Edited: If one wanted to set the x-over per channel, how would you do this with the specs?
Freq Resp +/-3dB (Hz) 65 - 20k
Freq Resp +3dB- 10dB (Hz) 60-20k

Would you use the Freq Resp? If so I just read somewhere to add like 20hz to whatever value you have…:thinking:
For example

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#70

Can anyone recommend a nice, reasonably priced set of headphones with a nice broad, subtle frequency response?

I am suddenly infuriated by the piercing high end of my grado sr60. After about 6 years, I have come to conclusion that these sound like crap and will never break in. I bought them after listening to a pair of sr60’s made in the late 70’s. These are not even similar.

I miss my sony mdr v6’s which had a response of 5hz to 30khz, and incredible instrument separation. you could actually hear all the separate layers of tape loop or digital multi-tracking on some recordings.
Most importantly, they just didn’t seem to irritate my hearing at all.

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#71

The only player I have touched in decades was an expensive Astell&Kern piece I had as a demo which was killer, but a serious brick to carry around. So I didn’t & I used my iPhone with custom in-ear monitors from Earsonics. I downloaded my new music play list from Tidal to my phone & I listened to this whenever I was out & needed music off WiFi. Other than that I never used or needed a player. I really never listen to any of the music I own – ripped CDs etc. I literally stream everything now.

And . . . what are you using the x-over for?

Well, a lot of people like Grados . . . j/k

I honestly never listen to a lot of headphones. I sold Focal & I knew their line well but outside of that . . . Their phones are always good in their price ranges. Avoid the Beats crap. Pro phones will be flatter - Sweetwater is a good source if you are in the US or Thomann in Europe. Open back will give you better ‘space’ & closed will give you better dynamics (usually).

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#72

Hey scroll up and there’s prob a dozen or so. What’s your price range, open or closed, over or on ear?

And for what’s it’s worth I really like the Shure 840!

That would help, lol. The receiver, 705 Onkyo…The 636 will be the last Onkyo I buy. Had good luck, I think this is the 4th one so far and no issues.
Just to much comp out there and ready for something new.

Oh and the x-over is for 2 fronts and a center. Specs in previous post.
They are at Full Band ATM but it’s really a bit much for them, prob 40-50 I would think.
My decent sub is in the main room. Got a klipsch but it’s a POS.

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#73

I still stand by my recommendations earlier in the thread (post #12, I think). If you like the Sony MDR-V6, you may also like the nearly identical “pro” version, MDR-7506. That’s what I used for decades doing mobile recording. Most of my listening these days is done over Audio-Technica ATH-M50X, which @NovaSphere asked about in the original post. I haven’t seen my Sennheiser HD 599 SE since I started working from home. They are either packed away since I moved in April, or still in the office building I haven’t visited in five months…

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#74

60Hz - 80Hz is usually the best cross to a sub in an HT or 2.1 setup.

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#75

Switched over to Tidal and deleted Spotify. Keeping Apple Music, I’ve had it so long I’m a part of the system. :roll_eyes:
Most of my artist type friends crapped on them. They (Spotify) are now charging or not paying the artist for dead air in their songs.
That’s just some good ole American greed!

Don’t have balanced headphones, so that will be the biggest issue. Still getting it setup, I have a extra pair of larger bookshelve speakers and a set of multpol surround sound.

Have enough decent equipment for 7.2 or Atmos 5.2. Thinking of using this setup for music, so no rears. First off the TT needs to be completed. Need a DAC, Cart, phono pre-amp.
Saw a Grado Black Cart that looked nice, it was under a $100, that’s my budget…
The Ortophon 2M Red looked ok but seemed brighter than the Grado Cart, rather have warmth.

Oh hey, do any of y’all use those weights that lay on top of albums? Maybe 1/3 Snakeoil and rest true.?.
Look nice anyways. :wink:

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#76

Hey, I sold a lot of that snake oil back in the 80s. The theory to clamps & mats & for that matter better turntables was . . . the record is a thin sheet of pressed vinyl that is a great transducer (it vibrates like a MF) when sound waves are bouncing around the room. Eliminate those vibrations & your stylus will have an easier time staying in the undulating groove, feeding more accurate information into your system. I think it was Ivor from Linn who used the phrase: Garbage in, garbage out. The signal at the phono cart level - particularly with moving coil carts - is so small that these added distortions are significant when amplified.

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#77

I tried a 2M blue when they first came out, terrible thing, no body and cutting highs. I’d go with the Grado. My favorite used to be the Denon DL160 but they are discontinued nowadays.
The DL110 is still available and it’s very decent for the money. My last deck was a project RPM5, it had a screw clamp which was a pain in the arse :laughing:

I gave up on vinyl eventually, i got lazy and it’s just too much hassle :grin:

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#78

Too much hassle? What are you talking about?

At the height of my audiophilia circa mid-80s . . . to play a record, I would . . .

  • Remove LP from protective static-free sleeve. The vinyl had been cleaned with a record cleaning machine & treated with LAST, of course.
  • Place LP on turntable mat.
  • Apply clamp.
  • Use Decca brush to clean lint from surface.
  • Apply stylus cleaner.
  • Lower stylus to groove.
  • Sit in the sweet spot.
  • Light a joint.
  • Enjoy.
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#79

Yeah it’s definitely a different experience listening to albums! Since every Thi g is online now I’ve stopped buying music really.
Until vinyl came back around…

Sometimes it’s kinda nice to do and other times it’s better to press a button and go to sleep!

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#80

Yep it gets bad when you find yourself trying to compare different turntable mats :laughing: I ended up with box swapping syndrome which even several grands worth of valve amplification couldn’t cure. In the end i got into high end diy, that road leads to madness.

I’m cured now (almost) and don’t miss pulling the house apart hunting for vinyl lp’s either :grin:

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