mayidunk
A man of dubious taste...
I was fortunate to find some good vinyl at my local Goodwill, and so decided to invest in a turntable, my first in over 30 years! I was thinking about getting a headphone amp with a RIAA filter, as my old system has been stored/gone for many years, and I just didn't feel like digging out the old receiver. Anyway, I decided that I was more interested in a plug and play solution rather than to go used and tinker, so I decided to get a Pro-Ject Debut III, with the Ortofon OM5E cart.
Well, one thing leads to another, and so I started thinking about getting a new CD player, as the only ones I had were an old portable I got back in the 90s, and my DVD player. So, I started researching, and soon discovered the Onkyo C-S5VL. I saw it on Amazon for a good price, and so decided to get it. It arrived on Friday, and I love it!
Now I started to rethink my idea about getting a headphone amp. I still had my old receiver, why not just bite the bullet, dig it out, and put it back into service as well? Now, you need to realize that I haven't even touched my old receiver in 15 years! (All of my other gear, as well as my CDs and records, have either been stored, or have been gone, for a very long time.) I was a bit apprehensive about whether the receiver was going to show its age. Was it going to blow up the minute I turned it on? I dusted it off, plugged it in, turned it on... no "magic smoke." No sparks. Nothing but little red LEDs glowing at me in anticipation. Beautiful! BTW, it's a Kyocera R-461 from around '87! No scratchy pots, no noisy buttons, and just as quiet as the day I bought it! So, I hooked up the new toys, and using my Pro4AA headphones, I proceeded to play!
Wow!!! IMHO, that turntable is amazing. Entry level my eye! :thmbsp: I quickly discovered that you really need to carefully level it, as "close enough" isn't close enough. I set the VTF to the recommended weight (1.75g), and set the anti-skate weight to the first notch in, rather than further out at the second notch as recommended by the manufacturer. (I got that from one of you guys!) All was not perfect, though, as I discovered that it had a very prominent hum! However, after doing some research, and a bit of tinkering (so much for "plug-and-play!") I discovered that the hum went away when I closed the dust cover! With the cover down, it's dead quiet!! I was then pleased to find that the cart seemed to be set up correctly, as I could not perceive any distortion, even at the inner grooves! One side of an album I have has a very thin lead-out area, barely half an inch before the edge of the label! Yet, I could hear no distortion as the music ended on that side. I also like the sound of the Ortofon OM5E, it reproduces the music with crisp detail, solid bass, clear mids, and it doesn't seem to break up at all at the crescendos. All of the instruments shine through without the whole thing degrading into a mush of sound! Happy, happy!
Many of the records I got from Goodwill were either never played, or played by folks who knew how to care for their stuff! Many of them are over 30 years old (some closer to 50!), and yet many of them play like they're brand new! I have an old DiscWasher P4 system from back in the day, with a nearly full bottle of solution, and it still cleans as good as I remember, which really helps. Very nice... Except for the static! I forgot about how much static attracts dust! However, I then remembered that I was always able to get rid of the static by just breathing on both sides of the album. It's not as good as a Zero-Stat, but it always worked good for me! I'm pretty sure that breathing on them doesn't leave anything behind, as I read someplace that the moisture in your breath is pretty much distilled water. In any event, doing that had never caused any problems with my old vinyl, and I've always been one who is careful about keeping their records clean, and always handling them by the edge.
Anyway, after blissing out on the vinyl, I then popped a CD into the new CD player. Fantastic! I especially like the very slight percussive edge that the second PCM filter selection adds to the sound. The player is a very solid unit, and it sounds much better than I had actually expected it would! (I've always figured that, digital being digital, how do you really improve on it's basic sound? Well, I guess I understand now!) I am very glad I was able to get a good, dedicated 2-channel player before they went the way of the dinosaur! I don't have any SACDs yet, but I'm looking forward to trying one.
After way too many years, I'm back to using my new/old stereo. It isn't anywhere near top of the line, but that's OK, I'm happy! So much so in fact, that I decided to spring for a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT 880, 600 Ohm headphones! :yes: They should be here sometime next week. Oh, and I also have a pair of old Avid 103 speakers that I got back in 1975! They're still in storage, but with the new cans on their way, I think I may just leave them there for a little while longer...
So, in the end, I'm a very happy camper. I apologize for such a long post, thanks if you've read it this far! I'm glad I found this website, as it was your posts that kind of inspired me to revive the old system, and that helped me to decide on the new gear! As you can probably tell by now, I tend to hang on to my stuff (some of it, anyway). As a result, the decisions I made on the new CD player and turntable were important, as I'm not likely to upgrade any of them anytime soon. Thanks for helping to bring new sunshine back into my life, I am seriously loving it!
Well, one thing leads to another, and so I started thinking about getting a new CD player, as the only ones I had were an old portable I got back in the 90s, and my DVD player. So, I started researching, and soon discovered the Onkyo C-S5VL. I saw it on Amazon for a good price, and so decided to get it. It arrived on Friday, and I love it!
Now I started to rethink my idea about getting a headphone amp. I still had my old receiver, why not just bite the bullet, dig it out, and put it back into service as well? Now, you need to realize that I haven't even touched my old receiver in 15 years! (All of my other gear, as well as my CDs and records, have either been stored, or have been gone, for a very long time.) I was a bit apprehensive about whether the receiver was going to show its age. Was it going to blow up the minute I turned it on? I dusted it off, plugged it in, turned it on... no "magic smoke." No sparks. Nothing but little red LEDs glowing at me in anticipation. Beautiful! BTW, it's a Kyocera R-461 from around '87! No scratchy pots, no noisy buttons, and just as quiet as the day I bought it! So, I hooked up the new toys, and using my Pro4AA headphones, I proceeded to play!
Wow!!! IMHO, that turntable is amazing. Entry level my eye! :thmbsp: I quickly discovered that you really need to carefully level it, as "close enough" isn't close enough. I set the VTF to the recommended weight (1.75g), and set the anti-skate weight to the first notch in, rather than further out at the second notch as recommended by the manufacturer. (I got that from one of you guys!) All was not perfect, though, as I discovered that it had a very prominent hum! However, after doing some research, and a bit of tinkering (so much for "plug-and-play!") I discovered that the hum went away when I closed the dust cover! With the cover down, it's dead quiet!! I was then pleased to find that the cart seemed to be set up correctly, as I could not perceive any distortion, even at the inner grooves! One side of an album I have has a very thin lead-out area, barely half an inch before the edge of the label! Yet, I could hear no distortion as the music ended on that side. I also like the sound of the Ortofon OM5E, it reproduces the music with crisp detail, solid bass, clear mids, and it doesn't seem to break up at all at the crescendos. All of the instruments shine through without the whole thing degrading into a mush of sound! Happy, happy!
Many of the records I got from Goodwill were either never played, or played by folks who knew how to care for their stuff! Many of them are over 30 years old (some closer to 50!), and yet many of them play like they're brand new! I have an old DiscWasher P4 system from back in the day, with a nearly full bottle of solution, and it still cleans as good as I remember, which really helps. Very nice... Except for the static! I forgot about how much static attracts dust! However, I then remembered that I was always able to get rid of the static by just breathing on both sides of the album. It's not as good as a Zero-Stat, but it always worked good for me! I'm pretty sure that breathing on them doesn't leave anything behind, as I read someplace that the moisture in your breath is pretty much distilled water. In any event, doing that had never caused any problems with my old vinyl, and I've always been one who is careful about keeping their records clean, and always handling them by the edge.
Anyway, after blissing out on the vinyl, I then popped a CD into the new CD player. Fantastic! I especially like the very slight percussive edge that the second PCM filter selection adds to the sound. The player is a very solid unit, and it sounds much better than I had actually expected it would! (I've always figured that, digital being digital, how do you really improve on it's basic sound? Well, I guess I understand now!) I am very glad I was able to get a good, dedicated 2-channel player before they went the way of the dinosaur! I don't have any SACDs yet, but I'm looking forward to trying one.
After way too many years, I'm back to using my new/old stereo. It isn't anywhere near top of the line, but that's OK, I'm happy! So much so in fact, that I decided to spring for a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT 880, 600 Ohm headphones! :yes: They should be here sometime next week. Oh, and I also have a pair of old Avid 103 speakers that I got back in 1975! They're still in storage, but with the new cans on their way, I think I may just leave them there for a little while longer...
So, in the end, I'm a very happy camper. I apologize for such a long post, thanks if you've read it this far! I'm glad I found this website, as it was your posts that kind of inspired me to revive the old system, and that helped me to decide on the new gear! As you can probably tell by now, I tend to hang on to my stuff (some of it, anyway). As a result, the decisions I made on the new CD player and turntable were important, as I'm not likely to upgrade any of them anytime soon. Thanks for helping to bring new sunshine back into my life, I am seriously loving it!
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