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  1. #1
    Silence of the spam Site Moderator Geoffcin's Avatar
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    Geoff goes full Analog...[almost!]

    Things were a more than a little mixed up over here with hurricane Sandy showing us how fragile our modern way of life really is.

    Was out of work due to lack of commercially supplied power for a couple of weeks so I decided to play around with some of the equipment I've collected over the years.

    Some of you might know that I "rescued" a Fisher 500c receiver a few years ago.

    Quite literally kicked to the curb with the trash, with a new set of output tubes, and some replacement caps the unit fired up like the day it left the factory! To complete the analog setup I purchased a vintage Marantz TT with a Sure V15 type IV cart.

    Ran that setup in the office rig driving a set of 1997 vintage JMLabs Micron Carats. Smooth and warm was the sound, with the slightly rolled off tubes complimenting the reach for the sky high Tioxid inverted dome tweeter of the Carats. Still, I only ever considered it a mid-fi rig.

    So with a lot more time on my hands, and a generator wasting gas just powering light bulbs. I moved the Marantz turntable into the main rig. Actually I moved a bunch of things around. My PS Audio Classic 250 amp is somewhat sensitive to power fluctuations. Back in the summer we had a couple of days with low voltage and the unit wouldn't run at all! In addition the unit is a bit of a collectors piece so I didn't want to expose it to any possible generator power spike. With that being said I was getting real tired of not listening to my main rig!

    A couple of years ago I picked up a slightly used Ming Da MC34-ab.

    The original owner had replaced the entire tube compliment with NOS tubes in the front end, and a set of upgraded JJ E34L output tubes. Nominally rated at 75wpc, this amp sounds just as powerful as my old 150wpc PS Audio HCA-2, easily driving my Magnepan 3.6's to realistic SPL's. When I got it I had used the mc34-ab as a stand alone integrated for a while, and while I did enjoy it, when the Classic 250 came on board the Ming Da got the boot. Now that I needed an amp I put the Ming Da back into service, this time though as a straight power amp, bypassing the internal switching circuitry.

    So here I am expecting the MC34-ab to sound like it did over a year ago, which was good, but nothing to write home about. Imagine my surprise to find that it was a different animal! Maybe my year with a zero flat reference amp had left me wanting something with a little more personality, but I wasn't expecting this. Driving this tube amp with a pre seems to have changed it's character from an common blended red to a vintage Cabernet. While the most used word for describing tube amps is "warm" the best description for this rig now is "warm and spicy!"

    The best was yet to come though, as I had only ever run the TT in the "warm and chewy" Fisher 500c rig. Now hooked into the main rig the TT is a whole new animal. Air, focus, startling dynamics, spooky floating vocalists that I had associated with only the best of my CD's all there. All this with a mid-fi TT? Why didn't I do this earlier?!

    Of course now I have to see where this is all going, so I'm on the hunt for a killer TT rig that won't break the budget.
    Audio;
    Ming Da MC34-AB 75wpc
    PS Audio Classic 250. 500wpc into 4 ohms.
    PS Audio 4.5 preamp,
    Marantz 6170 TT Shure M97e cart.
    Arcam Alpha 9 CD.- 24 bit dCS Ring DAC.
    Magnepan 3.6r speakers Oak/black,

  2. #2
    Suspended
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    Nice salvage on the Fisher. Maybe you can keep the Marantz in the main system and buy one of the entry pieces from Rega or ProJect to use with the Fisher.

  3. #3
    Retro Modernist 02audionoob's Avatar
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    It's pretty impressive how far a mid-fi turntable can get you. I've owned some 1970s Marantz models and they were nice. I'm doing mostly the modern TT thing, now...except for the occasional playing of a Dual 1229...but I could be happy with a 1970s Marantz.

  4. #4
    frenchmon frenchmon's Avatar
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    Nice write up....and congrats on the "warm and spicy"...I like that!

    Well its safe ask...I hope none on your house hold got hurt in the storm? Is that your house in the picture? And finally nice to see you are at your hobby still though all that.
    Music...let it into your soul and be moved....with Canton...Pure Music


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  5. #5
    Forum Regular blackraven's Avatar
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    I have a guy that I work with and he has 2 vintage 1970's Marantz TT's in storage. I keep trying to get him to sell me one. I think he is begining to weaken.

    Can you still buy good Cartridges for those vintage TT's?
    Pass Labs X250 amp, BAT Vk-51se Preamp,
    Thorens TD-145 TT, Bellari phono preamp, Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge
    Magnepan QR1.6 speakers
    Luxman DA-06 DAC
    Van Alstine Ultra Plus Hybrid Tube DAC
    Dual Martin Logan Original Dynamo Subs
    Parasound A21 amp
    Vintage Luxman T-110 tuner
    Magnepan MMG's, Grant Fidelity DAC-11, Class D CDA254 amp
    Monitor Audio S1 speakers, PSB B6 speakers
    Vintage Technic's Integrated amp
    Music Hall 25.2 CDP
    Adcom GFR 700 AVR
    Cables- Cardas, Silnote, BJC
    Velodyne CHT 8 sub

  6. #6
    Retro Modernist 02audionoob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by blackraven View Post
    I have a guy that I work with and he has 2 vintage 1970's Marantz TT's in storage. I keep trying to get him to sell me one. I think he is begining to weaken.

    Can you still buy good Cartridges for those vintage TT's?
    You can certainly buy a good cartridge that will be a good match for the 1970s Marantz turntables. It might help to get a lighter headshell than the stock model; but even without doing that, there are some solid options. I'd probably start with an Audio Technica AT95E.

  7. #7
    Forum Regular blackraven's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 02audionoob View Post
    You can certainly buy a good cartridge that will be a good match for the 1970s Marantz turntables. It might help to get a lighter headshell than the stock model; but even without doing that, there are some solid options. I'd probably start with an Audio Technica AT95E.
    Thanks for the info. Are there more expensive higher end cartridges? If and when I get a TT, I want a very good phono preamp, something like a pro-ject phono tube box IIse and a quality cartridge to match.
    Pass Labs X250 amp, BAT Vk-51se Preamp,
    Thorens TD-145 TT, Bellari phono preamp, Nagaoka MP-200 Cartridge
    Magnepan QR1.6 speakers
    Luxman DA-06 DAC
    Van Alstine Ultra Plus Hybrid Tube DAC
    Dual Martin Logan Original Dynamo Subs
    Parasound A21 amp
    Vintage Luxman T-110 tuner
    Magnepan MMG's, Grant Fidelity DAC-11, Class D CDA254 amp
    Monitor Audio S1 speakers, PSB B6 speakers
    Vintage Technic's Integrated amp
    Music Hall 25.2 CDP
    Adcom GFR 700 AVR
    Cables- Cardas, Silnote, BJC
    Velodyne CHT 8 sub

  8. #8
    Retro Modernist 02audionoob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by blackraven View Post
    Thanks for the info. Are there more expensive higher end cartridges? If and when I get a TT, I want a very good phono preamp, something like a pro-ject phono tube box IIse and a quality cartridge to match.
    The sky's the limit, but you might want to check out the Ortofon 2M series. The 2M Bronze is around $400. The 2M Black is around $700. Also, there are some nice Grado cartridges in a broad range of prices. There are some nice wood-body models at $350, $600 and $1500.

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