advertisement


Please Help! LP12 upgrade gone wrong...

andyr said:
What a tale of woe! :(

And added to which ... a lot of rubbish suggestions/recommendations from posters - as well as some useful ones. (Par for the course I suggest. :( )

"Harsh mids" - not good at all. As an LP12/FrankenLinn owner for over 40 years ... an LP12 should not be doing this.

Someone suggested that maybe the bearings on your Ittok are stuffed; that makes sense. Certainly, a Cirkus bearing shouldn't cause what you are hearing ... unless it's also stuffed.

You said "Driving it harder doesn't open it out" - so I have to ask ... what amp are you using with your LS3/5As? Is it a good match?

Also, I'm afraid your new Karma is a complete mismatch for your Musical Fidelity V90-LPS. :( The MF V90-LPS doesn't have enough gain for a 0.1mV cart - plus its load for MC use is only 100 ohms - whereas the Karma specs suggest 470 ohms is optimal.

I presume that as you bought your Ittok from HiFi Hangar ... they installed it? If so - I suggest you need to take your TT back to their premises (remember to a. remove the outer platter and b. slip some polystyrene foam blocks under the inner platter, to lift the end of the spindle up off the thrust plate) - and show them the faults you are hearing.
Click to expand...

Haha! I'm not experienced enough yet to know which bits of advice to follow. Thankfully there has a been a lot of it so I'm using it to learn, consult with others and build a general picture. It's easy to get lost in opinion and advice on forums, so I'm treading carefully!

Yes, the bearings on the Ittok are one of the first ports of call, and I'll also get them to look at the Cirkus they installed.

I'm using a Naim Unitilite. I did speak to Andy at Rogers prior to using it, to check it was ok and that I wasn't about to destroy the speakers. He said it would be alright and would give the LS3/5A the necessary drive they need. My plan is to try the valve amp route - perhaps a Rogers E20 as they design it to pair with the LS3/5A - what do you think? I've heard Quad or Leak are a beautiful pairing with the LS3/5A. As a musician I would *always* choose a valve amp for guitar work so I'm keen to see if valves would bring me similar joy here!

Thanks for the heads up about the Karma - I now see what someone else was talking about earlier. I may have to look into another phono stage, or abandon the Karma. Is the V90-LPS well regarded, or quite entry-level?

I did buy the Ittok from HiFi Hangar, but they didn't install it. That was done by Oranges & Lemons in London and I'm taking everything there tomorrow morning for a listening session to show them the issues.

Thank you for all your advice - I will take your notes with me!
 
andyr said:
Nonono! I suggest there is your problem! DO NOT sit the TT on top of the amp. It's now on a "turntable base of some sort that has no feet" - so why can't you sit the TT base on the carpet, like it used to be? Or buy 4 bricks and put two in line either side of the TT base on their edges - to provide a support?
Click to expand...

Ah - well I only did that this morning to try it out... and to save it from being bashed with the vacuum cleaner! Yes I could sit the TT base on the carpet and find some support for it, thank you. I'll try to accelerate finding the right furniture for it.
 
matfff said:
That's fine - be aware that there are dealers and 'dealers'. I have seen some bearings installed so tight that the mounting surface has deformed (less easy with the modern ones) but 'Linn tight' is still a maxim of many 'dealers'. It's far easier to do it yourself than many would have you think, most of whom want to make some money out of you!
Click to expand...

Thank you - that's interesting to know. Hopefully I can learn as much as possible and start to do adjustments myself!
 
Howdy said:
Light and rigid is the name of the game.

The cheapest hi-end option is Ikea Lack table (£12).

The best is wall shelf - you can't post ad in classifieds here on pfm yet, but I'm sure someone will come along in this thread and offer you one for decent money.
Click to expand...

Ah interesting, thank you! Pleasantly suprised something so cheap can help as a start. Unfortunately I have old lath and plaster walls so I daren't even put pictures up in case they fall down!
 
I've had my LP12 since 1982 and have had a few upgrades. The single biggest improvement I made was to replace the Ittok with a Nima. Second biggest was to replace the Klyde with an Art-9 from Audio Technica. Hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction.
Np
 
ncp said:
I've had my LP12 since 1982 and have had a few upgrades. The single biggest improvement I made was to replace the Ittok with a Nima. Second biggest was to replace the Klyde with an Art-9 from Audio Technica. Hope you get it sorted to your satisfaction.
Np
Click to expand...
With apologies to the OP could you please say (type) a few words regarding the change in sound between Ittok and Nima please? I'm about to try to fit one to my own LP12 to replace an Akito.
 
Silver plated speaker cables can cause the effect you are hearing. It might be worth taking your cables with you when you visit the dealer, to compare with whatever he uses. A nice warm old LP12 sound might balance this out but the “upgrades” might not.

As mentioned, it’s more likely that something is amiss with the Lp12/Ittok but this may be being exacerbated by the silver (plated) speaker cable. LS3/5As are also a bit forward in the upper mids, so sympathetic matching is very worthwhile.
 
Maybe because it's easier than shopping at IKEA?

Maybe because with Prime there's no carriage cost, but with IKEA it's probably a fiver?
 
When reading the OP I was left wondering whether in fact everything was working correctly but the extra bass was a bit overwhelming. I've had this before - albeit speaker cable or a change of amp - where the bass is exacerbated (one might more kindly say 'revealed') but the listener prefers to hear more midrange and less bass. In other words, everything works correctly but presents the music differently and the ears aren't used to it (or don't like it)
 
By all means, fit aNima if you like but if it’s the biggest upgrade you’ve heard, all it means is that your Ittok was knackered.
 
david ellwood said:
It could be something silly like the cartridge wired out of phase.
Click to expand...
Good point. If the cartridge is wired wrongly, either internally at the factory or by the installer (left channel is white-blue, right channel is red-green) it can 'invert' the audio in one channel. See this video for how that might sound.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top