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Am I looking at the right culprit?

Sich said:
So the phono stage worked for you? Do you mind me asking what your system is?
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At the time I upgraded to the Musical Fidelity M3X Vinyl my setup was:

Technics SL1210GR
Nagaoka MP-200
Schiit Mani (first gen)
Yamaha A-S1200
KEF R7
REL T5x

Since then I've upgraded to SL-1210G
Nagaoka MP-500. Have a 2M black for headphone listeng. (had a cadenza bronze but failed with a day).
Oyaide headshell
Oyaide turntable mat
Isol-8 Minisub Axis mains conditioner.

As mentioned just this week I went from the M3X to the Nu-vista phonostage.

All these upgrades improved the sound offering a little more refinement, but the single biggest step up was upgrading to the M3X Vinyl from the Schiit Mani.
 
1012GX is a really decent cartridge and already at the limit of what one should invest in for such as the Basik Plus tonearm. If hanging on to the Axis, I'd look to making sure that the existing cartridge is setup and aligned properly within the tonearm. Too low in the back end will make the sound duller and slow with ponderous bass, for example. Tonearm too high at the back end and highs become over pronounced and edgy. Sensitivity to maladjustment here is all the more so with an advanced extended line contact tip like the Gyger II (not sure what the major radii is but Goldring quote 6µm r which is a mere 0.2mil).

Also, don't overlook the importance of getting something as simple as vertical tracking force optimized. I'd start by rebalancing the arm, zeroing the dial, and then turning the weight inward to the recommended 1.7g on the dial; then set the anti-skate dial to circa 1.5 (as the old ADC spring force mech can be a bit heavy handed when nearer to 2).
 
Craig B said:
1012GX is a really decent cartridge and already at the limit of what one should invest in for such as the Basik Plus tonearm. If hanging on to the Axis, I'd look to making sure that the existing cartridge is setup and aligned properly within the tonearm. Too low in the back end will make the sound duller and slow with ponderous bass, for example. Too high and highs become over pronounced and edgy. Also, don't overlook the importance of getting something as simple as vertical tracking force optimized. I'd start by rebalancing the arm, zeroing the dial, and then turning the weight inward to the recommended 1.7g, and then set the anti-skate dial to circa 1.5.
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just checked and it’s pretty much set on these. A smidge over 1.5 on the anti-skate.
 
You can and should check azimuth, tracking force, speed etc and by all means try different phono stages but none of this stuff is going to fundamentally alter an Axis/Basik relative to a Naim CD player. Tweak the sound a little this way or that but it is what it is.

To be honest, I'd swap the CD player anyway. I like Naim CD players, i had a CD5XS but a Rega Saturn-R is a heck of a lot better but much more analogue sounding making it much easier to make CD and vinyl both sound good.
 
Sich said:
That looks interesting. I’ve never fit a cartridge. Fiddly?
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What is the history of the turntable setup? Do you know who did the setup? Did you buy from a dealer? Do you have a dealer you could take it to and have the setup checked and possibly have it serviced?

Sorry for all the questions! Since you said you are relatively new to this, it may make sense to have someone look over the setup.
 
How important is vinyl to you, do you have a lot of records? If not don’t bother, treat it as a bit of fun.

I don’t think vinyl is inherently more transparent that digital, probably quite the opposite.
 
ChrisS said:
What is the history of the turntable setup? Do you know who did the setup? Did you buy from a dealer? Do you have a dealer you could take it to and have the setup checked and possibly have it serviced?

Sorry for all the questions! Since you said you are relatively new to this, it may make sense to have someone look over the setup.
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Yeah it’s a local guy so could quite easily pop it in I think..
 
Woodface said:
How important is vinyl to you, do you have a lot of records? If not don’t bother, treat it as a bit of fun.

I don’t think vinyl is inherently more transparent that digital, probably quite the opposite.
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I’m really enjoying it and I started as there was music on vinyl I couldn’t get on cd and I’m a bit of a collector type.

I love some vinyl traits and I find vinyl less taxing on the ears in general. Guess I was hoping for a magic bullet and thought it maybe the preamp.

I know the axis isn’t top of the line so to speak and just want to eek out performance if possible.
 
Mr Pig said:
You can and should check azimuth, tracking force, speed etc and by all means try different phono stages but none of this stuff is going to fundamentally alter an Axis/Basik relative to a Naim CD player. Tweak the sound a little this way or that but it is what it is.

To be honest, I'd swap the CD player anyway. I like Naim CD players, i had a CD5XS but a Rega Saturn-R is a heck of a lot better but much more analogue sounding making it much easier to make CD and vinyl both sound good.
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Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to match the CD player characteristics I want them to be different. It’s just certain areas are a little wooly but maybe that’s just the point of entry I’m at…
 
Sich said:
I’m really enjoying it and I started as there was music on vinyl I couldn’t get on cd and I’m a bit of a collector type.

I love some vinyl traits and I find vinyl less taxing on the ears in general. Guess I was hoping for a magic bullet and thought it maybe the preamp.

I know the axis isn’t top of the line so to speak and just want to eek out performance if possible.
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The TT is fine, I’ve had the basic arm on an LP12 & I don’t think it’s anywhere near as bad as some make out. Vinyl is a frustrating medium, I think I now prefer the consistency of digital. Enjoy it for what it is & I always advise to make a big change or don’t bother.
 
A Linn Axis is a neat and tidy sounding deck which is musical and enjoyable but it’s never going to have the depth and weight of sound of your CD player. As someone earlier said, really good vinyl needs investment and balanced set-up. Changing the cartridge won’t fundamentally improve the sound - put your cartridge in a Linn Sondek / Nima or a Pink Triangle / Funk arm and it would make the same cartridge sing on a different musical level to your CD player…..or just enjoy spinning vinyl on the Axis and accept it for what it is, a perfectly decent record player
 
Really good vinyl demands investment of time and research not necessarily money relative to digital.
 
Research and experience as to what combinations work together is a definite. For example, if the OP had a Rega arm his Goldring cartridge would probably sound more at home - whereas an Audio Technica based cartridge would be better suited to his Basik.

IMHE a really good vinyl set-up is more faff and more costly than a similar sounding digital one …..though if you buy second hand and wisely that price differential could be smaller
 
Sich said:
It’s just certain areas are a little wooly but maybe that’s just the point of entry I’m at…
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Yeah, you'll need to get a better deck and arm to tighten up the bass but it's hard for any turntable to match CD bass. Just how it is.
 
The TT hierarchy according to Linn is TT > Arm > Cart. The primary limiting factor is the Axis.
 
Sich said:
and I’m definitely not getting the dynamic range I find from cd.
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On many different recordings, or one in particular?
Both playback should have zero issue with most, if not all, the dynamic range of the music you will play.
Your record player set up is perfectly adequate, difference are most probably down to recordings involved.
 
Cote Dazur said:
On many different recordings, or one in particular?
Both playback should have zero issue with most, if not all, the dynamic range of the music you will play.
Your record player set up is perfectly adequate, difference are most probably down to recordings involved.
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So…I am a massive fan of 10000hz legend by air and grabbed a vinyl reissue having read reviews that the vinyl was far superior to the cd.
I’ve used the cd for system testing for years as I know it so well and was super excited to hear the vinyl.
Now don’t get me wrong, elements are better (vocal detail, strings etc) but as I said in the original post, there just doesn’t seem quite the detail of in the lower frequencies. It’s not bad or anything and of course it’s subjective to a point but I maybe expected slightly more.
Of course I understand there are better turntables but just wanted to see if there were enhancements I could make to get a little more detail and depth is all…
 
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