advertisement


EMT 938 information/experience?

I wasn't. However as the EMT police (mostly people who hadn't actually used or heard a 938) hijacked the thread I thought I'd withdraw my opinions & leave them to it.
 
I haven't listened to that Dire Straits album in years, so I dug out my copy. The recording doesn't sound too bad (although it could do with having been recorded louder), but it seems a bit 'lightweight' and slightly 'lifeless' compared to my 'live' 301.

Were the 938 recordings made with the EMT cartridge and phono pre?
 
pure sound said:
I wasn't. However as the EMT police (mostly people who hadn't actually used or heard a 938) hijacked the thread I thought I'd withdraw my opinions & leave them to it.
Click to expand...

Maybe Jowcol can put a needle drop out there to let us hear what a proper EMT sounds like. Got any Dire Straits?
 
That recording was made with a Goldring 1042 into the onboard mm stage fitted to the 938. Before the EMT police jump in, the deck came to me fitted with an utterly awful Shure SC-35 'broadcast' cartridge which is what it had been used with in the BBC studio it came from. Truly a combination made for insomniacs. However, I'd guess that it must have been an EMT 'approved' cartridge and the fact that the onboard phono stage was configured only for MM use somewhat confirms its suitability.

The Goldring was/is a good deal better than the Shure but still didn't perform with the vim & vigour I'd normally expect.
 
I'd have thought many of these EMT phono stages, however good they may be, would be long overdue for a recap and service by now. Even the DD decks are getting on for 25-30 years old now, the idlers half a century or so. I'd not want to run an amp that old that hadn't had all the electrolytic caps swapped out.

Tony.
 
6 Blade Knife I don't have so can't compare on my system

What Album was this originally on?

Edit
A google got me there eventually
 
pure sound said:
That recording was made with a Goldring 1042 into the onboard mm stage fitted to the 938. Before the EMT police jump in, the deck came to me fitted with an utterly awful Shure SC-35 'broadcast' cartridge which is what it had been used with in the BBC studio it came from. Truly a combination made for insomniacs. However, I'd guess that it must have been an EMT 'approved' cartridge and the fact that the onboard phono stage was configured only for MM use somewhat confirms its suitability.

The Goldring was/is a good deal better than the Shure but still didn't perform with the vim & vigour I'd normally expect.
Click to expand...

On Tony's recommendation for recapping, my local contact confirms same, and also that EMT recomended phono stage changes (I assume EQ/loading) for each of their supported cartridges (RTE used Ortofon's due to expense of the EMT item). You could maybe get more out of the Goldring by modifying the phono stage (or bypassing it and using a domestic one)?

Richard
 
If I chose to buy this particular loaned 938 (and I still could), the phono stage is the first thing that would go, then probably the arm. But I can't see the point in that. It's better to have a particular motor unit such as a Garrard or an SP10, fit an arm & cartridge of your own choosing and use that with a phono stage/step up that suits the particular cartridge. You've got to be fairly sold on the idea that EMT combinations are better than any alternatives to buy into the whole EMT package. I'm not convinced of that though I appreciate that others might be. I think their real strengths are robustness & Wogan proof user friendliness but I wouldn't want to downgrade either the arm or mc cartridge I currently own even if I felt the motor unit was competitive.
 
It's not a question of 'EMT police'

You have discovered that it isn't that easy to fit standard cartridges into EMT headshells, and you don't have the possibility to make full adjustments once fitted. Therefore it doesn't really make much sense to try. The EMT cartridge is available, it suits the arm and phono stage, it's a good cartridge, so there doesn't seem to me to be much reason to force something else in there. And why throw out a decent phono stage



pure sound said:
If I chose to buy this particular loaned 938 (and I still could), the phono stage is the first thing that would go, then probably the arm. But I can't see the point in that. It's better to have a particular motor unit such as a Garrard or an SP10, fit an arm & cartridge of your own choosing and use that with a phono stage/step up that suits the particular cartridge. You've got to be fairly sold on the idea that EMT combinations are better than any alternatives to buy into the whole EMT package. I'm not convinced of that though I appreciate that others might be. I think their real strengths are robustness & Wogan proof user friendliness but I wouldn't want to downgrade either the arm or mc cartridge I currently own even if I felt the motor unit was competitive.
Click to expand...

This is really what I said earlier. If you want to fiddle, the EMT isn't the easiest to fiddle with. Why not try the EMT as the manufacturer intended it to be. If you don't like it, then it makes more sense to use a different motor unit.

I can supply you with an armboard for a 10" SME. But from my experience, I wouldn't suggest you bother.
 
Splash out on some EMT transformers, or the active stage.
If you don't want to do it right.....................
Sorry, but you're making a judgement based on using a really cheap Shure cartridge.

BTW I had a Garrard 301 for many years, and whilst it was attractive I certainly don't remember it as neutral.
It depends what kind of colouration you like.
 
pure sound said:
That recording was made with a Goldring 1042 into the onboard mm stage fitted to the 938. Before the EMT police jump in, the deck came to me fitted with an utterly awful Shure SC-35 'broadcast' cartridge which is what it had been used with in the BBC studio it came from. Truly a combination made for insomniacs. However, I'd guess that it must have been an EMT 'approved' cartridge and the fact that the onboard phono stage was configured only for MM use somewhat confirms its suitability.

The Goldring was/is a good deal better than the Shure but still didn't perform with the vim & vigour I'd normally expect.
Click to expand...

Jowcol said:
Splash out on some EMT transformers, or the active stage.
If you don't want to do it right.....................
Sorry, but you're making a judgement based on using a really cheap Shure cartridge.

BTW I had a Garrard 301 for many years, and whilst it was attractive I certainly don't remember it as neutral.
It depends what kind of colouration you like.
Click to expand...

He used a better cartridge than the Shure. Do you have a needle drop of your EMT that we can compare with?
 
Jowcol said:
Splash out on some EMT transformers, or the active stage.
If you don't want to do it right.....................
Sorry, but you're making a judgement based on using a really cheap Shure cartridge.
Click to expand...

Actually I didn't bother to make much of a judgement using the Shure. It lasted about 15 minutes. Funnily enough a good example of where 'the BBC only use the best' is utter nonsense. I did try the Goldring 1042 which isn't so cheap and which can give perfectly good results in better surroundings. I also tried a couple of lower compliance high output moving coils, and a couple of other MM's. The basic character of the deck & arm stayed the same.

I have also tried the TSD15 separately in an SMEV but its not such a great cartridge imho. I can imagine its rather acerbic hf suiting the sleepy sounding 929 but I don't think its something I'd take the trouble to get together.
 
No. It isn't. The Audio Note is a much better cartridge and I have 2 or 3 tonearms that I'd sooner use than a 929.

I'd still be interested to listen to a few needledrops of a full EMT DD combination if you'd care to post some.

I did hear a 948/929/TSD at the Scalford show earlier this year. It didn't seem so different to the 938.
 
Tony L said:
I'd have thought many of these EMT phono stages, however good they may be, would be long overdue for a recap and service by now. Even the DD decks are getting on for 25-30 years old now, the idlers half a century or so. I'd not want to run an amp that old that hadn't had all the electrolytic caps swapped out.
Click to expand...

I have a mono 139 phono stage with my EMT927 and it is full of German wax paper capacitors. I haven't put any power on it as yet, but a 1959 Grundig valve radio that I recently restored was allowing 17V DC through a leaky grid capacitor of exactly the same type/manufacturer and similar age.

So a half century old phono stage will probably require more than just the electrolytics changed to perform anywhere near correctly!
 
John said:
Here's a needle drop of the same cut from my US pressing.
Click to expand...

It does still sound quite different to my copy on the EMT. I think I prefer the more weighty & substantial presentation of the 938 on this occasion. Your deck usually seems fuller sounding than that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top