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Tonearm/cartridge compatability

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Posted on March 22, 2017 at 19:01:20
mg16
Audiophile

Posts: 1022
Joined: October 18, 2001
 Can anyone tell me if a Goldring Eroica High output ,moving coil cartridge, used on a Graham 2.0 tonearm is maybe a bad match. I bought a very nice Oracle Delphi MKV / Graham 2.0 setup, after the motor died in my MKIII. With the Oracle Delphi MKIII, I had a origin live modded Rega RB300 with the Eroica mounted. It was
great sounding to my ears. I sold the old table, but kept the Eroica, and RB300. I have been tweaking for weeks to get the Eroica/Graham to sound as good as the Eroica/RB300 on the MKIII. Vta, azimith, silicon damping, tearing my hair out. Not that it sounds bad, it doesn't, but its just missing dome of the previous magic. Maybe some mistracking on my favorite albums. Is this a mismatched arm/cartridge combo. I am wondering whether I should give up and buy a Denon DL-103, or , ditch the Graham, and mount the modded Rega to use with the Eroica.
Any opinions appreciated.
mg16

 

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RE: Tonearm/cartridge compatability, posted on March 22, 2017 at 19:36:18
John Elison
Audiophile

Posts: 23900
Location: Central Kentucky
Joined: December 20, 2000
Contributor
  Since: January 29, 2004
 Since you still have the Rega tonearm, why not try it in place of the Graham and see if that solves your problem.

Good luck,
John Elison

 

RE: Tonearm/cartridge compatability, posted on March 23, 2017 at 03:48:30
BCR
Audiophile

Posts: 2444
Location: connecticut
Joined: April 7, 2009
 Both those arms are medium mass ( 11 grams) and match well with the Goldring. I don't think the Denon will solve the problem. It seems that the problem is with the Graham arm. If you go to the site Vinyl Engine you can check out any arm and cartrige compatability! Here is the site.

 

RE: Tonearm/cartridge compatability, posted on March 23, 2017 at 03:57:42
PAR
 There are 2 changes that you cite; a different turntable and a different arm.

On paper the Graham and the Eroica are a good match as far as resonance is concerned (around 11Hz). However it is some years since I heard a Graham 2 which sounded very good to my ears (with a Transfiguration cartridge). Nevertheless although it does have a reputation for being neutral this itself can be heard by some as a lacking in richness. Is this what you are finding compared to the OL/Rega ?

It is not always the case that a change in a given model will always result in what were regarded as the strong points of its predecessor being retained. So maybe the difficulty does not lie with the arm/cartridge combination but with the difference between the MK III Oracle and the Mk V. Were you familiar with the MK V before purchase?

So , as John Elison says, try the Rega arm again (if the arm mount on the Oracle allows this) but the source of your disappointment may also lie elsewhere perhaps with the turntable or with something that it easy to overlook like the change in the cable from arm to amp.

 

RE: Tonearm/cartridge compatability, posted on March 23, 2017 at 05:42:28
mg16
Audiophile

Posts: 1022
Joined: October 18, 2001
 Hi,
Thank you all,
Yes richness is lacking. But basically, its just that intangible feeling of hearing live music playing, that has diminished somewhat with the Graham / Eroica, as compared to the Rega/Eroica. I was expecting the Graham to be so much better than the Rega, just based on it being much more expensive than even a modded Rega. This led me to think it must be an adjustment issue, or worst case, a bad match. I contacted Oracle to purchase a mount for the Rega. Martin said they are out of them, but will be tooling up to make more soon.
When I get one, I will remount the Rega. I love the sound of the Eroica, so I'll wait.
Thanks.
mg16

 

I too have a Delphi and a Graham, posted on March 23, 2017 at 19:42:40
jk
Audiophile

Posts: 366
Joined: October 4, 1999
 MG16, I have the delphi V and a Graham 2.1 arm. Since you are running such a similar set up I wanted to chime in here. Sometime try disabling the suspension on the Delphi V. I place blocks of wood under the 3 arms by the vertical suspension pieces that hold the springs. I find it increases delacy and detail noticbly.

I should note that the TT is on a vibraplane, what got me to try this was thinking to myself "how can two sprung suspenstions compliment each other". Then I remembered a conversation I had with a sales man in the Analog Room. He recommended doing this years before (I dismissed it). Turns out to be a nice change.

As far as what you hear, I'm not sure I can contribute much. Your description does sound like what I hear with too much dampening fluid in the arm, but you'd remember doing that.

Brainstorming here but you never know:

You are not using the level built in to the TT are you? It is inacurate IME. I place a bubble level on the metal arm to the tower on the right.

Hope you are not torquing down on the record clamp on the Delphi. I found that too much pressure sucks the life out too.

Hope this helps mate.

John

 

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