luapnodyl Posted February 18 Posted February 18 I've just been gifted an old refurbished DUAL CS503-1 'audiophile edition' turntable by my son. Finally, the correct direction of travel for hand me downs. I hooked it up to my Bryston using a iFi phono stage bought here a few weeks ago and, truth be told, am a bit underwhelmed at the output compared to my digital player (also a Bryston). Sounds quiet and polite. Maybe fiddling with the gain setting on the iFi might help but I'm not at home so can't do so at the moment, I've been digital only for a long while now so totally out of practice with these things. So, first thoughts are cartridge followed by phono stage. I do believe the Dual has the original Ortofon cartridge on it so I reckon that may be part of the issue. The Zen phono stage seems to review well and generally draw decent praise so maybe it's OK for the time being. Also, vinyl is going to be very much a side hobby for the time being. My main listening is going to be digital so I'm not looking to go full on spending on much better analogue kit, I just want to maximise the enjoyment from what will be a side hobby. I didn't realise LPs had got so expensive but then I did buy my last LP about 30 years ago. Luckily I held onto a few of my old ones. So, a couple of questions given I'm allowing myself a budget of about $300-400 1) Any ideas or advice? 2) Anything you could recommend within my budget? 1
aussievintage Posted February 18 Posted February 18 On 18/02/2025 at 6:27 AM, luapnodyl said: I hooked it up to my Bryston using a iFi phono stage bought here a few weeks ago and, truth be told, am a bit underwhelmed at the output compared to my digital player (also a Bryston). Sounds quiet and polite. Maybe fiddling with the gain setting on the iFi might help but I'm not at home so can't do so at the moment, Expand Are we simply saying it isn't loud enough here? If so, then yes, look at the phono stage gain to make it the same as the digital side of things.
luapnodyl Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 (edited) On 18/02/2025 at 6:33 AM, aussievintage said: Are we simply saying it isn't loud enough here? If so, then yes, look at the phono stage gain to make it the same as the digital side of things. Expand I suspect that is definitely part of the issue. What stopped me trying that was the fact that three of the four gain settings are for MC cartridges so seemingly not suitable (?) for the cartridge on the Dual (I do believe it's a MM cartridge). Didn't want to blow it all up on it's first day! Time for more research Edited February 18 by luapnodyl
aussievintage Posted February 18 Posted February 18 On 18/02/2025 at 6:44 AM, luapnodyl said: I suspect that is definitely part of the issue. What stopped me trying that was the fact that three of the four gain settings are for MC cartridges so seemingly not suitable (?) for the cartridge on the Dual (I do believe it's a MM cartridge). Didn't want to blow it all up on it's first day! Expand Can't you just increase the main amp volume in order to compare the sound with the digital? I would be making sure your are happy, before you spend more money on equipment.
luapnodyl Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 On 18/02/2025 at 6:52 AM, aussievintage said: Can't you just increase the main amp volume in order to compare the sound with the digital? I would be making sure your are happy, before you spend more money on equipment. Expand Yes, I'll try that. Earlier I did notice that I had to have the amp set twice as high to get the same volume as the digital. Didn't sound bad at all but still lacked something. Maybe my expectations are a bit high, the gain set too low and, to be fair, I've got a fairly resolving digital system so probably comparing apples with oranges. One thing I will say though is that it's great to use vinyl again. I'd forgotten about the tactile and sensory side of it all. 1
audiofeline Posted February 18 Posted February 18 (edited) Congratulations on your score. Yes, playing records is a much more immersive experience compared to playing plastic or invisible streams. You didn't mention which Ortofon cart is on it. I hope you got a new stylus, I wouldn't trust the condition of a hand-me-down, and it only takes one play to permanently damage a record with a bad stylus. When replaced, the original stylus can be used to play very damaged opshop records without fear of damaging a nice new stylus! Edited February 18 by audiofeline
luapnodyl Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 On 18/02/2025 at 8:29 AM, audiofeline said: You didn't mention which Ortofon cart is on it. I hope you got a new stylus, I wouldn't trust the condition of a hand-me-down, and it only takes one play to permanently damage a record with a bad stylus. When replaced, the original stylus can be used to play very damaged opshop records without fear of damaging a nice new stylus! Expand Good advice - must get onto that asap Doing a bit of searching seems it's the Ortofon MC10 super which explains the initial low volume and general lack of life. Sounds much better on a high gain setting Now onto finding a new stylus I guess 1
luapnodyl Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 On 18/02/2025 at 8:29 AM, audiofeline said: You didn't mention which Ortofon cart is on it. I hope you got a new stylus, I wouldn't trust the condition of a hand-me-down, and it only takes one play to permanently damage a record with a bad stylus. When replaced, the original stylus can be used to play very damaged opshop records without fear of damaging a nice new stylus! Expand So it seems you can't replace the stylus on a MC cartridge? Do you know how I can diagnose the health of the stylus?
Darryl Posted February 18 Posted February 18 I'm sure others will chime in but I wouldn't have thought an MC10 would suit a Dual CS503. A bit of Googling tells me the MC10 has a 0.3mv output and the Zen Phono should be set to either gain 3 or 4 on the back.
luapnodyl Posted February 18 Author Posted February 18 On 18/02/2025 at 10:04 AM, Darryl said: I'm sure others will chime in but I wouldn't have thought an MC10 would suit a Dual CS503. A bit of Googling tells me the MC10 has a 0.3mv output and the Zen Phono should be set to either gain 3 or 4 on the back. Expand Spot on. Google clashed with reality. I got home and looked at it and it seems I have an Ortofon OM 15. Got the iFi set to 2 and it sounds great. 2
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