Upgrade my Revox B790 turntable

[FritzS]

Hi,
I will upgrade my Revox B790 turntable

It have an older Ortophon MC 10 MKII

I think about a new Goldring G1012 / G1022 / G1042 cartridge

and a clearaudio or a GSP phono preamp

www.clearaudio.de/

Whats your opinion about?

[FritzS]

and a clearaudio or a GSP phono preamphttp://www.clearaudio.de/

I think about a clearaudio Smart Phono

please can you help me - whats your experience about clearaudio Smart Phono and Goldring G1012 / G1022 / G1042 cartridge?

[fanboi]

Fritz,
I have no experience to offer of either of these (Clearaudio & Goldring) - I do know that I spent many months of research and also auditioned a Dynavector P75 phono stage before deciding to try the Era Gold V - the dealer I bought it from offered 14 days money back if not satisfied so I was happy to try it out.
From the moment I first heard the results of placing it in the system, I knew I would not be sending it back. (and that was the "intro" version - without the PSU1 power supply).
When the opportunity came to upgrade to the "green" Reflex, it was too good to refuse.
I have not for a moment regretted that purchase, it was a major step up.
As to cartridges, I think everyone here knows I am a big Denon fan, the DL110 and DL160 HOMC cartridges offer amazing value for money and great sound - one person I introduced to the DL110 prefers it to his previous Shure V15V MxR (much more expensive).

[FritzS]

When the opportunity came to upgrade to the "green" Reflex, it was too good to refuse.

I contact Graham too

I search for a well-priced Hi-MC and MM phono preamp - which of the which of the "green" Graham's Bargain Bucket models recommand you for me?

[Sol]

Graham recommends the Reflex for MM (and high output MC) - though he does offer a Reflex for MC and a Reflex with both board and one case.

I'd go for the MM, and forget the MC - MM cartrdiges nowadays are equally as good as MC, and you always have the opportunity of buying a high output MC to plug into the MM Reflex, and if you want to try full low output MC you can invest in a step up box. If you go the otehr way you are stuck with low output MC and the high expense of those cartridges.

I've got the MM Reflex sitting waiitng for my TT (arrives tomorrow) so expect a review in about a weeks time when I've had a good listen. It's a long stiry but I planne dto start with a simple AT95E ... but it ended up being recycled by a wife too keen to remove boxes from my study. So I ended up taking what i could get from several sources who could deliver for this weekend. So I ended up stumping up the cash for a High Output MC cartridge .. the Goldring Eroica HMC .

[fanboi]

Fritz,
I asked Graham which would be better for low output MC - green Reflex MC (= Fanfare) or Era Gold V (which I already had) + Elevator Exp.
He replied Era Gold V + Exp would be better.
I got Reflex MM - HOMC, I am now using it with a Denon low output cartridge DL301 II and a cheap ($120) Denon step-up transformer and it sounds superb to me - the Denon transformer is designed for the DL103 & 301 cartridges and matches well.
The stylus point and compliance of the 301 is very much the same as the HOMC DL160.
One thing to watch with the Denon HOMC cartridges is not to use them with a steel platter due to the very high magnetic field in the cartridge (also be very careful with screwdriver when installing although they have a very good stylus guard which can stay in place during installation)
I would love to hear the difference an Elevator Exp might make over the step-up transformer but ATM $$$ - still that option is available.
In short, go the green Reflex MM but best be quick.
I think you will love it no matter what cartridge you choose.

Sol,
just read the last of your post, the joys of sharing accomodation
are you sure you still have the Reflex ?

[Sol]

fanboi said:

In short, go the green Reflex MM but best be quick.
I think you will love it no matter what cartridge you choose.

One more sleep for me ... if the Goldring Eroica isn't available tomorrow, I'll be on a loner Linn K9 .. so come hell or high wate I'll be listening to vinyl all day tomorrow.

I found some in the loft, behind the sofa, and I've had some delievred from Ebay, and a mate is coming over with his Goth collection which haven't seen light of day for some 17 years!!

Sol,
just read the last of your post, the joys of sharing accomodation
are you sure you still have the Reflex ?

You almost had me checking then ;D BUT .. it's plugged in, without source, in a vain effort to have some cap forming happening while I wait for the TT.

[FritzS]

I got Reflex MM - HOMC, I am now using it with a Denon low output cartridge DL301 II and a cheap ($120) Denon step-up transformer and it sounds superb to me - the Denon transformer is designed for the DL103

My Revox B790 needs a higher compliance, but today I use an older (about 15 .. 20 years) Ortophon MC 10 MKII with additional weight - the Revox arm is very short and lightwight. So not all cartrige are recommand. I want to install a new cartridge + another cable (?) + a phono preamp.

Revox is an special game but I love this turntable

[John Cadman]

Sol

I delivered a Reflex to a customer recently. He's just getting back to vinyl too. He had an LP12 tt and Linn amp (can't remember which model) and Troika mc cartridge (retipped for about £300 before it got shoved away a few years ago). Found an old K9 he had kicking around and tried it with the Reflex and said it blew away the previous combination, and that was through an AV multi-channel power amp (allbeit very good for 2-channel, it shuts down all the others when in stereo mode). He's now running in a new Goldring 1042 so I'll give him a few weeks then see how it's going.
Anyway, the K9 sounds like it could do the trick if you don't get sorted with the Eroika

[FritzS]

technical question about Ortofon MC 10 MK II
.... 100 Ohm ..... 0,024 mVs/cm ... are this a HI MC?
Are cartridges working good after more than 20 years (jan. 1984)? Aging of silicone?

This I found from my
MC 10 MK II (Quelle: AUDIO 7/82):
Dynamische Compliance 12,6 mm/N
Weight / Gewicht: 7 Gramm
Tracking force / Optimale Auflagekraft: 20-26 mN.
Resistance / Widerstand: 100 Ohm
Polish / Schliff: elliptisch 18x8 µm
Transfer factor / Übertragungsfaktor: 0,024 mVs/cm

[jelosno]

How funny,

I think I have the same old Orthophon in my B 790 which is somewhere in our house in Hausmannstätten, Austria.

I left it with all my LPs since I never thought I could be interested in LPs again. WRONG! Now I miss it...

[FritzS]

jelosno said:

How funny,

I think I have the same old Orthophon in my B 790 which is somewhere in our house in Hausmannstätten, Austria.

I left it with all my LPs since I never thought I could be interested in LPs again. WRONG! Now I miss it...

Should I fetch this and foreward to you

Some hints about I publish here
www.stockhammer.eu/hifi/Revox-main.php

[lini]

fritzs said:

technical question about Ortofon MC 10 MK II
.... 100 Ohm ..... 0,024 mVs/cm ... are this a HI MC?

Nope, that's a classic low output MC.

Are cartridges working good after more than 20 years (jan. 1984)? Aging of silicone?

Hours of usage aside, the answer would be: Often enough yes, sometimes no. With some manufacturers, stiffened cantilever suspensions indeed seem to be a problem - AKG, for example. Whereas e.g. most older Audio-Technicas, Shures and Ortofons seem to remain pretty stable over time.

As for suggestions, if you liked your 790 with the MC10II, a new MC Salsa could be a good idea. However, personally I'd probably foremost look into a used classic high quality high compliance MM (something like an Audio Technica AT15Sa, AT20SLa or AT155LC, a Shure V15III or an Elac ESG796 should be a good match...) and a new original or high quality 3rd party (e.g. JICO's SAS replacement for the Shure...) needle.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

[XTRProf]

Hi Fritz,

Actually, you can test whether your cart suspension and stylus is still ok thru a test record like the Hifi News. If your cart fails every test tracks, then the suspension or stylus is already long gone.

I still prefer the mc over the mm. Give me a mc with a medium mass arm anytime.

[scott]

I had a Denon 103 running thro a creek obh on my sme 309 medium mass arm
I now have a Goldring 1042 MM into a NVA Preamp
Both are great