You called it. It’s your phono preamp. The good news is that any quality phono preamp should kick your sound quality up by a substantial margin and put a grin on your face.
The usual suspects are Rega Aria, Lehmann Black Cube SE, Musical Surroundings Nova, Lejonklou, Gram Slee, etc. The new Parasound JC3 junior looks especially interesting, but I have not heard it.
Any of them should be like Salome and remove 1000 veils. Skip the head of John the Baptist however.
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Clean the stylus using a piece of Magic Eraser. Check the alignment and tracking force. Remember that LP's can vary widely in sound quality - from absymal to sublime! |
The Toshiba should offer very good sound. No need to be ashamed for using it! Leave it on 24/7 (as you should for any SS equipment). Japanese equipment from the late 70's - mid 80's achieved a high level of SQ! |
Thank you guys for you answers. To be frank, I am more confused now. I guess my next step would be to find a good phono preamp for a trial, and compare with the one I have now. I have read articles in some forum on my Toshiba preamp from peoples who were using it as a phono stage as I do, and some were saying it was as good as some $600-$700 units they compared with. Could a device like that require repairs, sometimes I lose a channel, I then have to play with the device selector to get it back, maybe its just really dirty inside? I check my stylus regularly with a magnifier, and it looks fine, I had to clean it once after I thought it was broken, but that time the sound was horrible. But I will give it a shot again, thanks roberjerman for the advice. Viridian, there is a Musical Surroundings Nove II on sale now on Audiogon, ( https://www.audiogon.com/listings/lis92i3f-musical-surroundings-nova-ii-phono), does this sounds like a good deal? Thanks! |
Not really, but let’s put that aside for a moment.
Since you have dissenting input, I think that your idea to trial a phono preamp is right on the money. After all, it only matters if you hear an improvement, and it is your money, much as I love spending it. |
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@roberjerman I cleaned the stylus with little bit of isopropyl alcool, on a tiny paintbrush, and guess what, the sound came back. Thanks. I will put cleaning the stylus on my weekly schedule, right after I take out the garbages :).
@yogiboy This device looks interesting, I will read on it, and see if I can listen to it locally.
Thanks.
On the Toshiba, you would be surprised of what it can deliver, I also have a tuner on it, and my friends are always surprised when I tell them they listen to the radio.
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Did you set up your table, arm, cartridge by yourself or did you have it done by an expert?
I ask this because when I replaced my Dynavector MC with a new updated version and had it set up by a guy with diagnostic equipment who could truly optimize it the improvement in all areas of sound quality have been remarkable.
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Be very careful about putting pure alcohol directly onto your stylus. Alcohol may dissolve the glue that holds the stylus to the cantilever, and soon you will be playing LPs with a cantilever and no stylus. Styllast ,the company, makes products specifically designed to clean styli. You could buy a bottle of stylast very cheaply. Also there are other products like magic eraser and ultrasonic cleaners That do a good job cleaning a stylus. But alcohol is a nono.
Toshiba almost certainly needs maintenance if it’s from the 70s or 80s. Your own report should tell you that at the very least the switches are dirty and probably also the volume controls. That is why you are occasionally losing the output from one channel or the other. That alone could cause the sound to be veiled. But having said all that I agree with others that there are any number of modern inexpensive outboard phono stages that would probably be superior to the Toshiba, even if the Toshiba is working 100%.
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+1 ggagnon! I clean the styli on my cartridges after every side. I have used isoprophanol on the Discwasher brush for decades without any damage! The use of a cleaner from AT or LAST is a good recommendation! Before playing a side I like to apply a lubricant (Stylast). Claimed to reduce wear on the diamond stylus! |
@hifiman5 The setup of the table was done by a professional. The store where I bought my cartridge.
@lewm and @roberjerman I will definitely look for a solution to clean the styli more often.
I am convinced now to find a good phono stage, any recommendation will be appreciated, knowing my cartridge is and MC High Output.
Thank you all for you answers.
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Rob, The only Discwasher brush I know of is designed to clean LPs before play, not styli. Discwasher makes a solution to be used with that brush that does probably contain a low concentration of isoprop, but the OP seems to have used undiluted isoprop, which is another kettle of fish entirely. Furthermore, I think the Stylast cleaners actually meant for stylus cleaning may also contain diluted alcohol. My point was not to use UNDILUTED alcohol to clean a stylus. But above all else, I think dirt on the stylus is not the primary cause of the veiled sound, maybe a contributor but not the major issue.
ggagnon, There are dozens of highly touted phono stages in the under $1K cost category. Unfortunately, I have heard none of them and cannot help. I was fairly convinced by Michael Fremer’s review of it that the iPhono2 must be very good, for $500, and handles LOMC cartridges fine. You’ll get dozens of other suggestions.
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@lewm The alcohol I used was 70%, so it is not pure. But I will follow the advice of using special solution. I didn't think that could damage the styli itself, I was very careful to not put alcohol on the cartridge plastic casing.
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I agree a nice phono stage is needed, but have you checked the manual for your current pre? It sounds like the pre could be misconfigured for the cartridge.
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@erik_squires The phono stage of the Toshiba is for MM, that's why I bought the HOMC Ortofon in the first place, I don't think there is any setting for it, and I don't have the manual anymore.
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There are a bunch of folks here who can probably give you good recommendations. Beware, however, as I tried a $895 Sutherland KC Vibe (his newest and most modest unit) and the music just dribbled out of the speakers. I went with him due to his fine long term history of issuing great sounding phono stages. Just went too low in the line!
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