Show us your turntable

The turntable is a modified Gyro with a Funk FX3 tonearm, Houdini and Lyra Kleos SL.

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Just installed my new custom tonearm cable on my Vertere MG1. Looking forward to my phono pre to be upgraded so I can test the new cable.

Does anybody know what the ideal tracking force on the Grado Reference 3 high output cartridge should be? Waiting on a reply from Grado just thought somebody here might know. Currently itā€™s set at 2g.

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Hi @khan84
Tracking Force: 1.6-1.9 grams
:+1:t2:

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Is that one of their crazy wooden-bodied cartridges? Grado do like to do their own thing! (I had a pair of their headphones once, which used wood, where most other manufacturers would use some form of plastic material.)

I am never sure what to do when a manufacturer quotes a range of tracking forces - start at the lowest weight, and adjust by ear?

I usually just go for the middle, rounded up if necessary. Iā€™ve never really experimented (or researched) but somehow doubt a .1 gr difference would be audible.

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Depends on the cartridge. My Lyra Atlas sounds noticeably different between 1.75 and 1.80 gr.

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Ah; but thats a Ā£10k CartridgešŸ˜‰

I did say depends on the cartridge, ā€¦and arm too. A cartridge like the Lyra really needs an arm that can control it. However, you still might hear a difference between 1.9 and 2.0 gr on yours. VTF can make surprising differences.

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Lyra is on my list for my next change, but not a Ā£10k Atlas. Iā€™ll be looking at the Delos alongside the Hana ML/MH and the Dynavector XX2 MkII, all up against the Rega Apheta 3, which I could just have another one of.
ā€¦but thatā€™s NEXT yearšŸ˜‰

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The Delos should be nice really nice, but Iā€™m interested how it compares to the XX2 Mk II, another great choice. I still have a XV-1s as a backup.

I just ordered a Lyra Atlas Mono for a second tonearm. I should have it in a few weeks.

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My choice from that list without doubt :+1:t2:

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Damn! Youā€™re swimming in a very different ā€œFishbowlā€ to me sirā€¦:face_with_peeking_eye:

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Yeah, everything Iā€™ve read about it sounds promising :+1:t3:
Definitely looking forward to hearing it next year.

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I just turned 65, so I leveraged some assets to buy myself something very special for my impending retirement.

I have nearly 5000 LPs, so the investment is very worthwhile for me.

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Donā€™t be too quick to dismiss the Dynavector. As good as Lyra is, the DVs are not worse, just somewhat different. The DV and Lyra I have are at different levels of performance (and price) but they have similar house sound.

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Iā€™m definitely going into my next cartridge change with a very open mind and a HARD stop on the budget.
Ā£1.5k, as this is the sustainable limit going forward. I could afford a much more expensive cartridge now, but I will be unable to sustain that level of expenditure and run the risk of being disappointed in the future as I come back down the price pointsšŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™‚ļø

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I run a stylus timer on my setup (Iā€™ll need two soon). As the hours count up, I set aside money from my discretionary funds to save for cartridge rebuild. When the time comes to rebuild the Lyra Iā€™ll have set aside the money for it.

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Cheers!
It takes a while to get used to retirement, but life belongs to us only. So best with everything!

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Wow! I bet that looks epic. Iā€™m not sure my local HMV could match that. Are these meticulously catalogued? I fear Iā€™d be poor at that.

You guys definitely have deeper pockets than me. The Grado reference 3 is the top of the timbre series. I chose high output as I didnā€™t want to buy a step up transformer for my valve phono pre.

The wood body is aesthetically very pleasing. Not to mention itā€™s sound which is very good with timing. Exceptional actually. Prior to this, the best cart I had heard was the Rega Apheta.