Ortofon Stylus problems-help!!!!!

[Johnny C]

Hi everyone,

I recently acquired a Thorens TD125 turntable with an SME Series III
3009 tonearm. The set came with three removable arms, one of these
arms had an ortofon cartridge (OM-30 Super) but no Stylus. I just
ordered the Stylus from the local distributor and it sounds terrible.
There is no HF response above a few hundred hertz. I know my system
is good because the other two arms with MC cartridges work fine. BTW,
I have Lundahl step ups and I went through the whole set up procedure
for the new ortofon stylus so I dont believe that my system is the
problem.

Does anyone understand the Ortofon system. Is the removable stylus
just a needle that extends into the arm. Is the electric transducer
for turning the stylus movement into electricity inside the arm? All
I can see is that the stylus is a little tiny plug in thing and part
that it plugs into is fixed on the arm. I cant see any way of opening
it and looking at it. How can I tell if the problem is in the stylus
or in my arm which the stlyus plugs into?

Any help?

Thanks,

John

[Stig Erik Tangen]

Johnny C wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I recently acquired a Thorens TD125 turntable with an SME Series III
> 3009 tonearm. The set came with three removable arms, one of these
> arms had an ortofon cartridge (OM-30 Super) but no Stylus. I just
> ordered the Stylus from the local distributor and it sounds terrible.
> There is no HF response above a few hundred hertz. I know my system
> is good because the other two arms with MC cartridges work fine. BTW,
> I have Lundahl step ups and I went through the whole set up procedure
> for the new ortofon stylus so I dont believe that my system is the
> problem.
>
> Does anyone understand the Ortofon system. Is the removable stylus
> just a needle that extends into the arm. Is the electric transducer
> for turning the stylus movement into electricity inside the arm? All
> I can see is that the stylus is a little tiny plug in thing and part
> that it plugs into is fixed on the arm. I cant see any way of opening
> it and looking at it. How can I tell if the problem is in the stylus
> or in my arm which the stlyus plugs into?
>
> Any help?
>
> Thanks,
>
> John

The OM series are magnetic pickups, and require 47 kOhm imput impedance.
You cant run it through the step-up transformer. You have to connect it
directly to the preamp!

Stig Erik Tangen

[Gene Poon]

Johnny C wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> I recently acquired a Thorens TD125 turntable with an SME Series III
> 3009 tonearm. The set came with three removable arms, one of these
> arms had an ortofon cartridge (OM-30 Super) but no Stylus. I just
> ordered the Stylus from the local distributor and it sounds terrible.
> There is no HF response above a few hundred hertz. I know my system
> is good because the other two arms with MC cartridges work fine. BTW,
> I have Lundahl step ups and I went through the whole set up procedure
> for the new ortofon stylus so I dont believe that my system is the
> problem.
>
> Does anyone understand the Ortofon system. Is the removable stylus
> just a needle that extends into the arm. Is the electric transducer
> for turning the stylus movement into electricity inside the arm? All
> I can see is that the stylus is a little tiny plug in thing and part
> that it plugs into is fixed on the arm. I cant see any way of opening
> it and looking at it. How can I tell if the problem is in the stylus
> or in my arm which the stlyus plugs into?
>
> Any help?
>
=====================

Ortofon OM-30 is a moving magnet cartridge. A moving coil input will
adversely load it down.

-GP

[Johnny C]

Thanks everyone, I bypassed my step up and now there is half decent
sound coming out of my system. It still seems a little light on the
highs but this is probably just my ears getting used to the new sound.

I never knew that MM cartidges required a 47K input.

Thanks again for all your help. I'm off to listen to my LPs!

John

(Johnny C) wrote in message >...
> Hi everyone,
>
> I recently acquired a Thorens TD125 turntable with an SME Series III
> 3009 tonearm. The set came with three removable arms, one of these
> arms had an ortofon cartridge (OM-30 Super) but no Stylus. I just
> ordered the Stylus from the local distributor and it sounds terrible.
> There is no HF response above a few hundred hertz. I know my system
> is good because the other two arms with MC cartridges work fine. BTW,
> I have Lundahl step ups and I went through the whole set up procedure
> for the new ortofon stylus so I dont believe that my system is the
> problem.
>
> Does anyone understand the Ortofon system. Is the removable stylus
> just a needle that extends into the arm. Is the electric transducer
> for turning the stylus movement into electricity inside the arm? All
> I can see is that the stylus is a little tiny plug in thing and part
> that it plugs into is fixed on the arm. I cant see any way of opening
> it and looking at it. How can I tell if the problem is in the stylus
> or in my arm which the stlyus plugs into?
>
> Any help?
>
> Thanks,
>
> John

[Kalman Rubinson]

On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 22:22:19 GMT, (Johnny C)
wrote:

>Thanks everyone, I bypassed my step up and now there is half decent
>sound coming out of my system. It still seems a little light on the
>highs but this is probably just my ears getting used to the new sound.
>
>I never knew that MM cartidges required a 47K input.
>
>Thanks again for all your help. I'm off to listen to my LPs!

Let me reiterate that you need to use the special jig in order to
adjust vertical angle and that there are special instructions for
lateral balance. Also, with the 30H stylus, tracking force is 1gram.

Kal

[Kalman Rubinson]

On Fri, 11 Jul 2003 02:05:45 GMT, "Harry Lavo" >
wrote:

>You are right, Kal. The dullness Johnny C complain about may be due to the
>VTA being set too low. Raising the arm at the pivot point may add some high
>end, as long as not too much is added.

Yes but there are two gadgets required for correct setting in addition
to a VTA adjustment/tweaking. One adjusts lateral balance and the
other azimuth.

Kal