The following is a list of my modest equipment I've had over the years since the beginning of my vinyl hobby. The equipment is listed like a timeline so that the newest equipment is always stated last.

 

If you are familiar with some of the devices you might probably guess I value accuracy above all. For instance, I have friends who intentionally won't buy Genelec speakers because they are so ruthless to bad quality records. I've understood their point. 

 

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Cartridge:

- Dual DMS 240E

            Elliptical MM cartridge. Pretty poor quality cartridge from what I remember.

            Came with Technics SL-D3 bought in late 2010 at the very beginning of my vinyl hobby. Hasn't been in use since 2013 as it's sold.

 

- Ortofon 2M blue

            MM cartridge, very good quality cartridge for beginners but not for those who want to enjoy vinyl. Bought in fall 2012, sold in spring 2016. 

            Personally, I don't see why anyone would even consider the 2M red. 

            It has been said the Ortofon OM 10/20/30/40 body is the same as Ortofon 2M red/blue body, only the body shape, body weight and needles

            are different though the OM 10/20/30/40 needles will fit to 2M bodies. 

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- Ortofon 2M bronze

            Fine line MM cartridge, VERY good quality and IMO undervalued MM cartridge. Bought in late 2014, still in use though all the time to a lesser extent.

            I can clearly hear the stylus wearing out as the distortion and brightness gradually increase, eventually I will get tinnitus from every record. 

            This 2M bronze is still my favourite cartridge as there is that certain accuracy in 2M bronze that no other cartridge has yet been able to offer even

            though this may be bright at times.

            Has the same body as 2M black but a different stylus and yes, the styli are interchangeable between the two cartridges as well as 2M blue/red.

            It has been said the Ortofon Super OM 10/20/30/40 body is the same as Ortofon 2M bronze/black body, only the body shape, body weight and needles

            are different though the OM and Super OM 10/20/30/40 needles will fit to 2M bodies. 

            Based on other peoples reviews and the price I will not be buying the black Shibata stylus as it's a hit or miss and VERY sensitive to adjustments. 

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- Ortofon OM 30

            I got fed up with the bright sound of my Cambridge Audio Azur 651P / Ortofon 2M bronze combo and searched for something smoother. 

            OM 10/20/30/40 is the previous incarnation of the 2M series and the 2M red/blue body is said to be identical to OM 10/20/30/40 cartridge bodies.

            Bought as OM 10 (ditched the OM 10 stylus) in fall 2018 and changed the stylus to OM 30 as it was the more cost efficient way. Still in use though

            only occasionally, you might say this is my backup cartridge.

            The OM 30 corresponds to 2M bronze, it's a fine line stylus in a MM cartridge and IMO a very good quality cartridge though more stuffier sounding

            than the 2M bronze. For a while I was using 2M bronze in stuffier cuts and OM 30 in brighter cuts until I found AT VM540ML. 

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- Pioneer PN3-MC

            The cartridge that came with Pioneer PL-L800 turntable.

            This is a high output MC cartridge that works well with my Rega Fono MM box. 

            My first, and definitely not the last, step into the world of MC cartridges!

            Very warm and very dynamic tone but lacks a lot of accuracy compared to the Ortofon 2M bronze and OM 30 cartridges right above. 

 

- Audio-Technica VM540ML

            I eventually got bugged by the (still) sometimes too bright sound of my 2M bronze and the somewhat muddy sound of my OM 30 and searched for

            something in between. The AT VM series, particularly VM540ML, was given positive reviews by few audiophiles soon after its release in 2017 so I gave

            it a go in fall 2019 rather than trying to fix the problems by buying a new needle to my Ortofons, either a new bronze or OM 40. The Ortofons gathered

            dust for nearly two years as the VM540ML was exactly what I was looking for: less bright than 2M bronze but at the same time very warm and accurate

            (in early 2021 I bought a new stylus for the bronze and found out the excessive brightness of the 2M bronze was caused by worn out stylus).

            Surface noise is much less audible with the VM540ML than with either Ortofon. 

            All the needles and cartridges of the VM series are interchangeable giving you quite many possible combinations. In addition, supposedly the only

            difference between VM500 and VM700 series is the cartridge body material.

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Turntable: 

- Technics SL-D3

            Direct-drive turntable, a VERY reliable and IMO VERY undervalued entry level plastic turntable from 1979-1980 with S-shaped tonearm.

            The only downside with this TT is that the pots oxidize (it's a 40+ year old piece of electronics already!) so the speed won't stay steady for long

            and the speed adjustment is a real PITA. The plastic hinges also get broken and lost easily.

            Clearly beats SL-100C with the same cartridge and feltmat though the difference is smaller than between any two different cartridges I've played with

            or possibly even any two different vinyl cuts of the same release I've played. The difference is clear with heavy metal music with high distortion in the

            first place like Amorphis' On The Dark Waters and The Moon. 

            Nowadays sold. 

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- Pioneer PL-L800

            Tangential direct drive turntable from 1981-1985 with short straight tonearm. 

            Got this with the original MC cartridge in pretty much unused condition in June 2019.

            Very easy to use and sounds miles better than my Technics SL-D3, I was shocked how big the difference was when I installed VM540ML to this TT.

            The SL-100C also sounded clearly worse than this TT when I got it.  

            Terrible smell on the original rubber mat.

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- Technics SL-100C

            A completely new direct-drive manual turntable released in June 2021. An entry-level turntable by Technics standards but sounds phenomenal for that.

            Basically a SL-1500C without the internal preamp.

            Clearly a relative of the classical SL-1200 family but with all the unnecessary extras stripped down for easy home usage.  

            Since my SL-D3 was getting old I decided to give it up and pick a new turntable. It was a rough start due to problems with grounding but since the

            electronics at SL-D3 is aging the SL-100C is now my number one turntable. 

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RIAA box:

- Cambridge Audio Azur 651P

            MM and MC RIAA box, very good quality and accurate RIAA box though VERY bright at times. Bought in late 2015, sold in 2018. 

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- Rega Fono MM 2018

            After spinning vinyl with the Cambridge Audio Azur 651P for a few years I had a revelation with this Rega Fono MM 2018; every record sounded less

            bright and more enjoyable. Still in use. 

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Speakers:

- some big old passive two-way Philips speakers made in Belgium that came with and were also always used with Philips F4110 amplifier with in-built RIAA box

            Stuffy sounding speakers in combination to the aforementioned amp, the whole bundle coloured the sound WAY TOO MUCH for my taste.

            Luckily the damn amp blew up in late 2016 though by the time I had already got myself more than 3 Genelecs. 

 

- 2x Genelec G3 v1/A active speakers + occasionally F1 active sub

            Excellent and accurate (and expensive) speakers, they won't colour the sound practically at all and make good records sound excellent but are

            extremely ruthless to bad records.

            The sub is pretty much useless when spinning old records as there is rarely deep enough bass, modern records go somewhat deeper, deep enough

            to clearly hear the difference.

            Version 2 or version B of the G3 was released in early 2017 with improved and more energy efficient amp.

 

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