I've recently started using a small light weight compact system due to my year old son and lack of space.
It uses a Pro-Ject Debut mk3 phono USB as the front end which comes as standard with a pre aligned Ortofon OMB5e cartridge, ok to get you going but not great by any means.....
So, I fitted a 30 stylus which i've had for a couple of years with low miles on it. It did sound different but not the large jump you may expect. Overall it sounded 'quieter',bottom end went lower and there was a little more detail and separation, but it sounded 'edgey'.
TBH, I prefered the 5e....
Anyway, over the holidays I had a little more time to play and after considering other cartridges to buy in to try, I thought wait, why not try the 'Super OM' body that the 30 stylus was off, i've already got it?
So I did. I realigned it using the Pro-Ject supplied cardboard protractor, fitted the 30 stylus, did all the usual antiskate & tracking weight adjustments and tried it on my test record just to check everything was 'OK'.
I couldn't get the 30 stylus to track past 70 microns cleanly no matter what I did, which I found was unusual to me because it's a very good tracker on other tables (90microns) i've owned and produced a very clean sound. Of course I listened to some music with it to, but it just didn't sound right to me.
So I stuck it the 5e. Did the tracking wieght, bias/antiskate to suit, it tracked wonderfully, and sounded GREAT, a huge improvement over the standard OMB body, much larger than the stylus change alone.
So there you go, is my 30 stylus a gonner ( i don't think so as it's been well cared for and low miles ) or is the 5e just a better match for the simple pro-ject arm ? I reakon the arm just can't handle the 30 stylus, it's not good enough, it also has no VTA adjustment;-).
So my messgae to anyone out there with a Pro-ject debut with an OMB cart body on it whos wanting to upgrade easily is try and get yourself a 'super OM' body and fit that instead of upgrading the stylus, it's better in my experience.
I belated Happy xmas and new year to all readers !
It uses a Pro-Ject Debut mk3 phono USB as the front end which comes as standard with a pre aligned Ortofon OMB5e cartridge, ok to get you going but not great by any means.....
So, I fitted a 30 stylus which i've had for a couple of years with low miles on it. It did sound different but not the large jump you may expect. Overall it sounded 'quieter',bottom end went lower and there was a little more detail and separation, but it sounded 'edgey'.
TBH, I prefered the 5e....
Anyway, over the holidays I had a little more time to play and after considering other cartridges to buy in to try, I thought wait, why not try the 'Super OM' body that the 30 stylus was off, i've already got it?
So I did. I realigned it using the Pro-Ject supplied cardboard protractor, fitted the 30 stylus, did all the usual antiskate & tracking weight adjustments and tried it on my test record just to check everything was 'OK'.
I couldn't get the 30 stylus to track past 70 microns cleanly no matter what I did, which I found was unusual to me because it's a very good tracker on other tables (90microns) i've owned and produced a very clean sound. Of course I listened to some music with it to, but it just didn't sound right to me.
So I stuck it the 5e. Did the tracking wieght, bias/antiskate to suit, it tracked wonderfully, and sounded GREAT, a huge improvement over the standard OMB body, much larger than the stylus change alone.
So there you go, is my 30 stylus a gonner ( i don't think so as it's been well cared for and low miles ) or is the 5e just a better match for the simple pro-ject arm ? I reakon the arm just can't handle the 30 stylus, it's not good enough, it also has no VTA adjustment;-).
So my messgae to anyone out there with a Pro-ject debut with an OMB cart body on it whos wanting to upgrade easily is try and get yourself a 'super OM' body and fit that instead of upgrading the stylus, it's better in my experience.
I belated Happy xmas and new year to all readers !
