I'm not sure if I have a bum Ref 3 Phono SE or not; I normally use a MC cartridge but it's down at the moment while I am awaiting a new headshell.
This is a strange one - I can't imagine this is normal so I may have to take it to my dealer.
Basically I swapped to an inexpensive MM cart for a bit, and it sounds absolutely HORRIBLE through my Ref 3 Phono SE. The best way I could describe it is "AM Radio" - no real highs, no real lows, mostly midrange.
Comparatively, the built-in preamp on my Audio-Technica AT-LP120XBT-USB sounds absolutely incredible - full range, dynamic, the way my MC sounds on my ARC.
I tried multiple tables and multiple MM carts, and all of the MMs sound horrible where if I connect the same cables to a 1980s receiver, they sound great so it's not the carts.
Yet when I feed it an inverse-RIAA file from my iPhone as a test, it sounds absolutely wonderful as usual.
Any ideas? I can't confirm one way or another until I get my MC back in action.
Bad 47K circuitry? I'd say it was a capacitance issue but I've also tried multiple phono cables with the same result.
I've heard from a few others that they hear the same with their ARC phono stages, but surely someone must be using one with an MM and don't hear garbage…
This is a strange one - I can't imagine this is normal so I may have to take it to my dealer.
Basically I swapped to an inexpensive MM cart for a bit, and it sounds absolutely HORRIBLE through my Ref 3 Phono SE. The best way I could describe it is "AM Radio" - no real highs, no real lows, mostly midrange.
Comparatively, the built-in preamp on my Audio-Technica AT-LP120XBT-USB sounds absolutely incredible - full range, dynamic, the way my MC sounds on my ARC.
I tried multiple tables and multiple MM carts, and all of the MMs sound horrible where if I connect the same cables to a 1980s receiver, they sound great so it's not the carts.
Yet when I feed it an inverse-RIAA file from my iPhone as a test, it sounds absolutely wonderful as usual.
Any ideas? I can't confirm one way or another until I get my MC back in action.
Bad 47K circuitry? I'd say it was a capacitance issue but I've also tried multiple phono cables with the same result.
I've heard from a few others that they hear the same with their ARC phono stages, but surely someone must be using one with an MM and don't hear garbage…