Finally a EMT 950

Jls001 helped me set up the 950 today. Thanks jls001:)

All I can say is it lives up to its hype as one of the finest turntables made
Great to know; hearty congratulations! this will be another reason to plan a visit to Mumbai
 
Congrats Prem Now there is a Reference level Turntable at Mumbai that we are aware of (and a marked upgrade from the 938)

So now if there is ever a debate on any LP recording being good or bad we know where we can test it out :D
 
Thanks arj. I am sure there are many reference level turntables in Mumbai and many that operate at a higher level than mine. It’s just they they are probably not members of this forum
 
Congratulations Prem! That is looking fantastic!
I have to say this is just looking in immaculate condition.

Looking forward to hearing this on my next visit ...



.
 
Thanks Nikhil. Look forward to your visit. Yes the 950 is in almost near mint condition
 
Some pics:


The rear showing sockets for audio outputs and power input and AC voltage selection:

EMT1.jpg


A closer look at the audio ports:

EMT2.jpg


Part of the control panel. The figure of 8 button toggles between mono and stereo.

EMT3.jpg


Tonearm controls: spin, stop spin, drop arm, raise arm:

EMT4.jpg


EMT TSD 15 MC cartridge:

EMT6.jpg

EMT7.jpg


Tracking force of 2.5g:

EMT8.jpg

EMT10.jpg

EMT11.jpg

EMT12.jpg

Few setup points:
1/ levelling of the table is easily achieved by adjusting the four threaded rod footers.
2/ for power cords Prem has decided to go back basics by using regular computer power cables. No fancy cable. The schuko pins of both the power cables for TT and amp were chopped off and were directly twisted to the power cable in the wall, and protected with plastic wire nuts.
3/ TT to amp balanced cabling uses very cheap Studiotechnik Dusch cables. This cable works very well.
4/ speakers are roughly placed without any fine tuning of position done with earlier TT.
5/ Left and Right channel balance adjustments are done from the built in phono preamp of the EMT 950. We struggled a bit here because we did not apply our minds:p. Neither did we read the manuals:D. I was reminded of the classic instruction, "RTFM".
6/ Arm came pre-balanced so there was nothing to do here.
7/ the usual room tuning devices did not work. Or more precisely, they were not required at all. There seems to be no need to compensate for the limitations of equipment.

First Impressions:
From the very first notes it was obvious that the 950 is a very different animal from the 938. We had big smiles from the moment we started listening. The most obvious difference was in the bass weight and texture. It has subterranean depth. The nuances and texture of bass are superb. With the 938 playing Stevie Ray Vaughan's Tin Pan Alley the quality of bass was my personal reference bass. The 938 is left far behind, biting the dust. A deep bass is no good if it eats into the all-important midrange. The Tekton Double Impact speakers demarcates the bass and mids distinctly, yet they play together as a "band" in harmony. I remember mentioning twice to Prem last night that the singer is in the room. Timing is spot on and there is a smooth sense of flow to the music. The same EMT TSD 15 cartridge is used but the amount of extra details the 950 digs up is amazing. The highs are delicate and ethereal. If I am to characterise the sound right now, I would say that it has an amazingly deep bass combined with delicate highs. The mids are a given, of course. A dream combo, in my opinion.

The 950 is certainly an upgrade over the 938 by a comfortable margin.

The balanced signal cable is new and will improve with burn in. Prem is expecting a couple of unconventional speaker cables. I am guessing things will improve further. All in all a punt that paid off exceedingly well.
 
[QUOTE="jls001

'A deep bass is no good if it eats into the all-important midrange'

Nicely said Josh and honest review too.
 
Thank you Record Player. Wish you a very quick sale of your Garrard 401. And look forward to you joining the EMT gang :)
 
RTFM was and is always discarded by me....but one thing is for sure...after having techincs turntable ...there are lot of variable involved in vinyl playback ..be it tone arm, mat, tonearm cables, isolation platform, cartridge(MM,MC) and phono stage....after reading all this i am tempted to this high end platform of EMT...which says you are all good with this existing setup....by the way i am in chembur Mumbai till Tuesday evening.....just want to listen to your system if you are available.....
 
Hi dheerajin, system is not operational now. Work is going on at home. Should get over in two weeks. Anytime after that is fine
 
Congrats Prem !!! It’ a pleasant sight. Perfectly perfect. Please keep giving us more reviews on your EMT in the future. Am sure there will be more Pros than Cons. This is wealth to enjoy and entertain, much more than a life time. Best regards.
 
Congratulations Prem! It looks majestic! With the kind of experience you have listening to music at various studios and some of the best setups, getting impressed again is not easy. But you seem to be extremely happy with this TT's performance! Your joy is infectious :)
 
The Marantz PM7000N offers big, spacious and insightful sound, class-leading clarity and a solid streaming platform in a award winning package.
Back
Top