My pleasure sir.Fretless wrote: ↑Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:06 am "... and what has happened to the humble Pro-Ject Debut?" I hear you cry. "Has it been condemned to the great attic in the sky, full of forgotten and discarded audio apparatus?".
No, it hasn't (sighs of online relief) - it has been quietly sitting and waiting for a cartridge. After months of travel, postal vagaries and the infinite bungling of Brexit-regulated customs there has arrived a neat little Goldring Elan, provided by the immense kindness of HFS-stalwart 'The Marlin' (he of the many jokes & funnies).
The Goldring Elan is a budget workhorse, designed to operate under almost any circumstances and looked to be a good match for this TT. Fitting was a tricky process as the unit is quite small and extremely light; so light that I was unable to set the tracking weight at first as the counterweight couldn't go any further up the arm. Then I remembered the Debut's removable finger-lift, added that and the extra grams of mass were just enough to give me useable tracking force.
Soundwise the Debut / Elan combo is FUN! Bouncy, punchy with surprisingly sharp detail and imaging. Bass isn't too deep but comes across as well-defined and foot-tappingly hefty. Putting an old favourite on, 'Angel Station' from Manfred Mann's Earth Band, I was transported back in time as the LP sounded exactly as I remembered it from my teenage years. Brilliant!
A photo for the archives of the Logic and Debut together. Excuse the messy cardboard under the Pro-Ject - temporary fix to level it out for a listen. Putting the DM101 back into the system did reveal what the Debut lacks - but it has acquitted itself well with the Elan cartridge and will serve nicely as a backup TT for the foreseeable future.
Thanks again to The Marlin.
Next stop - Grado Signature MCZ. Stay tuned.
The Goldring Elan and Electra are identical, the only difference being the Elan has a conical stylus.
So, finding an Elektra stylus might give a slightly different sound.
For those who don’t know, the Elan/Elektra are not made to a Goldring design, but we’re in fact designed for Goldring by Nagoaka.
They sound almost identical to the Nagoaka MP110, loads of detail, very musical, punchy, a really enjoyable budget cartridge that punches way above its weight, and runs rings around a 2M Red.
I may have a spare unused Elektra cartridge, will have a hint around for you