Test-setup
Contents
We connect the Thorens to a Pro-Ject MM/MC Phono Box because we have the version without phono pre-amp. This is also an entry-level phonostage, so it fits well with the TD 170. The Phono Box is connected to the line input of the Stax 006t amplifier that the electrostatic headphone SR 404 Signature. In the living room we use the Linn Majik I preamplifier which has a built-in phono stage. The TD 170 is delivered by from distributor Viertron all adjusted and installed.
Eden
We play the first album, the debut album of Everything But The Girl from 1984, Eden. This album sounds completely different from EBTG’s more current work when it collaborated with the likes Massive Attack. What remains is the voice of Tracey Thorn, which is hard to capture in words. Thorn hardly uses vibrato in her voice and therefore there seems to be a kind of natural compression that makes her ‘from behind the throat’ voice more penetrating than usual. In combination her  low alto voice, Tracy Thorn is very recognisable in all genres EBTG performs in.
Eden is jazzy and ambient, with catchy horn players and smooth arrangements. Moreover, the opening track Each And Everyone is a challenge for a record player, because apparently the deesser was switched off in London’s Power Plant studios. The s-es hiss abundantly and this is immediately audible/punished if a turntable has an cartridge that performs  under par or if the tone arm adjustment, the cartridge/record angle,  or the arm weight is not optimal. We can be short; on the TD 170 the record doesn’t sound nice. The s-sounds seem to be amplified and sharpened and the sound image seems flattened.
“We are all just prisoners here, of our own device”
We’ll take another LP, the 180 gram version of Hotel California by The Eagles. It already sounds a lot better in terms of sound balance and dynamics. The fact that the soundstage is not as big as we are used to from the digital version can be explained by the fact that we are dealing with an entry-level turntable.
Still, we don’t like the fact that the sound is so different from other turntables. We dive into the specifications of the element, the Ortofon OM10 and we see that the recommended impedance is 47 kOhm, and the capacitance load is 200 pF or more. The phono preamplifier will have to comply with these values.
As it turns out… the Pro Ject Phono Box doesn’t get any further than 120 pF. We therefore take another phono preamplifier, one with an adjustable charging capacity. This feature is usually only available phonostages in the high end category. We are happy to own a beautiful device from Nakamichi, the 610 control amplifier. We can connect multiple turntables to this and adjust the capacitance load and impedance so it fits the specifications of the element. At the recommended capacitance load, much more detail and soundstage can be heard in the music. In fact, the sound image seems to open up, as if a completely different system is playing.
Picofarad
In hindsight it makes sense; the output resistance of the element and the voltage must match the corresponding values of the phono pre-stage. This does not go without saying though, and we certainly not expect this to be happening in the price range of this turntable. The Pro-Ject phonostage we used first is a 120 euros device considered to be a very well performing and widely used preamp. And yet this one did not match. So pay close attention to the  electric connection values of the phono input of your amplifier and try several phono preamps with the Ortofon OM10 cartridge.
For those who think that most of the elements have the same values, are wrong. The Audio Technica 95 E, in price and quality similar to the Ortofon OM10, also has 47 kOhm impedance but requires a charging capacity of 100 pF. If you connect this element to a preamplifier of 200 pF, you will hear a somewhat boring midrange. Pffff…
For those who want to know more about the relation between the resistance of an element and the capacitance load (CL, capacitance load), we refer to this article where measurements have been made at different values.
