MoFi Studiodeck

Click pics to enlarge. AES SE-1 300B amp; Fosgate Reference phonoamp; Audiomaster LS3/5A; in far corner, Elekit TU-8300 300B amp.

Review: Mobile Fidelity Studiodeck

NYC Analog Log (23-3): C/P at its Highest!

Note: The first part of this article (in blue shade) is copied from a recent post that alerts readers of the sale. If you have read it before you may want to skip this part.

These days I don't often casually browse around the internet, my daily forays usually mostly limited to news, email checking and maintenance of this blog, in a word targeted and short. So I cannot even recall how I discovered this.

I had long been interested in MoFi's ventures into consumer audio, and I must say they have done it with style and substance. I purchased the Studiophono (contribution by Tim de Paravicini) and it is still competitive in its price class (here). At the time, I too wanted the Allen Perkins designed Studiodeck (or the Ultradeck) but refrained as I had too many TTs. BUT, now, with the substantial discount it proved impossible to resist. I opted for the deck without cartridge (USD 899) as I don't need the MM Studiotracker of the + version. Note that there is also an even cheaper "Foundation" version (USD 799), which does include the MM cartridge but is without the dust cover and HRX feet - well worth considering too.

I got it yesterday and of course immediately set it up. It deserves a lengthy report, which I shall write in due time. Suffice to say for now it compares favorably (and beyond) to my standard, the Technics SL-1200 Mk II, and that's no mean feat. I am writing this just to alert our readers.

Our author Shawn P told me that this was on sale too in Hong Kong (agent: Radar) for an even lower price, 5,800. Wow! Too bad the sales was over.

As a final note, unlike most lower priced offerings (and even some expensive ones) the arm is fully adjustable (VTA, Azimuth, etc). Because of its 10" effective length, unusual for a "starter" deck, it's necessarily a little larger in footprint than usual (19.5" by 14.25") and may not fit on some racks if you are not putting it on top.

If you are looking to upgrade, say, from your U-Turn, low end Pro-ject etc, this would be my choice. I'd pick it over Rega P3 (even P6) for example. In fact, money permits, this would serve the starter right off the bat too (perhaps with a Studiophono). For less money, my recommendation for starter deck remains Audio-Technica AT-PL120. This is not just for newbies at all: you'd have to spend a LOT more to get better performance. If you are experienced and want a second deck with full features, consider this moment!

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The above Primer just about covers all the salient points! Below I shall give more details, especially on aspects of design, including some that I have reservations about (fortunately these are peripheral issues).

 

It is important to note that, given the clout of MoFi, the internet is laden with reviews of their TTs, from trade mags to webzines. Ponder this: The majority of reviews are on the more expensive Ultradeck+ package, which include MoFi's own MM cartridges. No MC. I have no doubt as configured they sound good, but they do NOT qualify as thorough reviews. Most of these reviews, particularly those from big guns, only use the supplied MMs and do NOT attempt to evaluate the TT with other cartridges. That is completely irresponsible and, frankly, smacks of conspiration to promote MoFi's own cartridges. Thumbs down! Read all of them, and there are a couple on the cheaper Studiodeck and a comment here or there. Make up your own mind. This is why I don't even provide a link and why I think this review is special. I am an MC man!

Packaging, Unpacking and Installation It arrived quickly in a HUGE box. The TT and the Cover are in an inner box, cushioned in the corners by large foam brackets. Unpacking was easy and installation intuitive that the small manual is hardly needed (except for where to position the anti-skate wire knot); it is too sketchy by half anyway. 

 

The Plinth and Footers The Constrained Layer Plinth (one layer of aluminum inside, as opposed to 3 in the higher level Ultradeck) feels solid and knocking on it (with or without footers on) yields only a thud without much decay. The somewhat delicate spring-loaded HRX Footers are screwed on (I see it is sold by Music Direct separately for $199, surely an afterthought). My IKEA Kallax shelf unit is mass loaded with LPs and solid but its top is not quite level, so, with the help of a bubble, the footers allowed me to level the TT. Nice!

Dust Cover The smoked plexiglass cover is significantly heavier than the usual ones (say, the one on my Technics SL-1200). Unusually, the hinges on the cover and the receptacles on the plinth have no metal parts, instead made of some kind of polymer (rather than hard plastic) and are not completely rigid. The lips on the cover have a bit of yield. The weight, the pliancy and the spring loaded footers add up to mean that the cover should be off when playing. The lid when lifted fully back is at an obtuse angle with the plinth (surely so designed because of its weight) and that will wreak havoc with the spring loaded footers and TT level. Quite unlike my Technics and Pioneer TTs which allow me to play LPs with the lids open (at an acute angle) with no fear.

 

The IEC Power Inlet The plinth is not thick and the receptacle is in the back. The stock power cord is surprisingly robust yet not overly rigid (good in my book). If you use heavy aftermarket power cords, especially the kind with silly monstrous connectors (which is unlikely for people who use this deck), you should avoid having the cord weigh down the TT in the back. So, dress the power cable so the left rear corner is not weighed down.

The Arm looks to be reasonably well made. The straight main length is metal (I don't like the imprinted MoFi logo and thin white line). There are 2 joints. Like a lot of other arms, the shorter weight bearing rear section looks to be joined to the main by a rubber/polymer insert (if you go to MoFi's site for the better pics you can see a ring between the 2 sections). The counterweight is lined inside with rubber-like material for grip onto the arm. The other joint is similar, this time affixing the plastic headshell (with offset). Just to the rear of this joint on the underside there is a small screw which allows one to adjust azimuth (not in the manual). A plastic platform is collared around the arm base and holds the Arm Rest, Arm Lift and Anti-Skate. The Arm Lift is nice in quality and usefully a side screw on the collar allows one to adjust its height. Caveat: if the lever is pulled down too much too quickly the lift actually doesn't go all the way down. In my experience, a similar thing can happen on some other arm lifts. After the lift goes down and settles, pressing the lever a bit more will actually prop up the lift too. So do it gently with this turntable. Another small issue: out of the box I thought the arm lift well has bottomed out; it turned out what I thought was the black bottom was a black plastic protector for the shiny metal well and has to be removed - took me a while to figure out! The Arm Base looks to be plastic and a side screw enables adjustment of VTA. To their credit, MoFi supplies 2 small allen wrenches for all these adjustments. It should be noted that the 10" arm's effective mass is 30g, which favors low compliance cartridges.

Headshell, Cartridge Mounting and Alignment Surely MoFi wants you to buy your TT with their own cartridges, so MoFi doesn't make it easy on you. They provide NO templates for cartridge mounting. Thumbs down! I quickly used the Shure tracking weight gauge and the paper template that came with my Thorens TD-309 (Baerwald) and installed my Denon DL-103 (inside daiwok's Midas aluminum shell; some application notes here). With a little shim and VTA adjustment, done. I should also note here that the Finger Lift is awfully short - my fingers are slender and I can't imagine what it's like for those with stubby ones. - very dangerous. Cartridge Clips The captured ones look to be of good quality, but they cannot accommodate an odd ball one like the mono Denon DL-102, which only has 2 pins and requires 2 leads for each channel, achievable only by an open-back pin design.

 

In Play The motor is quite strong, much more so than, say, my Clearaudio Concept. It is high torgue, starts with a "kinky" snap on the belt, and reaches speed within seconds. Not as fast as direct-drive but impressive nonetheless. It should be noted some designers deliberately choose low torgue, particularly with motors mounted on the plinth, for reduction of resonance; that shows Allen Perkins is confident about his plinth's ability to drain away unwanted noise. Without a mat, when I apply the ancient Discwasher dust brush lightly, there are minor slippages but that's OK. Some reviews praise the Record Weight, but as a rule I don't like the sound of weights (deader) and don't use them. Initially though, another issue shows up a design fault: The On-Off Button is too close to the Headshell. Like many old-timers, I am used to using my fingers rather than the arm lift lever (the latter in down position). When I lowered the needle manually with my thumb and index finger, my other curled up fingers would accidentally hit the sensitive On-Off button and turn the TT off. I had to learn to work around the button and remember this, but it was not difficult. This is a case where the (good) industrial design is at odds with function. And, worth a mention again, when in play I can knock on the plinth with modest force and neither see nor hear anything untoward.

The Phono Cable The Studiodeck comes with an RCA cable, with ground wire. It's soft and looks between routine and bespoke. Sonically it really surprised me, as it doled out a fully fleshed out sound, perhaps rounded off a trifle at the frequency extremes, yet eminently musical. This really pleased me, even more than what the unassuming stock cable of the Thorens TD-309 did. Users should start with this cable. I rolled quite a few and ultimately settled on the Kimber KCAG. It is said in one of the Ultradeck reviews that its included cable is made by Cardas (the Ultradeck tonearm wire is too, whereas the Studiodeck is OFC copper). So this may or may not be by Cardas but I'm pretty sure it's bespoke as it has MoFi imprinted connectors. It's a good starter. My various Gotham cables all work very well too. Although I don't use it now, I give a thumbs up to MoFi here for attention to detail. In my system, I don't even need to connect the ground.

Sound This TT came very soon after I started investigating the Sun Valley Phonoamp, so the listening notes apply here, and below in blue shade I quote from my review (roll down to last article or here). Skip if you have read it before.

I will illustrate this with 2 LPs I acquired on my recent UK trip (see in pic at the bottom). This pair proves to be so revealing of the analog system that I have stowed them into my pile of Test Discs! Paavo Berglund is a Sibelius specialist noted for his 3 complete cycles of symphonies. In this sonically excellent digital LP, the Finlandia is supposedly the centerpiece. While the account is excellent, it does not quite have the sheer opulence of the same orchestra under Ashkenazy (digital Decca recorded by Kenneth Wilkinson), nor the romantic sweep of the Halle under Barbirolli (also on EMI, ASD). What's makes it a demo disc for me is the Tapiola. Like many other Sibelius tone poems based on Nordic myths, it's not at all an easy piece to bring off, its many rather still moments of beauty demanding the utmost of the conductor's skill at piecing things together. The Sun Valley elevates the atmosphere (which means everything in Sibelius) to a rarefied level, revealing playing of the utmost sensitivity and beauty. I don't have Berglund's other versions on hand, but this version is still available as a Seraphim CD release at some vendors. The LP is likely uncommonly seen. Even more surprising is the Brahms Double Concerto on EMI. This is a recording that musically is almost the complete opposite of the much vaunted recording of Oistrakh/Rostropovich/Szell (also on EMI). The very different (more subtle) personalities of Ferras/Tortelier/Kletzi present a less heroic interpretation that honors the work for its refinement and interplay. The dialogue between the 2 great soloists was learned and deep, blending perfectly with the Philharmonia (at its peak) under the equally elegant Kletzi. It's a whole fabric in a work that can sound disjointed. Yet another example is a late DG recording of the immortal Wilhelm Kempff. The seamless rapport between the soloist and the BRSO under Klee is priceless (more so than the pianist's earlier Mozart concerti recordings). The very subtle but myriad colors of this pianist are utterly spellbinding. Now, I have concentrated on classicals because that's my benchmark and I firmly believe no review is near complete without playing a lot of classicals (which is why I abhor Ken Kessler). Suffice to say, the few vocals and jazz I played were done very well too - no problem there.

vs Technics SL-1200 As I used both TTs in my evaluation above, it is more instructive to tell you the differences between the two. Regular readers would know I hold the Technics in high esteem. AND installed on it is nothing but the same Denon DL-103. First, the chief technical differences in the two TTs: 1) the Technics is famously direct-drive, a technology that has in recent years come back with a vengeance, whereas the MoFi is belt drive; 2) the MoFi arm ls longer and heavier, so more advantageous for the low compliance Denon DL-103 (I have added weights [Blu-tac'ed coins] on the Technics arm); 3) By its added weight the aluminum shell for the Denon supposedly confers advantages, but results can be mixed (should you like read the link provided previously). Despite the differences the two decks have the same, rather unmistakably glorious, sonic imprint - that of the Denon DL-103. But differences are there: Rhythm is a strong suit of the direct-drive (and some say suspension TT, but I demur) and the Technics is famous for that. The Technics is perhaps a smidgen faster in transients, but the MoFi is no slouch at all. Occasionally, the Technics can be too much of a good thing, as one senses a bit of an insistence to its rhyhm and pace - there is no such feeling at all with the MoFi; Smoothness Even on a heavy arm the Denon DL-103 can be a little bit grainy in the treble. The Technics can be slightly aggressive too in this respect. Perhaps with the higher mass of the arm and cartridge shell, the MoFi is a little smoother in the treble. A couple of reviewers irresponsibly made the observation that the last bit of air is lacking in the MoFi, but that is only because they only used the supplied MM cartridges. A good MC would bring all that out; Dynamics I give the nod to MoFi. In orchestral fortissimos the MoFi feels effortless, more so than many other TTs. In a crescendo, the MoFi makes you feel the volume of the orchestra is increasing incrementally over the span of it, whereas lesser TTs just sound pressed or peak out early (similar to power amps).

 

Summary on the MoFi Studiodeck Amazingly, there is no significant weakness. It plays with both Rhythmic Finesse and Dynamic Composure. Magnificent! Yes, there are small caveats, but they are insignificant. Now, who is this deck for? I say, for everyone, including newbies. Except for those starting out, who may have no cartridges on hand and only an MM phonostage, I'd recommend considering dropping the +package(s) and opt for just the deck. If one just want to taste MM and move on, many cheap ones can be had. An obvious choice would be the venerable Audio Technica AT-VM95 series (I'd pick the cheapest 95C, conical, $39), descended from the legendary AT-95 (on which many more expensive MMs [like Clearaudio] are based upon, only replacing the plastic shell with aluminum, much like what people do for Denon DL-103). I'm sure the MoFi MMs are even better, but then MMs are not MCs in my book. SO, you owe it to yourself to use an MC on this deck. The Studiodeck represents true economy, as I am confident you can use it with cartridges and phonoamps that are way more expensive than its price and still be satisfied. Right now I am using the Fosgate Signature phonoamp with it. In fact, if I have time, I might install my Koetsu on it! I am sure an incremental improvement can be obtained with the significantly more expensive Ultradeck but, unless there is a sale, I'd not consider it. The Studiodeck is likely the sweetspot.

Thoughts on the Technics SL-1200 There are at least tens of thousands of the old productions (Mk I to Mk 5) out there. Significant attrition due to heavy DJ abuse does not stop many of these to be available second-hand, but prices have climbed steadily. In 2016 Technics revived new productions (as well as its most iconic SP-10). The first ones are very expensive upgraded ones (G, GAE etc). By now, however, the technology has trickled down to the newest SL-1200, the $1,100 Mk 7. Unlike its very expensive brethens, there is almost no coverage in the audiophile press, and that's too bad. For a little more, the updraded SL-1200GR can be had for $1,800. And there is another worthwhile contender, the $1300 SL-1500C which dispenses with all the speed controls (that we don't use), adds auto return and upgrades to the GR motor. These are the TTs I'd buy in this price range (also the MoFi).

Thoughts on Denon DL-103 What more can I say? It's a classic that delivers all the drama inherent in the music, all for very little. There are nerds out there who insist that without proper loading and heavy arm it is unlistenable - don't let them deter you.

TT on IKEA Kallax shelf unit. "Midas" Denon DL-103, Fosgate Reference Phono

Oliver Sayes 71A SE amp.