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[RamblinE]

It makes my Grado Green1 distort less towards the inner grooves. 
 
Guy on Audiokarma told me (after the fact, of course) that it compensates for bearing jitter. 
 
I was "modifying" one of my wire shelves today with a hacksaw and only after wards thought of something I might be able to use the left over hacked-off wire for. Affixed carefully with superglue making sure I wasn't permanently gluing the stylus to the cartridge body in the process. 

 

[Silent One]

Love that coloured vinyl!

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

It makes my Grado Green1 distort less towards the inner grooves. 
 
Guy on Audiokarma told me (after the fact, of course) that it compensates for bearing jitter. 
 
I was "modifying" one of my wire shelves today with a hacksaw and only after wards thought of something I might be able to use the left over hacked-off wire for. Affixed carefully with superglue making sure I wasn't permanently gluing the stylus to the cartridge body in the process. 

"Longhorning" since originally described by Frank Van Alstine in his Audio Basics in early 80s.
The only arm bearing without "jitter" is unipivot ( and Schroeder etc ) - and even with unipivot, Longhorn will still improve sound, by reducing the effects of arm tube/headshell joint etc flexibilities. Saw tons of prototypes by Ortofon - but obviously, the looks kept them from becoming comercially available product.
 
Although Longhorn will have the most effect/improvement on lower end gear, it can squeeze that last n-th degree of performance even from the finest gear available.

 

[RamblinE]

I'm just shocked by the level of improvement. It's not perfect but it makes LPs much easier to listen to on my K701s which never hide any faults ever. 

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

I'm just shocked by the level of improvement. It's not perfect but it makes LPs much easier to listen to on my K701s which never hide any faults ever. 

Usual reaction. Going back to "Non-Longhorn" cart will prove difficult.

 

[RamblinE]

Quote:

Usual reaction. Going back to "Non-Longhorn" cart will prove difficult.

Well I'm hoping not to have this table next year... 
 
That super-cheap U-Turn Audio Orbit when it goes on sale (I missed the Kickstarter campaign) is supposed to have a unipivot arm  

 

[BLACKENEDPLAGUE]

Absolutely eyeballing the Orbit, but was concerned about the price being too good to be true

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

Well I'm hoping not to have this table next year... 
 
That super-cheap U-Turn Audio Orbit when it goes on sale (I missed the Kickstarter campaign) is supposed to have a unipivot arm  

A super duper version of Longhorn would not be out of place on any cart/arm - regardless of price.
 
I kinda forgot about U-Turn Kickstarter - because it can not (as of yet ) cross the Pond. 220/240 V 50 Hz AC in Europe would require EU version, after all the shipping and customs, its price would likely be double whatever it will cost in the US. And going against Regas and Projects, which are well established in the market,  at whatever about similar price,  would prove difficult. 
 
Which all does not distract one bit from the appeal this deck has. Inverted main bearing and unipivot arm should sound great and make unit to unit consistency very good - something that can not be done using anything else - given the price level.

 

[penmarker]

Was hoping to get some suitable tubes to make the Longhorn myself, but this shop/office I'm working in (R&D for an exhibition display company) don't have the right materials.
 
RamblinE when you mentioned about the inner groove tracking improvement, I jumped a little and just go, "screw it, I need this."

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

Was hoping to get some suitable tubes to make the Longhorn myself, but this shop/office I'm working in (R&D for an exhibition display company) don't have the right materials.
 
RamblinE when you mentioned about the inner groove tracking improvement, I jumped a little and just go, "screw it, I need this."

Inner groove tracking distortion does not get any better with the Longhorn - if the alignment of the cart and stylus remain constant. But going is so tough at the inner grooves that any reduction of unwanted torsional movements is perceived as reduction of inner groove distortion.
 
Seriously, if anyone is toying with an idea of upgrade of a say $ 500 deck with something not exceeding say $2K - do try the Longhorn first. It may well spare you a coin or two.

 

[KT66]

My Lyra Clavis DC playing Ziggy Stardust red vinyl.

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

My Lyra Clavis DC playing Ziggy Stardust red vinyl.

I remember the first Lyra, the original Clavis, as one of the first carts to achieve extremely low noise when playing the vinyl groove. Ticks and pops went quite a few nothes down with it. Measured superb too - beter than subsequent incarnations IMO.

 

[RamblinE]

Quote:

Inner groove tracking distortion does not get any better with the Longhorn - if the alignment of the cart and stylus remain constant. But going is so tough at the inner grooves that any reduction of unwanted torsional movements is perceived as reduction of inner groove distortion.
 
Seriously, if anyone is toying with an idea of upgrade of a say $ 500 deck with something not exceeding say $2K - do try the Longhorn first. It may well spare you a coin or two.

I have been tweaking the alignment for months now with a simple Ortofon alignment protractor that my hifi sales acquaintance recommended. It was $6 at Quest For Sound. The body and cantilever are as square as I can physically make them. 
 
I'm always learning something new about vinyl setup however I think I've got the alignment spot on right now. Not ruling out the possibility of being wrong but I'm confident this time. 

 

[analogsurviver]

Quote:

I have been tweaking the alignment for months now with a simple Ortofon alignment protractor that my hifi sales acquaintance recommended. It was $6 at Quest For Sound. The body and cantilever are as square as I can physically make them. 
 
I'm always learning something new about vinyl setup however I think I've got the alignment spot on right now. Not ruling out the possibility of being wrong but I'm confident this time. 

If you glued the Longhorn paralel/perpendicular to the cart, then your alignment must be very precise - it is visible from your photo from that distance!
I doubt it is not spot on.
 
If the Longhorn is mounted precisely, that is to say perpendicular to the cartridge in all 3 dimensions, it is a child's play to see if the cart is laterally aligned at any alignment point - you have 5-7 cm 2-3 " flat reference surface, far easier to work with than just the front of the cart that is in best case scenario 20 mm wide, but usually half that. If precisely mounted, Longhorn not only improves sound, it is a great aid for correct alignment. One reason more to do it right.
 
You can not see much tracking angle error with pivoted arms due to cart ( front ) being so small. With Longhorn, you wil imediately see there are two points that are accurate only - everywhere else it is visible from great distance that there is an error.
 
As always - enjoy your music !

 

[Destroysall]

Quote:

A super duper version of Longhorn would not be out of place on any cart/arm - regardless of price.
 
I kinda forgot about U-Turn Kickstarter - because it can not (as of yet ) cross the Pond. 220/240 V 50 Hz AC in Europe would require EU version, after all the shipping and customs, its price would likely be double whatever it will cost in the US. And going against Regas and Projects, which are well established in the market,  at whatever about similar price,  would prove difficult. 
 
Which all does not distract one bit from the appeal this deck has. Inverted main bearing and unipivot arm should sound great and make unit to unit consistency very good - something that can not be done using anything else - given the price level.

True, but its still worth checking out. Steven Guttenberg (CNET) reserved a table, so I'm sure he'll post a review once he can.