[]eep]

Do you recognize that situation that the puss in your house needs to approve of your loudspeakers? I was at first worried she would view it as giant scratching posts. But not so. All she did was give it... Oh... I only know the Dutch term for it "kopjes geven". Thanslate that and you will be amused. Leave her scent with saliva.

Anyway. She is very careful around my turntable. I have no worry at all with this cute sleepover. And the Maggie's are approved.

It reminds me of those old record covers and electronics adds with 'cover kittens'. It always sells well.

 

[bbophead]

Nice! I never trusted my cats with my Martin Logans or Maggies or Innersounds. Kept 'em covered up with the plastic wraps they came in when not in the room listening. Not attractive looking but preserved the various grills, ehh?

 

[]eep]

Nice! I never trusted my cats with my Martin Logans or Maggies or Innersounds. Kept 'em covered up with the plastic wraps they came in when not in the room listening. Not attractive looking but preserved the various grills, ehh?

I had the plastic bags on hand, thinking the same. I even specifically asked the shop when I bought them. I didn't get an answer though. These are very practical concerns I should think.

This kitty is very well behaved so I could let it go. And there's a very nice paw-friendly white suede designer couch right next to it :-/

OH well, her mom doesn't allow any speaker in the house. So I'm well off considering. What is that with women and audio gear? Meanwhile they insist on placing obnoxious vases and millions of trinkets in the living room.

 

[analogsurviver]

Hi, guys and - if any - gals ! Long see no time - or something in that sense.

I took a "virtual tour" of the recent Munich High End - via videos on analog posted by MF on YT Tracking Angle channel. About 6 hours total... ; but it was worth it.

After having to "endure" the generally astronomiically ( high 5, not that high six figure in price tag .... ) priced but nevertheles "interesting" gear in the first three parts, there was a revelation in Part Four :



Below I include all I could find on this spectacularly ingenious tonearm, the SUPATRACK Blackbird :

https://www.hifiaf.com/supatrac-blackbird/



https://www.hifiaf.com/supatrac-blackbird-updated/

https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/supatrac_blackbird_e.html

https://supatrac.com/

In case you don't "get it" from the above ( WELL worth the time for reading/watching ), here a nice explanation of the Kuzma 4Point bearing principle - as a teaser for the upcoming review in The Absolute Sound of the Kuzma Safir 9 tonearm:



The SUPATRACK Blackbird achieves - as one of the very few arms ever made available - totally stable pivot with negligible friction - something no ball, air, knife edge, unipivot, gimbal, ( any conventional bearing one might think of ) bearing system can claim, let alone achieve.. This or thereabouts performance level has been hitherto reserved for the select few ( Kuzma, Schroeder, apologize for any I have left out that do have bearing system preventing any free play, no matter how microscopic ) arms priced several times the price of the Blackbird.

When it comes to the effecive mass of only around 10 grams, it stands alone. This allows for the use of high(er) compliance cartridges - and in case you need a heavy tonearm, it is possible to add mass almost ad libitum. So, very versatile design.

It is a breaktrough like we have not witnessed in a long, long time.

One might balk on the non-existence of a VTA on the fly and/or micrometer for the same purpose - but, at the price, one should be reasonable.

Disclaimer - no affiliation with anyone from the links above - just the bearer of ( hopefully..) good news.

 

[]eep]

Hi, guys and - if any - gals ! Long see no time - or something in that sense.

I took a "virtual tour" of the recent Munich High End - via videos on analog posted by MF on YT Tracking Angle channel. About 6 hours total... ; but it was worth it.

After having to "endure" the generally astronomiically ( high 5, not that high six figure in price tag .... ) priced but nevertheles "interesting" gear in the first three parts, there was a revelation in Part Four :



Below I include all I could find on this spectacularly ingenious tonearm, the SUPATRACK Blackbird :

https://www.hifiaf.com/supatrac-blackbird/



https://www.hifiaf.com/supatrac-blackbird-updated/

https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/supatrac_blackbird_e.html

https://supatrac.com/

In case you don't "get it" from the above ( WELL worth the time for reading/watching ), here a nice explanation of the Kuzma 4Point bearing principle - as a teaser for the upcoming review in The Absolute Sound of the Kuzma Safir 9 tonearm:



The SUPATRACK Blackbird achieves - as one of the very few arms ever made available - totally stable pivot with negligible friction - something no ball, air, knife edge, unipivot, gimbal, ( any conventional bearing one might think of ) bearing system can claim, let alone achieve.. This or thereabouts performance level has been hitherto reserved for the select few ( Kuzma, Schroeder, apologize for any I have left out that do have bearing system preventing any free play, no matter how microscopic ) arms priced several times the price of the Blackbird.

When it comes to the effecive mass of only around 10 grams, it stands alone. This allows for the use of high(er) compliance cartridges - and in case you need a heavy tonearm, it is possible to add mass almost ad libitum. So, very versatile design.

It is a breaktrough like we have not witnessed in a long, long time.

One might balk on the non-existence of a VTA on the fly and/or micrometer for the same purpose - but, at the price, one should be reasonable.

Disclaimer - no affiliation with anyone from the links above - just the bearer of ( hopefully..) good news.

Hey, thanks Analogsurvivor. Long time no see.

This is exactly what I wanted to share! This interesting tonearm is within the normal 2k price range. And the idea is friggin' genius! Yet it's so simple. Who said you can't improve on a over 100 year old product?

The arm does have that distinguished british homebrew look. Because it is. Yet it's very solid. One reviewer used half a kilo of mass on the back for a Mijayima mono cartridge. Now here's another coincidence there which I happen to know since I have the Miyajima Zero, Miyajima San uses the same idea for his cantilever suspension! Not a rubber ring and a tension wire but a pivot point pointing forward. This arm is a uni-pivot, only its not pointing up, but forward. It's like hanging a painting on the wall from a nail with a thread, and the hanging part has one spike pushing to the wall. It does not wobble and it can't go through the wall. So simple.

I also enjoyed the bit with Rik Stoet whom I know. I however suspect a lot on his Akumi table is Chinese origen. He makes it sound as if he engineered it but i know the previous models were straight Amari design. No problem because the quality and the price are very competitive.

I also really enjoyed watching Michael do this report. The only downside is the noisy background and the idiotic youtube policy on music so he has to cut out the sou d in order not to get demonetised or thrown out.

I also watched another video by qualio audio, which is even longer with 3,5h. It's not focussed on vinyl though. But he uses very good directional microphones which sound amazing. Like you are there. Without hardly any background noise. After watching the whole thing it feels like I've been there. Even with the same fatigue from all the impressions. And ringing ears.

 

[]eep]

And look what I got today!

Look at the parts quality. This is just begging for modification. Look at those fat copper traces. And how the values are written on the board. I don't mean that as a negative, but I think they just put in above average coupling caps waiting to be maxed out. The big ones are Ero 1813 MKT, ok but I'd rate them a 6/10. The small ones are mysterious.
Look at how much space there is reserved, the extra holes. It's just looking at you with bedroom eyes... Like a Hummer at the gas station... Fill 'er up.

OK, it's not. It's just a board. But it is far from average. The linear power supply is in a seperate hefty box.

And I have some vintage Philips ECC83 (12AX7) ready for it. And Sprague Vitamin Q PiO caps. Or Russian Teflon..
I'm going with Gudeman 0.105uF PiO and Sprague 118p 1.57uF both matched to the last digit
Hmm, I had to look it up again. Those Sprague 118p are vintage glass sealed paper in wax (not oil), military version of the 'bumblebees'.
I also have some Russian 0.22 Teflon, but those are HUGE. And 0.1 K40y but I'm going with Gudeman.


I would rather say I'm back at it. I made speakers last few years and now I'm back on phono amps. My old Jolida is still unbeaten when it comes to sound quality. But the Gold Note is much more versatile and maybe a bit more refined.

I wanted one for the third arm of my oil rig. It turns out it matches really well with my new Gold Note PH10 +PSU10. Same height two box with just 1 knob and blue LED. Photos will follow.

 

[analogsurviver]

Hi Jeep who are not a car ( my khm...omputor mastery does not stretch to ttyping your proper name - or did I forget it -again ? ) !

I see yoa are still at it - nice ! The crazyest caps ( like crazy in a good way ... ) for that 1 uF value are Soviet era polystyrene khaki grren ones - you might be lucky to still find then on ebay. The biggest value I've seen is 0.5uF/250V at 0.5% tolerance- so it would require two in parallel. You might - juuust miiight - squezze them iin this HSD preamp within the available space. I forgot the exact type designation off the bat, but can look up in my stash if you're interested.

For those not exactly familiar with polystyrene caps - the value mentioned is best described as roughly an equivalent of european shoe size of - 450 ...

 

[penmarker]

Hi, guys and - if any - gals ! Long see no time - or something in that sense.

I took a "virtual tour" of the recent Munich High End - via videos on analog posted by MF on YT Tracking Angle channel. About 6 hours total... ; but it was worth it.

After having to "endure" the generally astronomiically ( high 5, not that high six figure in price tag .... ) priced but nevertheles "interesting" gear in the first three parts, there was a revelation in Part Four :



Below I include all I could find on this spectacularly ingenious tonearm, the SUPATRACK Blackbird :

https://www.hifiaf.com/supatrac-blackbird/



https://www.hifiaf.com/supatrac-blackbird-updated/

https://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/supatrac_blackbird_e.html

https://supatrac.com/

In case you don't "get it" from the above ( WELL worth the time for reading/watching ), here a nice explanation of the Kuzma 4Point bearing principle - as a teaser for the upcoming review in The Absolute Sound of the Kuzma Safir 9 tonearm:



The SUPATRACK Blackbird achieves - as one of the very few arms ever made available - totally stable pivot with negligible friction - something no ball, air, knife edge, unipivot, gimbal, ( any conventional bearing one might think of ) bearing system can claim, let alone achieve.. This or thereabouts performance level has been hitherto reserved for the select few ( Kuzma, Schroeder, apologize for any I have left out that do have bearing system preventing any free play, no matter how microscopic ) arms priced several times the price of the Blackbird.

When it comes to the effecive mass of only around 10 grams, it stands alone. This allows for the use of high(er) compliance cartridges - and in case you need a heavy tonearm, it is possible to add mass almost ad libitum. So, very versatile design.

It is a breaktrough like we have not witnessed in a long, long time.

One might balk on the non-existence of a VTA on the fly and/or micrometer for the same purpose - but, at the price, one should be reasonable.

Disclaimer - no affiliation with anyone from the links above - just the bearer of ( hopefully..) good news.

Hi, its been a while analogsurviver

The Kuzma 4Point arms from TrackingAngle's Youtube video seem a little peculiar. Those thick python RCA cables are connected directly to the pivoting section of the tonearm. That couldn't be good for movement.

 

[]eep]

Hi, its been a while analogsurviver

The Kuzma 4Point arms from TrackingAngle's Youtube video seem a little peculiar. Those thick python RCA cables are connected directly to the pivoting section of the tonearm. That couldn't be good for movement.

Indeed. That does not look very well thought out. I think it's a prototype showing the vta adjust iirc. Not sure though.

 

[analogsurviver]

Hi, its been a while analogsurviver

The Kuzma 4Point arms from TrackingAngle's Youtube video seem a little peculiar. Those thick python RCA cables are connected directly to the pivoting section of the tonearm. That couldn't be good for movement.

Hi, penmarker ! Yes, I decided not pasrticipate in forums unless really important - as in the case of the tonearm in the post above.

Those thick python RCA cables are infact OK if dressed according to the instructions supplied with the Kuzma arms.

 

[analogsurviver]

Indeed. That does not look very well thought out. I think it's a prototype showing the vta adjust iirc. Not sure though.

The Kuzma 4Point shown in MF's video is not a prototype, but one of the first from the initial production run. The only meaningful difference to currenttly produced version of the 4Point is an addition of the sapphire cups for the 4 "spikes" to improve the durability and (slightly) friction values - which were more than good enough to begin with with the arm shown. It is one of the very best sounding tonearms in the world - at a price still relatively reasonable compared to the current crop of its competition.

This cable layout requires enough of free space on the TT to which it is mounted. Look up any photo of the actual implementation. - countless on the web.

What I find extremely troublesome is the effective mass ( 4Point is no lightweight either ) of the new Safir 9" arm ...

60 g .

 

[penmarker]

Ok I looked through some videos of the tonearm in action playing records and the cable is not being pulled by the arm, only the top part pivots horizontally. During installation the cable is actually removed from the moving assembly and remounted to the static base.

4 points of contact to avoid any play - that's very smart.

My setup at the moment.

 

[]eep]

I have to share just one more picture of the new inside of my newest phono-amplifier, the 2-box EAR 834P clone. I had to do some digging before I started and found good info on this board on lencoheaven. Turns out I was right about the distortion/overmodulation. Tube three had a resistor for use with an 12Au7. No problem, I have some nice NOS for those too. I replaced the 'ok' coupling caps, with some nice vintage glass-sealed PiO caps. Don't just trust the values written on the schematic or board. I measured 27V where it said to use 250V caps. So my 100V 0.1uF were good. Tubes are Philips Holland and an FSR (idk what that is but similar).

I did have a listen before and after. Before was already really good. For €175+ 60p&p and some Chinese tubes it was a steal. If you put an ecc82 on 3rd base. [edit: that's according to the schematic, however I noticed annoying distortion so I put the ecc82 in first position and it sounds perfect] It sounded lush and spacious. And I didn't notice much tube noise. [edit: I did some rearranging and used my RubyII and added an extra ground wire from EAR to x-former, the noise is virtually non existent even with my ear to the speaker]
After was just WOW! It sounds so smooth. Spacious, direct, open and just soooo smooth. I intended it for just mono, for my mono arm (arm +cart is 5.5k new!). I'm so not sure about it now. And my Gold Note PH10 is 10x the price (yes, it's so much more versatile).

With vinyl, prices often don't mean anything. And often they do. Mass, labour and craftsmanship is never cheap, but patents can cost you. As can what's 'in fashion'.

 

[]eep]

This reminds me to post a system I made for a friend, a young girl who wanted to be able to play records but didn't have any money. She bought a Crossley that was a total disaster (she was able to sell it fortunately).

So this is what I made. The outside pair is my own. The inside pair is made of ripped woofers from a Philips centre speaker with new berillium/copper/neodymium tweeters and just one high quality mkp cap.
The platform contains a 100W class-D amp with BT5 and aux, a cheap but just ok Douk opamp based phono-amp, and room to put the cover of the album you're playing. The volume knob is vintage. The turntable is a chuo denki OEM which is really bottom end but it will do. It needs a new cartridge some time soon. And a tighter belt. But hey, I bought it for €5.

Total price in materials was €100. Thats all she could afford. I made it for free. The bamboo is from scraps but really solid. Finished with Rubio monocoat wallnut. The speakers sound incredible with BT. On par with a pair of LS3/5a's. I know because I owned them. These are better.

The photo hardly does them justice. I was really pleased with the tolerances. No gaps at all. The flow of the joints look really as it it were from a solid block.
Only that dustcover was really ruined.

You can check the tolerance on the backside. How cool is that, your own speakers, custom made with your name on it? (yes, lasering turned out slightly crooked on this side, laserpecker is very basic).
And you can drive them well with a 3W tube amp. I tested it.

 

[Riccioli30]

This reminds me to post a system I made for a friend, a young girl who wanted to be able to play records but didn't have any money. She bought a Crossley that was a total disaster (she was able to sell it fortunately).

So this is what I made. The outside pair is my own. The inside pair is made of ripped woofers from a Philips centre speaker with new berillium/copper/neodymium tweeters and just one high quality mkp cap.
The platform contains a 100W class-D amp with BT5 and aux, a cheap but just ok Douk opamp based phono-amp, and room to put the cover of the album you're playing. The volume knob is vintage. The turntable is a chuo denki OEM which is really bottom end but it will do. It needs a new cartridge some time soon. And a tighter belt. But hey, I bought it for €5.

Total price in materials was €100. Thats all she could afford. I made it for free. The bamboo is from scraps but really solid. Finished with Rubio monocoat wallnut. The speakers sound incredible with BT. On par with a pair of LS3/5a's. I know because I owned them. These are better.

The photo hardly does them justice. I was really pleased with the tolerances. No gaps at all. The flow of the joints look really as it it were from a solid block.
Only that dustcover was really ruined.





You can check the tolerance on the backside. How cool is that, your own speakers, custom made with your name on it? (yes, lasering turned out slightly crooked on this side, laserpecker is very basic).
And you can drive them well with a 3W tube amp. I tested it.

when I read this post, I don't know why, I breathed the air of when I was young and curious. I do not know why. A wind on my arms touched me. Handsome. I d’nt kw why.