[]eep]

Lol. That is very apt. I already feel inadequate with 'only' 3 arms and 10 TT's in total. Feels like the dog called 'Tripod'. I own a Koetsu urushi tsugaru, only the diamond fell off (don't use stylus cleaner based on alcohol ). However, I have just bought a new MC with silver coils and sapphire cantilever. An OEM manufacturer from China for a great price. No reason to complain, vinyl is booming and the quality is improving.

So. Not that I'm envious, I feel truly blessed. I AM truely blessed. Let's just enjoy the good things.

 

[mulveling]

This is my main table

Great setup! Wow.
Does your original FR cue assembly still work well? Mine was gone - no more damping. I replaced it with the Audio Silente replacement part. MUCH better, and much safer again for my Blue Lace
http://www.audiosilente.com/bracci-fidelity-alzabraccio-inox-per-fidelity-research.html

 

[mulveling]

Trying something new-to-me in the office (#2) system. A previously used VPI Avenger Reference. Love it! The Clearaudio Innovation Compact sounded good, but its magnetic bearing was NOT a good fit for this room. I can play louder with the VPI. Even more so now that I swapped the amp to NAD M22, and now even bi-amping with a pair of them. Those amps are stupid good for how cheap they go for these days. The Unipivot Fatboy is a really nice arm, and sounds even better with dual pivot.

 

[AnyDave]

Trying something new-to-me in the office (#2) system. A previously used VPI Avenger Reference. Love it! The Clearaudio Innovation Compact sounded good, but its magnetic bearing was NOT a good fit for this room. I can play louder with the VPI. Even more so now that I swapped the amp to NAD M22, and now even bi-amping with a pair of them. Those amps are stupid good for how cheap they go for these days. The Unipivot Fatboy is a really nice arm, and sounds even better with dual pivot.

Very nice. I have an old VPI Aries with a Graham arm that I still don't feel inclined to upgrade or replace.

 

[joeling]

Great setup! Wow.
Does your original FR cue assembly still work well? Mine was gone - no more damping. I replaced it with the Audio Silente replacement part. MUCH better, and much safer again for my Blue Lace
http://www.audiosilente.com/bracci-fidelity-alzabraccio-inox-per-fidelity-research.html

Thanks. I did the same

 

[mulveling]

Very nice. I have an old VPI Aries with a Graham arm that I still don't feel inclined to upgrade or replace.

Nor should you feel the need! That Aries & Graham is a great rig. Once you have a solid deck like that, I feel that 90 - 95% of your resultant sound comes down to the following:

• Cartridge & phono stage choice. These are by far the biggest influence on sound. They need to be a good match to each other and to your sonic preferences. If you have an MC cart, the MC stage portion of your phono chain (JFET, opamps, SUT, current injection) is especially impactful!
• Avoid egregious mismatches of cart to arm (e.g. Koetsu on a very light unipivot).
• Resolve isolation & feedback issues - the proper support solution may change depending on your table! E.g. the Clearaudio magnetic bearing can be pure nightmare fuel in rooms with bouncy floors.

The last 5 - 10% of sound comes from the table & arm, and this ends up being a very emotional choice for many of us (myself included). I occasionally think of selling my Clearaudio Master Innovation, but every time I look at it, that idea is dashed lol. It's just too damn pretty. People pay the same money for sculptures I find hideously ugly - many of our high end tables qualify as functional art.

 

[]eep]

Nor should you feel the need! That Aries & Graham is a great rig. Once you have a solid deck like that, I feel that 90 - 95% of your resultant sound comes down to the following:

• Cartridge & phono stage choice. These are by far the biggest influence on sound. They need to be a good match to each other and to your sonic preferences. If you have an MC cart, the MC stage portion of your phono chain (JFET, opamps, SUT, current injection) is especially impactful!
• Avoid egregious mismatches of cart to arm (e.g. Koetsu on a very light unipivot).
• Resolve isolation & feedback issues - the proper support solution may change depending on your table! E.g. the Clearaudio magnetic bearing can be pure nightmare fuel in rooms with bouncy floors.

The last 5 - 10% of sound comes from the table & arm, and this ends up being a very emotional choice for many of us (myself included). I occasionally think of selling my Clearaudio Master Innovation, but every time I look at it, that idea is dashed lol. It's just too damn pretty. People pay the same money for sculptures I find hideously ugly - many of our high end tables qualify as functional art.

I agree. Mostly and in general. But sometimes the cabling can be the weak link. I remember my old Pro-ject Perspective. The previous owner had upgraded the arm cables to single run Cardas. It replaced my trusted Linn Axis for the same money. Boy, what an upgrade. Gone was the dullness. And the clingy felt mat. And hello bass and space. I upgraded it to a Clearaudio Performance, still sitting here being pretty. And sounds good too. But my current table is better. More control and authority with the 6cm platter.

Here's a free tip. If you have problems with bouncy floors, it's a resonance frequency. Undamped and probably low. I often see people putting their TT on a thick cuttingboard, like Ikea or bamboo, and on spikes. That just adds a little bit of mass and changes the frequency just a little bit. That doesn't help with marching living room elephants. If you want to combat resonance you need to change the frequency by factor 1.6 (not 2). Then the springed mass will counter the excitation. Just like a pendulum clock. Or a swing. Nudge it in tune and you'll keep swinging. Nudge it out of rythm and you'll stop.
How to fix? Take a heavy plate of stone, or a board and put it on two spikes at the rear (where your shelf is most rigid) and two (or even one, but two is more stable) springs, or squash balls, or blocks of foam rubber, anything springy that doesn't deflate over time. Start at the far edge from the spikes that form a fulcrum line. Move them closer and arm x mass will decrease, resulting in a lower resonance frequency. Easy to tune and very effective against footfall. Best is using 2 springs and foam shockbreakers. Obviously this won't work if you place the 2 spikes under the line from stylus to arm bearing. Tangential to that line.

 

[AnyDave]

I agree. Mostly and in general. But sometimes the cabling can be the weak link. I remember my old Pro-ject Perspective. The previous owner had upgraded the arm cables to single run Cardas. It replaced my trusted Linn Axis for the same money. Boy, what an upgrade. Gone was the dullness. And the clingy felt mat. And hello bass and space. I upgraded it to a Clearaudio Performance, still sitting here being pretty. And sounds good too. But my current table is better. More control and authority with the 6cm platter.

Here's a free tip. If you have problems with bouncy floors, it's a resonance frequency. Undamped and probably low. I often see people putting their TT on a thick cuttingboard, like Ikea or bamboo, and on spikes. That just adds a little bit of mass and changes the frequency just a little bit. That doesn't help with marching living room elephants. If you want to combat resonance you need to change the frequency by factor 1.6 (not 2). Then the springed mass will counter the excitation. Just like a pendulum clock. Or a swing. Nudge it in tune and you'll keep swinging. Nudge it out of rythm and you'll stop.
How to fix? Take a heavy plate of stone, or a board and put it on two spikes at the rear (where your shelf is most rigid) and two (or even one, but two is more stable) springs, or squash balls, or blocks of foam rubber, anything springy that doesn't deflate over time. Start at the far edge from the spikes that form a fulcrum line. Move them closer and arm x mass will decrease, resulting in a lower resonance frequency. Easy to tune and very effective against footfall. Best is using 2 springs and foam shockbreakers. Obviously this won't work if you place the 2 spikes under the line from stylus to arm bearing. Tangential to that line.

I built a sandbox.

But I no longer have bouncy floors as it is in the basement.

 

[joeling]

This is my other table in the main listening room

In my system, this table is more forgiving on harsh highs. So, I use it to play bright / high energy records. These mechanical devices are fascinating feats of engineering. The other table with similar arm, (FR65S vs this FR64S) and similar cart (Blue Lace vs Blue Azule) and yet the sound is quite different by virtue of the table.

Some closeups of interesting carts some still in the system and some not.

Soundsmith strain gauge

DS Audio Grandmaster

Koetsu Stone Bodies

 

[Podster]

This is my other table in the main listening room



In my system, this table is more forgiving on harsh highs. So, I use it to play bright / high energy records. These mechanical devices are fascinating feats of engineering. The other table with similar arm, (FR65S vs this FR64S) and similar cart (Blue Lace vs Blue Azule) and yet the sound is quite different by virtue of the table.

Some closeups of interesting carts some still in the system and some not.


Soundsmith strain gauge



DS Audio Grandmaster





Koetsu Stone Bodies

Dang, not just one but two awesome rigs Sweet Avenger @mulveling, I know you guys love a great table so I'll post a little story of one of my all time fave tables I was fortunate to get up close and personal with because of my older brother who Retired from the Library of Congress several years back. He was close with the Archiving group who let me come into the vinyl archiving room to see how and on what history was being saved with I have always loved Simon's tables and witnessing it up close and in action is a highlight of my vinyl journey I did not have a camera or phone that day but they directed me to a shot of exactly how I saw/heard it I always wanted to have a model 9 so when I saw the libraries model 10 I was Gobsmacked to say the least!

 

[TS0711]

My old VPI Aries still rocks!

 

[Podster]

14 degrees outside and snowing so in the Man Cave listening to my youngest sons rig

 

[]eep]

I just installed a new cartridge on my Acoustic Signature T3000 arm.

In case you are wondering, it's from an unknown brand that makes OEM's and they sell this under their own brand Zhige. There is no type numbering and they carry a wide range of MC's with different materials. Coils, cantilever, stylus, body shape and materials, all great materials and the high end cantilever assemblies are imported. It is confusing obviously as I got something different from what I thought I ordered (sapphire, even though the lower price matches what I got: boron). However, it is very well made and a bit heavy: stainless steel baseplate, coated alu body, thick carbon fibre cover and ebony mounting plate for the pins. Silver coils, boron cantilever and a shibata stylus.

Installation was a breeze because I had it's little brother mounted, so everything was already aligned perfectly except for the tracking force. And I got that dialed in to exactly 2.00 g. In under half an hour. (mounting a shibata takes careful adjustment but I couldn't improve on perfect).

This is the second lp I play. I started with $1 LPs just in case alignment is off but it sounds great. Already enjoying the sound. The other one was no slouch (super elliptical ) but this one already improves on insight in the back of the orchestra hall. It also makes the old DGG sound less old-fashioned.

Update: I took out the new records now. First one; Lorde - Melodrama. Boy, that's a lot of bass! I'm wondering if that's feedback. Anyway, no problem because I just turn down my Genesis VI speakers subwoofers. My monitors are super tight and don't do much below 100Hz. But what great definition and how much fun to listen to. Yes there was a moment of almost sibilance but hey, it's breaking in not even 2 hours. After that I'll check the tire pressure.
And after that; Rammstein (Streichholz/match), a double 45rpm. Oh man, what a show! Such power, speed and realism. These new albums are so quiet. So well made. So much better than digital. Even if the recordings are digital, I know. Still, it just sounds more natural and realistic. More impressive. More there.

 

[DecentLevi]

Hi all, quietly building my rare vinyl collection but no turntable yet! What would be your recommendation for a great sounding affordable TT for less than $400 (new/used)? I was eyeing the Pro-ject T1 but not sure yet. I would prefer one that has an IEC AC socket for using aftermarket AC cables. Thank you

 

[theeclone]

Hi all, quietly building my rare vinyl collection but no turntable yet! What would be your recommendation for a great sounding affordable TT for less than $400 (new/used)? I was eyeing the Pro-ject T1 but not sure yet. I would prefer one that has an IEC AC socket for using aftermarket AC cables. Thank you

I bought my parents a u-turn orbit for xmas and I was kind of pleasantly surprised for the price. They have upgraded versions that still come in under $400. Not a ton is audiophile-worthy in that price range for new (that I know of). But I try not mess with used in that price range myself.

No AC inlet on the u-turns but you could possibly get an upgraded power supply down the road.