Anything from Analog Production (pricey), MoFi, Speakers Corner, Impulse, Blue Note, Vinylmeplease. Probable few more labels that I’m forgetting. There’s going to be a ton of LPs coming out.
MoFi also announce 5 or 6 Van Halen title if interested. Been out from print for a long time. Those are going to be audiophile grade pressings.
I want to experiment with input stage tubes in my new phonostage.
Problem is getting a quiet, matched pair. But I have a source that can probably help me with that.
My tube collection is all over the place. Many are very bought in balk. It would take a while to sort through all that glass.
Hope you get some replacements soon.
I just got Milo amp from Wells Audio on loan while my Phonitor2 is temporarily used in review comparison. Miss it tho.
I think that there is as much talent out there as there ever was. But if you follow the word 'talent' you might find the answer there too.
A talent is a weight of precious metal, silver, and is quite substantial (100 pounds iirc). And where this connotates inherent capability is because of a parable. The parable goes like: there was a rich man who went away on a journey and gave 3 of his workers a huge amount of responsibility to take care of his inheritances. Each according to their capabities. First one got 10, 2nd got 3 and the last one got just 1. The first man built a business and thrived, the second used it in a bit safer enterprise and did well. The third one was afraid for the boss and buried for safekeeping. When the owner came back the first was praised and got a responsible job. The second was rewarded too, but the third servant got a trashing and got the boot because he was even too lazy to bring it to the bank to get some interest. So in the this story a talent is capital entrusted to you to work with. And therein lies the rub. Our culture has lost its grit. 50 years ago artists has to work hard. Now you just put your cute face on the internet and everyone adores you for your 'talent'.
When stereo was first introduced it was really expensive. Records cost a week's wages. A lot of attention was given to quality because there was money involved. Now it has to be economical.
Vinyl mastering is an art. So is the pressing/platting process. With vinyl resurrection, I’m hoping that it will be passed on to new generation.
As to price. It’s still expensive. It’s the most hands-on, labor intensive process. I’m not sure if there’s a technology that would improve production volume, ergonomics without sacrificing the quality? Doubt it.
As to new talented musicians. Yeah, there are many. And there are even more trashy, lazy wannabes or overrated “influencers”.
But I’ll admit, volume of music coming out is mind boggling.
I’m quality over quantity kind of a guy so I am not super enthusiastic about this industrialized “conveyer belt” reality.
Comparing prices to average wage from the late 60’s Vinyl is actually cheaper than its ever been, just a bit of a price hike over CD which in itself was more expensive than Vinyl in the mid 80’s but actually decreased in price over the years which now makes Vinyl relatively more expensive ….
Demand dictates prices. Just keep in mind that some of those “hyped) LPs “one step, ultra vinyl (formula)” and other buzz words can go for as much as $125. Not to mention box sets that go for several hundreds of dollars.
Sure, basic cheap vinyl of low quality is still relatively inexpensive but would educated consumer really invest in that garbage?
There were cheap records back then too… $1.99 compared to the “full priced” offerings at $5.99 when a tradespersons wage was around $60 per week, there’s basic stuff around for $20, regular prices seem to be around the $60-70 mark, good “audiophile” recordings 0n 180g premium vinyl commanded a “premium” price back then too, and box sets have usually been more of a collectors item with extra sleeve notes, photo’s etc as well as premium records so the artist was as much a dictate on price as the physical items, Numbered “limited editions” are more expensive again …
What’s the average tradespersons wage now ?
Having said all that it’s a matter of taste and personal choice, investing in physical media has a cost, and the hardware to get the most out of it even more so, But that all fades into insignificance when you sit in a comfy chair and simply drift away with the music …
And the more people who “get into” Vinyl at even the basic level is going to see more pressing plants opening up and hopefully an increase in general quality, once you hear a good pressing on good gear it opens a whole new world but the more cost effective options of both Vinyl and replay equipment can still embarrass similarly priced digital …
So... I got my long awaited package today. The poor UPS man didn't bring a cart or something do he had to carry it by hand. That was 60 lbs or 28kg. Then straight to work. And this evening I opened the box. And then the wooden crate inside the box. Wow. That is some sturdy packaging. Not very slick, very utilitarian with hand-cut pieces of heavy black foam.
No manual though. It's a box for real men. Just figure it out as your going. Yeah! The FFYX turns out to be much fancier than I thought.
The motor is touch controlled. One slight touch of the lit FFYX logo turns it on. Touching the rpm turns it to that speed and it's precision controlled with a tacho and a potmeter per speed.
The belt is super well made. Very thin and still strong and supple and with good friction.
And the platter... Man, it's heavy! It's quite daunting to slip it over the inverted bearing spindle. The bearing is magnet bearing with a precision steel axle. 6cm (2⅜“?) thick aluminum slab, hold it up, look under it to position and the let it decend straight down slowly. No stress.
The base has huge milled feet with ball bearing contact point (instead of spikes) and on to of that magnet bearing main plinth. The height can be adjusted at each of the 3 feet with a knob. It doesn't have much play though IMHO to get it level. Either my floor is not straight or my cabinet is buckling under the weight.
And the arm? I considered it a throw in. The photos don't do it justice. It's sleek and beautiful. It looks deceptively simple but it has easy vta (not really on the fly but over a long bolt with an allan key), azimuth, nice weight positioning with very fluidly turning screw. And all aluminum parts nicely polished.
And accessories galore. Screwdrivers, alken keys, a bubble level, felt mat for protection while mounting or if you really must (the platter is fine as is with flat surface and label recess), a digital scale (!), a perspex vta ruler, an extra foot, grounding cables to every metal part, extra screws... Axle grease.
This is how far I got so far. Adjusted overhang with a dummy cart..
Setting up a turntable is hard work. It's really not for the faint of heart. Juggling a tiny, tiny $1600 stylus to get it to within tenths of a millimeter and then iterating again and again until your angle is within half a degree of straight. I realised you keep learning every time you align a cartridge. And you perspire less because of the anxiety and more because it's just hard work. And then you realise the screw that allows you to set azimuth allows you to set overhang too. No need to adjust the armboard. Doh! Oh well. I think I got it pretty straight now. As it should be with a super narrow profile tip.
It was also a new experience working with a 12" arm. It has a different overhang of just 13mm. And the arm tube looks strange. It has an ever so slight curve. It really made me doubt if this is as it should be. Maybe it's intended because of the angle. I can't imagine it being bent by accident because the armtube is pretty solid.
Also the acrilic was not as pristine as you would expect. Lots of fingerprints and some imperfections. I know from the Pro-ject Perspective that perspex is a bitch to keep clean. Especially if you have 2 layers.
The big scare came when I hooked it up to an inexpensive phono amp plus transformer. Not a tiny hum but full 100% overload. Aaaagh. And it made my amplifier go in protection. Like there's an offset voltage (including scratching potmeter) Grounding is soooo important. And there are grounding wires going all over the place. I used my second tyranny which should be identical to my trusted old workhorse but it always gives me trouble. Annoying that. It took it off and put the mc straight into MM. A bit noisy but it worked OK. So I got a taste of a fresh cartridge on a cheap opamp phono. First impression with a quadrophonic disc was impressive spatiality. There is potential.
PS, there was a message in a bottle accompanying the cart. With a red ribbon to pull it out. Typical Chinese flavor. A measuring chart. Pretty flat all the way up to 50kHz.
PS 2: I forgot to tell about the second arm. The armboard is intended for an FFYX arm. There's no collar. My Rega 303 is too narrow and to low. It simply doesn't fit. Ugh. Now what? I took my Opera Consonance T988 arm and the nut is just big enough to clamp the armboard. Only 5mm too low. So I used a bike part I had lying around: a carbon ring for an a-headset. I can make something from bamboo/wood (as shriner) but that is out of style. Aluminum would be best. Now after some research I realised I need a Rega VTA adjuster to fit the Rega. And that the T988 stem is only 20mm where the Rega is 23mm. They're not interchangeable.
And the second arm is nice but it looks rather cluttered on the table. To be continued...
I use Meguiars “PlastX” Automotive Polish for polycarbonate headlights and it works well on acrylic turntable lids too, brings them up like new …
Needed a 3mm arm spacer for the Rega RB330 with the new Garrott cartridge, cut it out of a flat aluminium stock 3mm x50mm from the local hardware, they had 6mm thick stuff too, a hole saw, Dremel and some 1200 wet n dry sanding sheets on a piece of glass to lap the finished faces flat, made a lower brace plate at the same time, finished off with a fine sanding drum and then a felt buff in the Dremel with some metal polish ..
I just left the second arm fttb and focussed on the primary new 12" FFYX A182 arm with the Lpaudio Ruby II. So I unplugged the Clearaudio from the tranny and plugged in the new arm (that's why I wanted the 5 Ohm, works well with transformer). While I was grabbing underneath I was staring right into the insides of the TB25 's perspex. Man, that's psychedelic! Like a palace of mirrors.
I have it playing now without a hitch. It hasn't played an hour so it needs a few more but it sounds quite clear and tracks well. It definitely has more speed that my old Kiseki lacks a bit.
That’s a strange looking arm bent. I haven’t seen anything quite like that.
Don’t FFYX offer arm-boards for other tonearm makers?
I’m not sure how good their customer service is, but maybe you should try to ask them for some pointers….
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in my preamp
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