[]eep]

I bought a few records last weekend. I decided I wanted the new Rammstein album. And fortunately they had a 20% discount this week. And as the shop owner told me he received way too many copies of Adele 30. So I bought it for €20. And Bill Evans 'Waltz for Debby' for only €12.

I am listening to Adele now. Let's just say I am glad I didn't pay €40 for it. The pressing is really good, the mastering is ok but the sound... Doesn't anybody dare tell her that she should use a real piano instead of an electronic keyboard that sounds like s#it? Also musically she is not making any progress and mentally... now this might just be me (although the shopkeeper said the same) but this whining emo lyrics are starting to irritate. On 19 and 21, it was emotive because it was believable, I could really empathize. Even 25 was captivating even though it was wearing thin. Now I am starting to think she is losing grip on reality. She should be on top of the world, rich, successful, married, child... But 'she drinks wine'. Because she's a cashcow without any say over her life or art? That said, it's still a good album with a few catchy tunes.

Fortunately Rammstein is the perfect antidote with plenty of testosterone, self mockery (io self pity), humor and introspection, comments on society and even poetic philosophy. Although you need to understand German to get that. The reviewer on Allmusic didn't get that. Zick Zack (snip, slash) is a commentary on plastic surgery and aging, not 'zig zag' (suck some abdominal fat into the flask, now you penis can see the sun again... Just makes me ). There's more purpose in learning a language and culture than applying Google translate.
Edit:
I hadn't noticed that it was a double 45 RPM. And there's a quite substantial thick paper booklet inside. So that's why it's so expensive. But also a lot of attention is given to sound quality: great dynamics and enormous spatiality. It sounds effortless. This is a really great sounding album (plus that I really dig the music). /edit

Bill Evans 'Waltz for Debby' is a golden oldie. It's the sort of jazz that everybody recognizes and can appreciate. For my €12 a perfect pressed lp on clear purple vinyl is a steal. It's not a full analog master but it sounds OK.

 

[]eep]

I'm wondering where everyone is? I like to share my experiences but if no one is interested I am not hoping to waste my time.

I finally finished my turntable. It's quite an oil platform. I had to wait for 6 weeks to finally get the SME arm base for my Acoustic Signature TA-2000 arm. And it was worth the wait, an immaculate piece of engineering. Only there is nothing to hold up the arm for adjusting VTA. Other than that it's glorious. The silver arm wire at the cartridge looks really fragile, it's one solid thin wire. I guess about awg32. That was really a wish to have a good silver wire again.

And a week later I found my forstner drill bits again so I drilled a big 25mm hole in the board I had prepared for a third arm. It took me about 2 hours to drill the hole, finish the edges mount the armboard and mount the Rega RB301 with an AT91. All adjusted and ready to go. As you know Rega does not do adjustable VTA but incredibly, the 18mm black armboard I made brought it up to exactly the right height for the arm wand to be perfectly plane. Getting good sound with a third phono-amplifier was quite a different story. And grounding is really enigmatic, it has a really female logic to it (don't try to argue or seek for a logic reason , just do it just like that and it's quiet).

 

[Strayngs]

I'm wondering where everyone is? I like to share my experiences but if no one is interested I am not hoping to waste my time.

I finally finished my turntable. It's quite an oil platform. I had to wait for 6 weeks to finally get the SME arm base for my Acoustic Signature TA-2000 arm. And it was worth the wait, an immaculate piece of engineering. Only there is nothing to hold up the arm for adjusting VTA. Other than that it's glorious. The silver arm wire at the cartridge looks really fragile, it's one solid thin wire. I guess about awg32. That was really a wish to have a good silver wire again.

And a week later I found my forstner drill bits again so I drilled a big 25mm hole in the board I had prepared for a third arm. It took me about 2 hours to drill the hole, finish the edges mount the armboard and mount the Rega RB301 with an AT91. All adjusted and ready to go. As you know Rega does not do adjustable VTA but incredibly, the 18mm black armboard I made brought it up to exactly the right height for the arm wand to be perfectly plane. Getting good sound with a third phono-amplifier was quite a different story. And grounding is really enigmatic, it has a really female logic to it (don't try to argue or seek for a logic reason , just do it just like that and it's quiet).

Looks awesome. Having three arms do you have a phono stage that will operate all three?

 

[]eep]

Double

 

[]eep]

Another thing, I just got email confirmation on shipment of a different arm that I intended as 3rd arm instead of this Rega. I was looking for a second arm and had my mind set on an upscale 12" with preferably silver wiring. I found something on AE from Eizz, but the ads were not very clear and pricing went up as I loitered. Inflation ramping up and exchange rates changing accordingly, it got just out of reach. Then I suddenly found an advertisement on a local site that ticked all my boxes for the right price within my target range. This Acoustic Signature TA-2000. I made a phone call to ask about the Rega collar, if it was possible to get SME spec fitting. NP, just an extra €50. So, that made me very happy . Only the different collar took a bit longer than expected (hi end Munich etc).

Anyway, as I was still browsing, I came across a Chinese website that had a familiar name. I ordered from them before. Only via Aliexpress. Only this looked a lot more like domestic pricing. They only have the 9" S-tube with detachable headshell. Very old school and not my style. But very versatile and well made.

I found one youtube review from an English guy that was very positive. Eizz make connectors and also very good, high end turntables. Not cheap. This arm is their entry model. At $350 I just couldn't resist. On AE it is 600 to 1000 (Pricing to EU is now priced including 21% VAT). It's really not my style and preference, but it makes swapping cartridges so much easier. And for that price and quality.

 

[The Jester]

That’s one impressive looking build …
Nice to see there’s still a few around wanting to experiment with getting the most out of Vinyl …

 

[]eep]

Looks awesome. Having three arms do you have a phono stage that will operate all three?

I have 2 phono amps, my trusted Jolida JD9 that I modified myself (lots of red pencil to the design and improved parts) and sounds awesome, and a newly acquired Klimo clone with ECC88 tubes that I also modified (just caps and tubes). It does have 2 inputs, only the MC doesn't sound nearly as good and quiet as the MM + tranny. So I am looking through my other cheaper phono stages to find a good match. I was planning on moving the relay switch to the front and skip the 2 tubes used for MC (it should come in on the same point as the MM so loading stays the same).

There aren't many phono-amplifiers around that have 3 inputs and they get *really* expensive. The only one I could find is the Jasmine lp3 but it's hard to find and there are no reviews.

Actually, I was contemplating the Gold Note PH10. Very versatile. But how good is it with MC? I trust MM is great. I would love to hear your experience with it. (I have 1 cartridge that is awesome but doesn't work that well on MM with a transformer because it's inner impedance is somewhat high, ie the Dynavector Karat D17MKII). I have 2 identical silver transformers btw, almost identical to the AN S4, just FYI.

 

[Strayngs]

I have 2 phono amps, my trusted Jolida JD9 that I modified myself (lots of red pencil to the design and improved parts) and sounds awesome, and a newly acquired Klimo clone with ECC88 tubes that I also modified (just caps and tubes). It does have 2 inputs, only the MC doesn't sound nearly as good and quiet as the MM + tranny. So I am looking through my other cheaper phono stages to find a good match. I was planning on moving the relay switch to the front and skip the 2 tubes used for MC (it should come in on the same point as the MM so loading stays the same).

There aren't many phono-amplifiers around that have 3 inputs and they get *really* expensive. The only one I could find is the Jasmine lp3 but it's hard to find and there are no reviews.

Actually, I was contemplating the Gold Note PH10. Very versatile. But how good is it with MC? I trust MM is great. I would love to hear your experience with it. (I have 1 cartridge that is awesome but doesn't work that well on MM with a transformer because it's inner impedance is somewhat high, ie the Dynavector Karat D17MKII). I have 2 identical silver transformers btw, almost identical to the AN S4, just FYI.

I actually have only used it with MC. I only have one cartridge and so I have not needed to try the MM. I am very happy with the sound of the MC though!

 

[gianni60]

I listen only vynil,no cd and dac in my system
I have 3 turntable,Vyger Atlantis IV,Techdas AF3P and Torqueo T34 Limited
Tonearm SAT,Elite 12”,Triplanar Ultimate SE,Saec 506 and many cartridges

 

[]eep]

prego!

 

[gianni60]

Tomorrow will put photos

 

[]eep]

About the 3rd phono-amplifier... I found my favorite, 2 box, 2 dual jfet opamp (TI TL082cp) that works rather well and has a small formfactor. I have tried a lot of low cost models and this one was my last modification. Not that I did that much, just snubbered the output caps (small high quality cap paralleled with the main 1uF), gave it an earth terminal and changed the leds. I messed up my first cap attempt so this was my contingency. And after that I stored it for later use or sale. And forget about exactly what I did.



So, this is the Zero Zone Hc-01a solid state MM with a seperated linear power supply. It costs around a 100. Very quiet, enough amplification and it sounds OK. As I tried it yesterday with an AT91 cartridge, it sounded definitely better than most budget phono's. Slightly veiled, good tone, speed and more than just a hint of space. And a bit of air. I just opened it up and now I can tell, it's those snubber caps that give that air.

So next, I took a look in my magic box of caps and found a few great 1.5uF Sprague Vitamin Q PiO caps. So, that will take that bit of air, improve on it and bring that to the whole frequency spectrum. I hope, think, that this will do for just an extra cheap-ass cartridge for ragged old 2ndH lp's.


Cheap-ass does not mean sub-par quality btw. It is actually the best value/price ratio for any cartridge by a very very large margin. The Chinese oem AT91 cost me <€10 and sounds really enjoyable, robust, musical and energetic. I also bought some alternative styli, now tried the lp-gear carbon cantilevered VE needle. This gives a lot more space, it's a better stylus after all, but it multiplies the price eight fold. I think it is a worthwhile upgrade. This is better than the AT95 IMO. You can still get this conical AT91 but the price has doubled now. Still an incredible price.

 

[CJG888]

I ended up buying a Zero Zone EAR 834P clone. Very impressed:

I did have to replace the cheap generic Chinese ECC83s with some nice early 80s Ei NOS specimens, and some of the coupling caps were actually of incorrect value, so I replaced them with Mundorf Evos…

 

[The Jester]

I ordered my headphone amp with “SE” option which included Mundorf Supreme caps and if I had to guess it was at least a couple of hundred hours of use before the top end really “opened up”, not that it became somehow brighter but became effortless and detailed …
Wondered if you noticed similar burn in/break in ?

 

[]eep]

I ended up buying a Zero Zone EAR 834P clone. Very impressed:

I did have to replace the cheap generic Chinese ECC83s with some nice early 80s Ei NOS specimens, and some of the coupling caps were actually of incorrect value, so I replaced them with Mundorf Evos…

Very nice. I had this in my shopping basket for a long time but I chose the Klimo clone instead (ecc88 tubes and choice of mm/mc via 2 seperated inputs, choosable by switch).

You also did what anyone should know to be mandatory customisation: change out the caps and tubes for better ones to your taste. Because this makes so much difference and it is very costly compared to the rest of the unit. Love the EI tubes (Elektronskaya Industria from former Yugoslavia)

The only thing that serves no purpose is the tube dampers. I have tried that with several tubes, but you can hit an ecc83 with a screwdriver handle while it is playing and not hear a blip from the speakers. Some tubes can be very microphonic but these are 'bombensicher'.

This must be the best bang for the buck tube phono.

This is what I made of the Zero Zone HC-01A, dual TI TL082cp opamps with 1.5uF Sprague 118p PiO caps. You can see the tiny 1uF plus 10nF Ero snubber caps that I took out beside the board.

I'm just playing the first side, but already I can hear the sound opening up. These opamps are really not bad. I think I can really live with this.