What’s your next or latest analogue source purchase?

[AudioDoctor]

in fact @mav52 I am probably going to be making some needle drops over the holidays, if you want to get a feel for the sound of the Andros 1.2, let me know.

[mav52]

37 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

in fact @mav52 I am probably going to be making some needle drops over the holidays, if you want to get a feel for the sound of the Andros 1.2, let me know.

Hey thanks

[JohnSwenson]

This year I bought a London (Decca) SuperGold cartridge. This was amazing, it completely changed my whole analog listening experience. I have a 27 year old Well Tempered Record player which works very well with this cartridge.

 

I also acquired a used HW-17 record cleaner which is a joy to use.

 

I am now having a wonderful time going through my record collection and hearing things I've never heard before. (that is in the small amount of time I have in between designing digital circuits)

 

John S.

[AudioDoctor]

It arrived after Xmas, but my SO got me a Degritter RCM. SO far, I have cleaned a bunch of vinyl and the results are astonishing.

[Jud]

New & improved stylus & cantilever for my Dynavector 10x5 cart. There's a fellow on eBay who comes highly recommended. Needed repair and decided to make a virtue of necessity by going for a small upgrade. Also decided to try one of those gel stylus cleaners (lower the stylus onto the gel and lift, supposed to get dust off). Anyone have any experience with those?

 

Not up for an ultrasonic cleaner, though I'm thinking of perhaps trying out a simple manual record washer in place of my In The Groove sticky roller.

[JohnSwenson]

4 hours ago, Jud said:

New & improved stylus & cantilever for my Dynavector 10x5 cart. There's a fellow on eBay who comes highly recommended. Needed repair and decided to make a virtue of necessity by going for a small upgrade. Also decided to try one of those gel stylus cleaners (lower the stylus onto the gel and lift, supposed to get dust off). Anyone have any experience with those?

 

Not up for an ultrasonic cleaner, though I'm thinking of perhaps trying out a simple manual record washer in place of my In The Groove sticky roller.

I've been using a "gel" cleaner for decades, I just stopped using it because the London said to use a stiff bristle cleaner instead.

 

The gel cleaners did seam to work very well, just find a different spot in the gel each time. Eventually the dirt ad grime sinks down into the gel and you can reuse a spot.

 

John S.

[Qhwoeprktiyns]

I use this cleaning gel: https://www.audiophonics.fr/fr/accessoires-vinyles/winyl-record-cleaner-liquide-de-nettoyage-vinyl-500ml-p-11385.html

 

You spread some on the entire surface of the record, let it dry (5 to 7 hours) and then peel it off. 

 

Works well, but it takes time... 

[Norton]

7 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

This year I bought a London (Decca) SuperGold cartridge.

Interesting.  This is the cartridge I was considering getting rather than another Delos, but having  to get another phono stage was a barrier.   I’m told Decca Londons work best with fluid damped tonearms, which is why I guess it partners well with the WT (and should do with my Townshend Rock).  
 

How was the fitting/setup process and can you say more on why it has improved your listening so much?

 

[JohnSwenson]

14 hours ago, Norton said:

Interesting.  This is the cartridge I was considering getting rather than another Delos, but having  to get another phono stage was a barrier.   I’m told Decca Londons work best with fluid damped tonearms, which is why I guess it partners well with the WT (and should do with my Townshend Rock).  
 

How was the fitting/setup process and can you say more on why it has improved your listening so much?

 

The big problem with this cartridge is that you cannot see the stylus by looking from the top. The only way to see the stylus is from the side with a flashlight or some such. After several attempts trying traditional alignment techniques, I printed out a "protractor" and used a needle to create a hole for the stylus so I knew exactly where it was, with that it was quite easy.

 

The big thing about the London (Decca) is that it is not "warm" or "smooth" it lets what is in the grooves come through without being "smoothed". This allows an incredible amount of micro-dynamics to come through that I have never heard before. Records that I thought rather boring before have this very engaging quality. I can hear all kinds of subtle details in the expression of voice and instrumentals. The "emotional transfer" from performers to me is exquisite.

 

With other cartridges I tend to listen for things like "tonal balance" , do instruments sound right, but with this one I never even bother with any of that, I am just so drawn into the music that such things don't even seem to matter. I have occasionally deliberately listened to the "the sound" and find things just sound incredibly real, just like they should.

 

The downside of this is that records really need to be clean. Anything in those grooves comes through.

 

The other issue is that if a record has been ruined by being played on poor equipment that is really obvious with this cartridge.

 

I set the tracking force according to the spec and have not had any problems with mistracking.

 

I tried VTA adjustments and have not heard much difference. Some cartridges I have used are quite sensitive to VTA changes, but I have not observed that with this cartridge. After playing around with it for awhile I have just left it alone.

 

All in all one of the best purchases I have ever made.

 

John S.

[AudioDoctor]

16 hours ago, Norton said:

Interesting.  This is the cartridge I was considering getting rather than another Delos, but having  to get another phono stage was a barrier.   I’m told Decca Londons work best with fluid damped tonearms, which is why I guess it partners well with the WT (and should do with my Townshend Rock).  
 

How was the fitting/setup process and can you say more on why it has improved your listening so much?

 

 

The one and only modification I made to my table is to add fluid damping to the tonearm.

 

https://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/

 

edit: apparently I can't link right to the product page, but it's there.

[Norton]

8 hours ago, JohnSwenson said:

The big problem with this cartridge is that you cannot see the stylus by looking from the top. The only way to see the stylus is from the side with a flashlight or some such. After several attempts trying traditional alignment techniques, I printed out a "protractor" and used a needle to create a hole for the stylus so I knew exactly where it was, with that it was quite easy.

 

The big thing about the London (Decca) is that it is not "warm" or "smooth" it lets what is in the grooves come through without being "smoothed". This allows an incredible amount of micro-dynamics to come through that I have never heard before. Records that I thought rather boring before have this very engaging quality. I can hear all kinds of subtle details in the expression of voice and instrumentals. The "emotional transfer" from performers to me is exquisite.

 

With other cartridges I tend to listen for things like "tonal balance" , do instruments sound right, but with this one I never even bother with any of that, I am just so drawn into the music that such things don't even seem to matter. I have occasionally deliberately listened to the "the sound" and find things just sound incredibly real, just like they should.

 

The downside of this is that records really need to be clean. Anything in those grooves comes through.

 

The other issue is that if a record has been ruined by being played on poor equipment that is really obvious with this cartridge.

 

I set the tracking force according to the spec and have not had any problems with mistracking.

 

I tried VTA adjustments and have not heard much difference. Some cartridges I have used are quite sensitive to VTA changes, but I have not observed that with this cartridge. After playing around with it for awhile I have just left it alone.

 

All in all one of the best purchases I have ever made.

 

John S.

Thanks, very informative.  Your listening impressions are just the kind of thing to make me want to get one of these!  They do have a reputation of being something of a Jekyll  and Hyde  piece of equipment, but from what I understand, some of that at least was down to the build quality pre the current constructor.

[Norton]

7 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

edit: apparently I can't link right to the product page, but it's there.

Interesting products, but a terrible  website!  

[Mike Rubin]

With Covid-19 restrictions here in San Francisco, I no longer can demo anything before buying, so I am in a bit of a haze at the moment, but I need either to restore to operability a Nottingham Audio Horizon with an old belt and a Clearaudio Aurum Beta MM cartridge with a collapsed cantilever OR replace the table with something altogether different.  It ends up being complicated.

 

The store from which I bought the Horizon years ago is out of business now and the only Nottingham dealer in the Bay Area pushes MC cartridges, which would require me to buy a new phonostage that can handle an MC.  This is looking a bit daunting to me.

 

Truth is, I never have liked the Horizon table. My first one had measurable and audible speed accuracy issues, so the dealer replaced it a few weeks after I bought it.  It’s way too fiddly for me, it slips its belt when I do the required startup-by-hand, its dimensions made it tough to get into my audio cabinet, and its weird shape precludes use of a dust cover so it’s always a struggle to keep it clean.  I also have had it with the Clearaudio cartridges recommended by my former dealer as they have collapsed cantilevers on me twice after very little use.  I haven’t had any other cartridge collapse a cantilever despite using handfuls of other brands over the last 50 years.  (Luckily for me, this dealer doesn’t sell Clearaudio, so it’s unlikely that I will be pushed to buy another one of them, anyway.) 

 

My initial inclination, after realizing it will be expensive no matter how I tackle this, was to give up on vinyl.  I was going to sell or donate my record collection, give the turntable and dead cartridge to Goodwill, and go back to  enjoying my digital system.  Inventorying my collection with the terrific Discogs phone app over the last couple of weeks, though, has made me realize that I have a ton of stuff that isn’t available on CD or as CD-quality digital.  I would enjoy hearing some of that music again, So, now, I guess I need to get a working turntable back into my system.

 

The dealer suggests that I just replace the cartridge because, in his view, I would have to spend three times what the Horizon cost if I want to better it appreciably.  His most conventional turntable line is Rega.  He has been pushing me hard, if I want to move on from the Horizon, to get into the P8, which, with MC cartridge, would run around $3500.  Unfortunately, my budget is stuck at $2500 or so, which would “only” put me into a Rega P6 and a cartridge.  He seemed much less enthused about that Rega model, so, when I was adamant about sticking to budget, he reverted to his suggestion that I just get a new cartridge for the Horizon.

 

So, tomorrow, I head to his shop with the Horizon. I will have him clean it up and tune it.  If he can get it into good shape, I will buy a new cartridge, presumably MC; replace my perfectly good MM phonostage; and be done with it.  If there are issues with the Horizon, however, I will have to decide whether to trade it for the P6.

 

A less likely possibility is that I talk to another dealer.  There’s one here that sells the current darling MoFi deck, which runs $2500 in its most upscale version.  There’s another that sells the Technics direct drive table that belt drive guys like the Nottingham dealer despise but the reviewers and owners like. I always had really good luck with direct drive tables back in the day.

 

So, the direction isn’t yet definite, but there’s a new analogue purchase of some sort in my immediate future.

[d_elm]

Keep in mind the optical transducer cartridges from DS audio.  The entry level E1, with their equalizer, is money but not too much to exclude consideration.  There are many good reviews.

 

https://www.ds-audio-w.biz/ds-e1-【new】/

[mtan002]

I received my Set 120 Control amp yesterday. It is hand made product of Audio by Van Alstine in Minnesota.

 

I connected it to my Mytec Brooklyn and to my floor-standing Tannoy Saturn S10 speakers. I listened to my collection for about 2 hours. I am really glad with my purchase.

 

I was simply amazed, when compared to my existing amp, a Chinese-made Audio-GD C501 amp. The C501 is a very decent amp. Can't pick fault with that. But when compared with this one, it is different. The sound is clean. It has presence and richness. Perfect is not the word cause it doesn't exist. But it is darn close. Probably musicality is a good word to sum up my experience for my first encounter. Every piece is so much more to enjoy. 

 

[FatTed]

ANK Interstage MonoBlock Parallel 300B Quad C-Core amps, built for me by a friend, just going to run them in for a few months then change the tubes for some better ones

[d_elm]

I have purchased an Eminent Technology ET-2 tangential tonearm.  My plan is to make an armboard from acrylic and mount the board/arm to a modified Michell Orbe SE, modified with Gert Pedersen kits.  My interest in the ET-2 is for the lack of needle skating with a tangential arm.  I need this because the cartridge I am using, DS Audio W2, shows shaking forces as channel imbalance.

[Norton]

2 hours ago, d_elm said:

I have purchased an Eminent Technology ET-2 tangential tonearm.  My plan is to make an armboard from acrylic and mount the board/arm to a modified Michell Orbe SE, modified with Gert Pedersen kits.  My interest in the ET-2 is for the lack of needle skating with a tangential arm.  I need this because the cartridge I am using, DS Audio W2, shows shaking forces as channel imbalance.

Pictures please when you’ve finished!

[d_elm]

In the last sentence of my previous post I should have written "skating forces" instead of "shaking forces" and I cannot edit the post.  I will post pictures.

[Chris_87]

The last thing I've purchased was a KAB fluid damper for my Pioneer PLX-1000 and an Audio Technica VM95ML cartridge as a gift for my boyfriend

[jrobbins50]

I just took Michael Fremer’s advice and ordered up this phono preamp designed and made in Spain. https://www.analogplanet.com/content/qhw-audios-surprising-vinyl-mmmc-phono-preamp
 

I currently use a Sutherland PhD phono preamp modified by Ron Sutherland to operate on AC current. JCR 

[d_elm]

Picture of Orbe SE with Gert Pedersen mods, Eminent Technology ET-2 arm, and DS-W2 cartridge.

[Norton]

8 hours ago, d_elm said:

Picture of Orbe SE with Gert Pedersen mods, Eminent Technology ET-2 arm, and DS-W2 cartridge.

Wow.  Any impressions so far on the sound vs conventional arm?

 

I owned a Gyrodec with Orbe platter and PSU for many years, what do the Pedersen mods do?

[d_elm]

5 hours ago, Norton said:

Wow.  Any impressions so far on the sound vs conventional arm?

 

I owned a Gyrodec with Orbe platter and PSU for many years, what do the Pedersen mods do?

The obvious difference in sound is with channel balance.  With proper setup of the ET-2 there is no skating force.  Hard to say that about a pivoted arm but for a magnetic cartridge skating force causes distortion that may not be noticeable. With the DS optical transducer skating force causes channel imbalance.

 

The Pedersen mods replace the original acrylic with two larger pieces, increase the weight by filling with sand, and replace the three springs with three adjustable O-ring columns and lock the horizontal motion with cord.  The result is much better internal vibration handling.  In addition my TT is nicely isolated from the room with a wall mount and a Gingko Cloud 11.

[4est]

On 6/12/2021 at 8:19 PM, d_elm said:

Picture of Orbe SE with Gert Pedersen mods, Eminent Technology ET-2 arm, and DS-W2 cartridge.

If I might ask, what manifold and what pressure are you using on this? I purchased a high pressure manifold, but have not installed it in mine.