Syntax, Please tell me; what DO you like? I certainly know what you don't like. |
Apparently my response to Syntax 48 hours ago did not "stick". Syntax's system is posted, so it is indeed possible to discern what he likes. Sorry about that. |
Nantais does a great job with the base Lenco L75, for sure. But you might also consider other after-market Lenco modifiers. The DIY alternative is also pretty easy with the Lenco, because you can buy an excellent plinth, and all other stuff is merely re-assembly of the table with new parts. I don't know whether Jean has yet adopted the PTP chassis in lieu of the original, but there is much to be said for doing that. My L75 has a slate plinth, PTP chassis, Jeremy super bearing, dampened original platter, weight on a string replacing spring (a la Nantais). I did it all myself. Motor, idler wheel, and idler arm are Lenco OEM. I have 4 other turntables including some exotic direct-drive types which I also like a lot, but Lenco is in play most of the time. |
Technics SP10 Mk3
Kenwood L07D
Denon DP80
Victor TT101 |
Living in DC, we are very fortunate to have a plethora of live music at our fingertips, sources range from the Kennedy Center concerts to small clubs downtown. We attend live performances at least once a month, more like twice a month since recent movies have been so terrible. Small group jazz is most often what I go out to hear and big bands whenever possible. Since I am an amateur jazz vocalist, I especially seek out good vocalists. If you sit close enough to avoid the PA system, you can get the "live" sensation. What always impresses me are the dynamics of live music and how live music usually does NOT provide for distinct placement of instruments that is so sought for in "hi-fi". There is NOTHING so soul satisfying to me as a good big band jazz session, live in person. In addition, I periodically invite musicians to play in my living room, right in between my gigantic ESL speakers with no amplification whatever. That's a much more rare event but great fun. |
"What I find is that imaging of live music is level-dependent - it tends to be quite clear up to a certain amplitude, but can fall to pieces when the playing is louder than this threshold."
So I guess there is room for both of us to be "right", if that is important. One of my favored venues in DC is a place called Bohemian Caverns. In a way, it's a dump. However, it was constructed many decades ago such that the interior resembles a real cavern, with faux cave-like painted plaster surfaces. I would venture to guess that no two surfaces in the room are parallel to each other, nor are there any surfaces that are not complex curves. Thus by accident it is a great listening room, but only if you sit directly in front of the performers. One must avoid the direct radiations of their grade B speakers in favor of direct listening. At "the Caverns", the imaging can change during the course of a single tune from excellent in the audiophile sense to vague, and back to excellent.Anyway, in my original observation, I did not intend to be seen as rendering an absolute judgement about imaging in a live performance, which can mean anything from an unamplified recital in the home to an orchestra in a concert hall and in the latter case depends upon where one is sitting, what concert hall, etc. And everything in between. |
Dorkwad, I just re-read your post above, particularly the following passage: "Discovered that the motor housing was no parallel to the chassis because of the 6 springs that attach it to the chassis have to be in just the right spot. There are long ones, short ones, and mid size ones. When they are right, and it takes some experimentation, the speed can be set spot on with absolutely zero drift." My reflex response to this notion is "Huh?" It would seem to me that in the horizontal plane you want the contact patch of the idler wheel to be perfectly tangent to the arc of the platter. In the vertical plane, as you say, the idler wheel should be perpendicular to the driven surface of the platter. This has little to do with the chassis, except that if you attain the goal, there will also be a certain relationship of the drive spindle to the chassis, pari passu. |
Dear Dork, After re-re-reading your quoted sentences, I finally get what you mean; you're referring to the horizontal part of the chassis, but I guess it's the platter that matters most. Sorry for my own misunderstanding of your intent. |
Gilles, What "alloy" did you use for your plinth? That sounds like an unusual and interesting choice of materials, compared to the more typical woods, slate, related synthetics, or even lead. |
Gilles, The plinth in the photo looks to be made of layers of MDF, not alu. However, Jacques does mention that he is going to build one out of a solid block of alu, which must be the one you bought(?)
FWIW, I really really do not like the sound of any of the many all-MDF plinths I have heard. For me, you either need layers of alu or layers of baltic birch, intermingling with layers of MDF, to get a neutral sound. Just my personal opinion and experience. |
