Replace OL Illustrious 3 with Graham 2.2?
Artemus, Why this haste to upgrade if you've done so little to optimize what you have? In addition to the adjustments you admit you haven't made, if your system photo is current then you also haven't optimized the drive system of your Teres. A 340 set up as in your photo will not match my 320 or any Galibier for dynamics, "oomph" or tonal clarity. It will sound comparitively soft, wooly and undynamic. Your photo shows the stock Teres black drive tape. That is several generations behind the state of the art in drive tapes. We bettered that material on our 320 several years and tape types ago. Read this thread . Chris doesn't provide the optimal tape and neither does anyone else. You have to DIY (or I will, for $100 each! LOL) The motor may or may not be an issue. Ours once had problems like what Steve described but no longer does, thanks to an upgrade provided by Chris. Ask him about gold brushes. I think you'll benefit more from rolling up your sleeves than rolling out your wallet. ;-) Doug P.S. From experience I disagree that a 2.2 would be a significant upgrade from an Illustrious. IMO it wouldn't even be a lateral move. |
They are quite inexpensive right now and that was my reasoning.In an active secondary market comprised of knowledgeable buyers and sellers, a piece of equipmnent that retains a relatively low percentage of its original price is likely to perform: a) better than average b) worse than average c) on American Idol *** That said, is the new tape drive system a big upgrade?Read the thread I linked. No one who's tried it has failed to hear improvements. BTW, I'm using a clear one now. (The black one broke)Good. The (2 mil) clear tape was a nice upgrade over the (1 mil) black. You're now just two steps from state of the art. Whatever you heard from the switch to the clear tape, you'll hear more of. *** As you're running the TT on AC power, I'd recommend the battery option from Teres. Batteries eliminate dirty power problems better than any power cord. If you do, skip the Teres-supplied battery and buy a heftier Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) type. (We actually use two, our TT probably has more cold-cranking amps than my Land Rover! LOL.) AGM batteries are safe and hold their charge practically forever when disconnected, which we do when not listening. Ours only need recharging once or twice a year. We leave our charger disconnected, which further lowers the noise floor. A big AGM battery's large plate surfaces and mat-stabilized gel electrolyte supply electricity fast enough to push the motor through transients with minimal power lags; AC oomph without the noise and distortion. Our 320 matches our CDP for transient speed and betters its dynamics, bass depth and clarity. Of course there's no comparison when it comes to a low sound floor. |
Sorry, I must have mis-read something about an AC power cord on your TT. Large, AGM batteries do provide a sonic performance boost over the one Teres recommends, the heftier the better. It should be easy to sneak a battery into the house, it certainly isn't eye candy! ;-) We also bought a "smart" charger that extends the life and optimizes the performance of the battery. This means we never use the Teres charger and it's disconnected. In our system any charger compromises sonics if left attached during play. |
