I have 3 turntables up and "running" at all times and own 5 total, if you count the broken TT101 I just bought. I use a highly modified Lenco for MM cartridges and the two others for various low output cartridges. The Lenco set-up feeds a tube MM phono stage, and the other two feed the phono section of my Atma MP1 full-function preamp. I have no idea why I do this, or how my audio life got so complicated. I am kind of like the derelict in Syntax's cartoon, except that this obsession did not make me poor. I guess I started out with an interest in learning for myself how turntables per se affect sound. I've also had some fun restoring or overseeing the restoration of some excellent vintage turntables, in the bargain.
Apparently my odyssey was a waste of time and money. Omsed has all the answers. Still, it's been fun, and I think I'm done. |
Dear Henry, I didn't yet, which is why you haven't yet. No excuses for me. |
Is this thread about the joys and woes of owning multiple turntables, or is it about justifying one's decision to own multiple turntables? The latter topic is a bore. |
Dear Henry, Perhaps I was thinking of the lyric from "I've grown accustomed to her face", Henry Higgins' lament from My Fair Lady:
"Her joys, her woes
Her highs, her lows
Are second nature to me now
Like breathing out and breathing in
I was serenely independent
And content (with one turntable) before we met
Surely I can always be that way again
And yet
I've grown accustomed to her look
Accustomed to her voice(s)
Accustomed to her face(s)."
Which is why I don't think I can go back to one turntable, even though I was satisfied with one turntable all my life until 4-5 years ago. You may as well ask Casanova why he needed so many women. |
Henry, OT, but it's your thread and you own a TT101: I have had no problem finding oodles of correct NOS ICs to replace the clock IC in the TT101. I am going to buy several from a vendor in China, in case my TT101 is in need. Bill Thalmann says this is the Achilles heel of the TT101, and he has never been able to find the chip for sale, but I think he limits his search to the USA. |
Don, If you are like me, you owe your lust for a Victor turntable to Halcro. At least I do. I recently bought a QL10 (TT101 in plinth cum UA7045 tonearm). It was initially not working, and I bought it in full knowledge that it was "broken", but today in the hands of Bill Thalmann, it works!!! Neither Bill nor I know why.
I think I am going to try the plinth-minimus approach with this one. It is well suited for that. |
I am not sure I got your email at all. I did have an email from Nikola in the last few months, and perhaps he can remind me if he asked me about selling my Denon DP80 in that exchange. Somehow I don't think that was the subject. But I have not changed my email address in forever.
Oddly enough, my Denon DP80 is up for sale on Audiogon, unless the ad expired already. |
Dear Nandric and Don (sounds like a 70s rock duo), I owe you guys an apology. Last night I saw that each of you did send an email to my little used gmail account. I rarely even look over there, because I do not give that address out, ever. In fact, I don't know how you guys found it, unless it is linked via Audiogon. But to my knowledge, Audiogon is linked to my regular Yahoo account, which I look at every day. Anyway, I now will respond, but based on what I wrote yesterday, you would have an inkling of my intent. Perhaps Don and I missed the boat, as it were. |
Nandric, Finally I picked up my Beveridge amplifiers from Bill Thalmann the other day. Soon I will be able to report. I need some very long interconnects first. Bill had them for 8 months, so it is not all my fault that I have no listening results so far. I am going to mate them to my transmission line woofers that I myself built 40 years ago!!! Crossover from Bev speaker to woofer is 80Hz. |
So Nandric, Would say this Einstein is "no Einstein"?
Today I went to Bill Thalmann's shop to see for myself that my new baby TT101 is indeed working nearly perfectly. In fact, I never saw my KAB strobe hold speed so solidly. The only remaining defect is that the pitch control will not allow "Fast" adjustments. Bill says it's just the push-push switch needs cleaning or replacement. We are going ahead to replace all electrolytic capacitors in any case. Soooo, here I went to sell my DP80 and found no takers. I was trying to cut back from four TTs to three. In the midst of that, I found the QL10 on eBay and could not resist its orphan status, because the seller described it as "broken". Had it been described as "working", the price would have been high, and I would have resisted. In any event, I ended up winning the auction with a low bid, bought the TT101, thereby not only increasing my TT count to five but also adding the Victor 7045 tonearm in the same bargain. No need to tell me this is ridiculous, but it's cheap fun compared to a mistress or a Ferrari.
Altho it turns out I do not need one, I will soon have several NOS spare clock chips for the TT81 and TT101, for anyone out there who needs one. Coming from China, or so they say.
I would like more info on Dertonearm's TT switcher. Does he have a balanced tonearm input version? |
Last winter, I had a local entrepreneur visit my home. He is Douglas Hurlburt, founder and designer of DSA phono stages (models I and II). He brought both for a try-out in my system, even though I warned him in advance that I was unlikely to pay the high prices for his units. Doug turned out to be a fine gentleman, and I must say I have rarely if ever seen such quality of construction, which stems from the fact that he over-builds his units himself, and he is obviously an obsessive person. In any case, his phono II has provision for three separate tonearms, balanced and unbalanced inputs for each, individual R and C adjustments for each, and individual gain selection for each. All selections can be made from the front panel. No flashlights or mirrors needed. (Each tonearm is in fact feeding a completely separate RIAA stage, one from the others.) In short, he's thought of everything our little hearts could desire in a phono stage. And I might add that the sound was superb, good enough for me to consider putting aside my bias for tubes. At the time, the Phono II was going to market at around $15,000, which alas was too much for me. I think now he has slightly reduced the price. Highly recommended if you've got the financial capital. |
Nandric, I did not know that Einstein made a phono stage with more than one phono circuit inside. That's a bit more difficult to achieve with tubes than with solid state. (The DSA units are solid state.) I have never seen that particular model of Einstein phono stage for sale or mentioned on the internet. The one we usually see is cylindrical in shape and accommodates exactly one tonearm/cartridge. But I guess you can double up on those cylinders and thereby gain additional inputs. Yes, I think you can run two cylinders off of one Einstein power supply module. This could be done to achieve balanced inputs for a single tonearm or to accommodate two tonearm/cartridges in SE mode. Am I correct (even though I also am no Einstein)?
Halcro, I agree that I too am unlikely to want to use the pitch controls, but the obsessive/compulsive part of me wants my TT101 to be working perfectly on all functions. Perhaps after I re-cap it, the pitch control will repair itself. Or Bill may have to replace the "Fast" switch, which he says he can do.
I've got a total of ten SC3042 chips on order, 5 from each of two different vendors in China. These are "clocks" for the servo, formally known as "624 MHz sine wave differential clock". I ordered from two sources to be more certain of getting the right part from at least one source. Assuming I end up with ten correct pieces, I will want to keep one for myself, but any and all Victor TT81 and 101 users are welcome to the remainder. It's probably best to contact me privately at my Yahoo email address. By the way, anyone can do what I did to find this part; I just Googled the part number "SC3042". You have to be willing to do business with a Chinese person whose command of English is limited (but then again, my command of Chinese is limited to zero). |
OK, I am no Einstein, and neither of us is a Rockefeller. So is there some other model made by Einstein that supports two phono inputs without buying 2 or 4 cylinders? (Do you need four cylinders to do two tonearms in SE mode? Four cylinders could do two tonearms in balanced mode, unless indeed each cylinder can only do one channel in SE mode. Perhaps that is the point I am missing.) |
Halcro, I can see you as part of a pit crew in a Grand Prix race, changing a tire in "less than 30 seconds".
So far, I do the same; I plug and unplug, altho I do have two phono stages, one inside the Atma MP1 for LOMC (and also for LOMM, the Stanton 980LZS) and one in the form of a modified Silvaweld SWH550, for MM/MI. Usually, I have 3 tonearms in play at any given moment.
But one can dream of a multi-input, infinitely switchable phono stage, can't one? The DSA Phono II and the others mentioned here do exist. I've gotta say I have a silly bias against the Manley Steelhead, only because it uses 12AX7s and I think also 12AU7s, of which I am not very fond. I just thought of another such candidate, the EAR 324. Does anyone have experience with that? |
Dear Nandric, I have to agree with Einstein who is in this case at least an "A" student. Putting a simple switch at the output of the tonearms will inevitably degrade the sound of both cartridges, because the signal voltage is so low in magnitude at that juncture, and because even very good switches have some micro-reactance. However, it may be possible to achieve switching by the clever use of relays such that the switch is not in the signal path, maybe. But that's why the multi-phono-input phono stages we've been discussing do have separate discrete RIAA stages for each pair of inputs. Once the cartridge output is amplified and equalized, it is less damaging to switch it.
But I confess, I installed a switch in my MP1, so I can change the cartridge load resistance from 100R to 1000R to 47K. I choose to believe I can hear no problem from that. |
Although I tend to take a purist approach to audio. (No tone controls, minimal switches and connectors, etc, etc.) I have lately come to believe that some of these gospel truths can be occasionally violated with no important negative consequences.
Nandric, In the US, students are typically graded on a scale of A to F, where F = Failure. An "A" student would be in the very top category.
Case in point re violating gospel: The other night I set up my pair of Beveridge 2SW speakers, which I have owned for more than a year but which I had never heard, because I sent the direct-drive amplifiers off for check-up and upgrades the minute I uncrated them. Just got them back after 8 months. All I had on hand in my basement as a signal source was an old tuner, the preamp section of an old solid state NAD integrated amplifier, and some ancient "give-away"-quality RCA interconnects. Also, no woofer to complement the Bevs below 80Hz. (The 2SW has a built in 12db/octave x-over at 80Hz; you need a woofer/subwoofer.) Nevertheless, I hooked the tuner up to the NAD preamp and the preamp to the Bev direct-drive amplifiers which sit in the bases of the speakers, set the tuner for a local FM high quality classical music station, and fired up the Bevs for the first time. After about 15 minutes of warm-up, the sound was absolutely glorious. I was riveted to the spot for two hours, or until 1 AM, when I finally had to get some sleep. This to me was a demonstration of the primacy of the transducer. All the other gear is merely seasoning on top of what the speaker can do. If the speaker is second rate, no amount of audio jewelry or switch avoidance can overcome that. If the speaker is of high quality, you almost cannot miss. |
Henry, The particular FM station I tuned into plays classical music only. At that time of night, they have a female disc jockey who has been doing the late shows for decades. I have heard her voice on many many different speakers and in many different systems. When she came on the air in between musical pieces to announce the time, the news, or what music was coming next, it was almost eerie; she seemed to be sitting no more than 6 feet away from me. (I know this is a tired audio cliche', but it does apply.) I could sense the resonance of her body as she spoke. That Beveridge guy was clearly a genius of sorts (maybe not an "Einstein" but a genius nevertheless); there is much about the speakers that is totally unique, even including the way the ESL panels work, which is fundamentally different from all the other successful commercial ones. The diaphragms do not carry a high DC bias voltage, which may be why my speakers still work so well after 34 years. (Built in 1979.) |
What is a ToXion tonearm? I presume one is obliged to capitalize the "X"? Is this another Dertonearm product? |
Japan in my opinion produces the world's finest toilets: Toto is the brand. I guess there is no relationship between Toto and Toho.
Nandric, This is way OT, but I am enthralled with the Beveridges. And they are set up in my basement where my wife says she cannot even hear the music whilst she is trying to get to sleep on the second floor of our home. (My musical curfew is typically around 11:30 PM in the upstairs system, which is just one floor below our bedroom.) This means I can listen to music all night long. I bought a cheap preamplifier with a phono stage so I can have vinyl in the Bev system. When I get the woofers up and running, it should be even better. |
Yes. I know Toto make bidets as well as toilets. Probably sinks, bathtubs, etc, as well. Toho is nice too. |
Nandric, I have been studying "vintage" phono stages for the last few months. By "vintage" I refer to units designed and built from the 70s to the 90s, not the real old pre-1970 units that by now need rebuilding. This is because I am so enamored of the Beveridges that I am now constructing a "second system" in my basement around them, but I don't want to spend a lot of money. Anyway, there are many fine full function preamplifiers from that era that do provide an MM input, or two or three, and these inputs frequently do provide for adjustable loading of MMs. Also, there is not much new under the sun in phono stage design, so many of these units are quite good sounding. I just bought a mint condition Quicksilver preamp AND a Klyne 6LX/P. I am going to compare them and keep the one I like best, but right now the Quicksilver is driving the Beveridges and sounds great. For well under US$1000 or about 700 Euros you can get a very nice MM phono stage.
I may have mentioned my decades old home-made Transmission Line woofer cabinets here before. They utilize KEF B139 woofers. I got them running this weekend to provide low bass for the Bevs, and, after much experimentation with positioning, they really work very very well. So I got a subwoofer system for zero dollars. I had been about to throw out the cabinets on several occasions in the past, pre-Beveridge. |
Dear Henry, Funny you should use that phrase, "cooking with gas". There was an audio show in my area this weekend, the "Capital Audio Fest". I attended all day on Saturday. There I saw a device heretofore unknown to me, the Stein "Harmonizer". The Harmonizer is a little black box, maybe 4 to 6 inches on a side, that is mounted on a long slender pole about 4 feet off the ground. Supposedly, the Harmonizer improves the room sound by moving air molecules (aka,"gas"). The idea being that keeping the air molecules in motion makes the work of the speaker easier, static vs dynamic friction is invoked. The astute audiophile is advised to buy as many as three pair of these to "treat" the room. One pair = ~$2000!!! These things are made in Germany. Nandric and Thuchan, do you know anything about this product?
IF the thesis made any sense, which I am not sure it does, why not use a couple of whisper fans strategically placed, or a couple of small point source heaters. Both will do the job of moving air molecules. Further, I can see no way in which the Harmonizer can move air molecules; there are no apertures in the black box through which air might pass in order to be motivated. I must be missing something. The fact that Stein also sells "Magic Stones" does not reduce my level of incredulity. |
Dear Nandric, Good choice! I have been interested in the Jasmine as well, but I have a predilection for vintage equipment, as you may have guessed. There is a lot of positive buzz regarding the Jasmine, nevertheless. I imagine it is very good. So I read the remainder of your last post carefully, where you analogized my basement to your bedroom, but I do not see where you've made any comment on the sound quality from the Jasmine. For example, how does it compare to your expensive German solid state phono stage?
I have a feeling that Raul has more cartridges than you, by an exponential amount. |
