Sunnyboy1956,
mine too! congrats. Oh it was you, sorry I get so many questions, sometimes when I do not know the person I oversee, sorry.
can you send me again. Thanks. |
the world of an audiophile with many tables/arms/carts/SUTs/phono PREs looks a bit confusing on a first glance. Looking at one's own audiophile history it is an up and down, looking for special combinations - like I did when searching the right partner for my Neumann DST 62 (from the cart to the tonearm...), enlarging the collection to 18 tonearms for a while and also "Reducing to the Max" to now 12 really necessary tonearms! It will change in a week when a new design will arrive at my house.
Most of my designs are vintage or old school designs, some are Mono only with really good pure (old, not recycled copper with perfect isolations - which makes a difference when you are offered some), four arms are rewired by Ikeda silver litz.
Is it worth doing so? I think YES! I am enjoying, also testing many combinations in situ, not listening at many different occasions with different systems. I prefer testing units in my own world but also exchanging ideas with some well experienced friends, also in front of my system. It provides me with some insights. I have learned you need to exchange with good personalities, not with the many big bang guys who have listened everywhere telling stories from their memories. Neverheless everyone should find his way and enjoy multiple combinations.
The biggest problem is space. And you need it for using many tables etc. The next problem is you need dedicated lines. If a system becomes too complex you may loose quality. I am using now two lines with two special preamps running to my amps. Also the different phono stages should be integrated properly. This is quite a unique adventure and you don't need them all at one time. I for myself could not live with one phono pre only.
In the end one may raise the question whether the testing will come to an end one day? I guess not. Maybe some of the favourites may survive. And for sure the units will become less one day. I just decided separating from one of my most dedicated tables as well as of a very rare R2R.
Testing doesn't mean listening to one record all the time. I know people who are running around with a set of three test records looking for the least distorted place on earth. This is not my world. I am enjoying quite a good collection of Jazz and Rock vinyl pressings. Multiple analogue tools do support my listening experience. That's all... |
Sunnyboy1956,
fun is upgreadable! try it :-) |
Dear Halcro,
why are we talking about limiting? The word limit itself is something I do very hard in most life environments. Maybe better: Take it to the limit... vroom! |
Dear Halcro,
the "taking to the limits" process includes also sideways, not necessarily the most efficient ones. To be honest who among us looking for different combinations did not end up with a failure or a mismatch sometime?
So what? Yes! Definitely yes! we were not born with the best sounding system bought by our parents. Experimentation gets along with good and bad results. But this is the way how to find out what is worth going for and what you wanna keep in your system or not.
Before I concentrated on improving my system in my listening room (btw also learning that it is different experimenting in a big or small room) I went to some audiophiles listening to their system always returning that they only wanted to hear "everything is fine". I also learned that the ones who are the most critical are the most sensitive when talking about their system or special units.
From this point on I decided not running around and not trusting any sales or marketing promises nor advices from so called church apostles or gurus rather exchanging opinions among real friends. I just had a funny experience when the publisher of a German Audio Magazine recommended a certain CD player (quite a new and very expensive one) to me. It was a friendly recommendation of the kind, just listen to it. My reply was: Bring it to me, we listen to it in my system and we will see whether it will beat the existing four digital systems or not. So far I got no answer.
In some matters it took me longer reaching my aim, e.g. idlers. I had some in my system and do know what the difference is, also with belt driven and direct driven tables. I know that some guys do not like idlers, maybe beause they got in touch with inferior or not very well matched combinations. Some otheres swear on the idlers' characteristics. On other topics I succeeded pretty fast and was absolutely happy with the outcome, e.g. R2R or some vintage tonearms - and I am still very happy with those ones.
I think that all depends on one's taste and the challenge you are going for - and of course the kind of investment (in time and spending) you are willing to sacrifice to multiple installations. And yes in some way - as Sunnyboy1956 (btw a very good year) indicated- it is a matter of how crazy or barking mad we allow ourselves to become. |
Dear Halcro,
indeed loading images in a thread on this platform does need an introductionary course which not everyone will pass, you did succesfully and Syntax and some others. But there are still some who are left behind...
In the age of modern computing loading images should be a user friendly one step approach directly from the computer, everything else is somehow like working at stone age. I thought when Agon modernized the platform they would modernize this feature too - obviously not!
So I am left behind as a kind of dinosaurus. my choice was that all my system images are stored and displayed at a simple place... |
Oh Lewm, come on you with many tables, arms and carts is asking such a question :-) of course it is about the combination of all, tables are part of the game. Or did I misread something?
Complexity is a rather complex issue... so most people tend reducing complexity which obviously makes life easier. The downside is you will never experience some "On Top Issues" like I did when experimenting with the Cooperhead and Cobra arm. As these arms are not really user friendly for changing carts they provide a pretty fine soundstage with a good cart like the Olympos or Goldfinger v2. It is so different you need to hear it. |
Downunder,
sometimes I am responsible for clearing the ground for some new small product ideas :-) In case of the UNIswitcher I asked Dertoneam some years ago if he could build such a switcher for my many tables and phono pres. The aim was not loosing any quality. So the UNIswitcher was born. I am using one with three inputs and I still have another unit for also three units which I don't use anymore (cause I sold two tables). my units have a very nice wooden box around it which I ordered at my High End carpenter. The wiring is fully silver which makes it not cheap.
I am not sure whether I will need it in the future or not. It makes Audio-life easier. |
Dear Lewm,
i tried both ways, a switch with relais (Manley switch) and the silverswitch of Dertonearm. While the Manley is a really good design I stayed with the UNIswitch. Of course you always have a degrading when putting units in between the lines but this unit keeps the qality in a very satisfactoy way.
Another option is going for the EMT JPA-66 with four tonearm connections (one MM, three with inbuild SUTs) and two line connections. This is in my eyes the most versatile and best sounding tube phono pre, also and especially regarding MMs. |
To my understanding and hopefully I have learned my lessons we do concentrate very much on the front end while the basics behind the system (power supplies - oh yes it can make a difference, power distribution, fuses, matching parameters between preamp/amp/ speakers) are of some importance in a good system. How much difference does it make when changing a tonearm to the better, or a cartridge, while the back end misses a good standard.
I know some might argue that isolation platforms, speed control, matching of tonearm and cart (compliance) are even more important. of course this is also a crucial workplace. Nevertheless how often did I experience in my High End life that people are not aware what they are missing or just have no idea what it could change in their system. Usually the first reaction is blocking all advisory or consulting hints. Maybe it will also lead to aggression or other kind of lousy behaviour just trying to solve their cognitive dissonance. This is understandable and a certain kind of protection, also not investing too much money in some kind of voodoo toys they might think.
Oh yes, sometimes I start thinking that we were born to reach a level and then defending it for all the time. Are these good perspectives...? |
Having now experimented with my new ToXion arm I am puzzled about the differences you can hear between the different materials the six Toho-tubes provide on the Axiom arm. One may believe it or not my current favourite is Bamboo. No I had only one glas of wine so far... |
Lewm,
Toto is also a gambling platform in Germany where you can vote on soccer games. While I was in Japan I learned that Toto is not only producing toilets but a variety of sanitair products, also High End...A really interesting company but maybe not as fascinating as Toho and Micro Seiki.
So better go for Tohos. The Toho stand for armboards I can recommend very much, but it is not easy to find; very massive, coming with different hole inlays for different arm sockets. |
Agree, Toho is really nice, especially when two advanced technologies come together in the ToXiom arrangement, old and modern. I had some time playing around with the many options and versatility the Axiom design offers. Because of the different weights of my Toho tubes and the special geometry of the headshell design I needed more and some different lateral weights made of aluminum, steel, brass and wolfram. It looks to me quite sophisticated. Now I have to learn about the magnets' support of the vertical balance - seems to me a new feature which I have not seen so far.
Testing goes on... |
Dear Nandric,
never discuss a product's name :-) just google!
yes you are right on the SME and the dynamic balancing principle used here, the magnetic support is an additional feature allowing it's virtues only in a small corridor. |
Lewm,
I thought I had passed the voodoo units but when I tried the small acoustic system resonators some years ago I got really puzzled about their impacts.
I heard about the Stein products when I attended the RMAF. My friend in Atlanta took them with him, had some problems when he tried entering the plane on the return trip from Denver. He loves them. So it should be something all about it. Maybe we need giving it a try. |
Dear Nandric,
too old to rock'n roll, to young to... ? sometimes one needs to jump. in your case you may get a good SUT from someone. Just give it a try. Don?t believe the Schaefers of this world. They have good intentions within their own world. I do understand and accept this. It may not block us from other experiments. Don't say No, No, No. Philosophically there are always many ways but running in circles is no achievement. Got motivated? Good. :-) |
Regarding carts I am usually confronted with the MC camp or the MM group, maybe some rare MI lovers. Why are we not able to use them all?
okay this again needs going for more than one table/tonarm set up. I know audio friends using one table with arms for MMs, one for MCs and one for MIs.
Should I admit that sometimes I belong to this species too? Anything wrong with this? |
Dear Halcro,
followed your advice. what a year can bring to us, Strain Gauge, four more arms and sopme tables 😎 |
