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. |
Dear Nikola,
I know you are a passionate supporter of your (3rd) Basis Exclusive Phono Preamp........and it maybe has a better LOMC amp inside than my Halcro DM10..........but have you ever tried a SUT going into the MM amp and by-passing the MC amp altogether? |
Dear Henry, I am still suspect and threated as such by
the moderators. No idea why but I am original from the
Eastern bloc and begin to recognize some precarious
development in the West but, alas , it is to late to
emigrate back. I already posted my contribution about the
SUT's yesterday but my post was obviously suspect ...
So in short. I am scared by the complexity of SUT-carts
matching and also own 'some' (8)LOMC's which make possible
so many combinations that I prefer not to mess with them.
For some unknown reasons Herr Scheafer (ASR owner)
has not much with MM carts. My previous Basis (2009) had to my big
surprise no MM input at all so i was forced to buy the new
'Golden one' from 2010 which is provided with the MM input
but no adjustment possibility of any kind. So my Basis is
better suited for the MC carts while I myself still prefer
those above any MM cart that I own (about 25,sic!)
The 'sic!' means that I am crazy and this means that there
is no sense in asking me why I own so many MM carts. |
Dear Nikola,
I too was scared about the 'complexity' and 'matching' issues that I had read about regarding SUTs.......but Thuchan advised me to just "try" :-)
You know I also have 3 LOMCs (actually 4...I have 2 UNIverses)......the Dyna XV-1s, the ZYX and the FR-7f/Lc and each one is different to the other......however they ALL matched perfectly with the Kondo KSL SF-Z and Halcro MM Phonostage.
If you have a chance for a home trial of one.......I'd strongly advise it.
However....the fact that Herr Scheafer is not 'strong' on MMs leads me to think that his MM Phonostage is possibly not good enough......and that may well be the reason you are not hearing the best sounds from yours? |
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. |
Sounds like you're 'cooking with gas' Lew :-)
Continue to enjoy..... |
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. |
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. :-) |
Dear Lew, While you was studying 'vintage phono stages' I bought an, uh, modern Chinese Jasmine LP 2 phono-pre for $500. I even upgraded the (MKP) caps with Jantzen Z caps. There is alas no basement in my apartment so I installed my second system in my bedroom. There I test all my carts with the comfort of an chair in front of my SP10
and FR-64S. Well this testing become an addiction such that I spend day and night in my bedroom. I could, by way of speaking, rent my living room together with my main system and earn some extra money for some extra carts and tonearms. If I remember well the original idea was to select the carts in the second system for the main system which is alas not very 'friendly' reg. changing carts. Two tonearms with fast headshells + this damn Basis Exclusive which need to be pulled out of the rack and opened for
any cart change. At my age and my sensitive back ( the chair!) not a very attractive proposition. Besides I nearly forget how this system works...Your philosopher D. Davidson wrote about intentions in generaland even about 'intending' in particular but this was not of much help. I ever emigrated from my beloved Serbia with the intention to become rich in the West... So much about intentions. Still my newest one is to sell all those damn MM carts , move to my living room and start again to listen to the music before I become an second Mexican. |
Dear Comrade,
Quote "before I become an second Mexican"!
A sombrero wearing tamale eating Dutchman. What is this world coming too! (grin) |
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. |
Dear Lew, There is a thread about Jasmine LP 2 with many reports reg. individual impressions. There is even the consensus about the performance- price relation. But my
upgrade with those Jantzen Z caps 'moved' the pre in a
different league. Not in the league of the Basis Exclusive but the price diference is shameless huge in my opinion. I of course know that Raul owns much more carts than I do but we both have the same 24 hours a day to our disposal. So I certainly don't envy the Mexican considering my own confusion with all those that I own. I am sure that you will recognize this time problem because you probably own even less than I but because of your lack of time you was not even able to test those that you own. However I do
envy you with those Beveridges. Glad to hear btw that you are satisfy with your 'youth work' with those Kef bass drivers. |
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 Thuchan, Anything wrong with this? Nothing I can see...... Go for it. I think 'inclusive' is far more productive than 'exclusive'? Horns, electrostatics, planars, dynamic. SS, valves. MM, MC, MI, strain gauge. Why not? |
Dear Halcro,
followed your advice. what a year can bring to us, Strain Gauge, four more arms and sopme tables 😎 |
Last night I was running my P+E 2040 with Shure V15 type 11 going through some of my Motown LP's. The sound of some is not worth putting the time on my $1000. cartridge for.Lets face it some records just don't sound good no matter what.I use the secondary table with removable headshell to listen to lower sound quality LP's in my collection I would otherwise dismiss on my main table.There's enough of it to hold my attention with quick cartridge swaps.The Temptations greatest hits was pretty mediocre listening but had some redeeming elements. |
For me, a two arm table allows for casual/"other room" listening (Ortofon VMS30 mkii on Signet XK50), saving wear on the main arm and costlier cartridge. With 5 spare VMS styli, it's quite cost-effective. The vintage cart/arm performs well enough to be the mainstay if circumstances required. |
