Well, Raul can certainly speak for himself. Except I'm afraid when he does it sometimes throws more kindling on the fire.
So consider this, English is not his native language. And to make matters worse I suspect he does not review his own posts closely so that typos or spell-check sometimes alters what I assume may be his intent.
I had the chance to meet Raul when he visited the US some years ago. I found him to be a gracious and considerate person. And obviously one with deep passion for music and the home reproduction of recorded examples. This passion results in his having direct experience with more different audio components than most us have had or likely ever will have.
So you can read his comments/suggestions and take them to stimulate your own experiments, or dismiss them as you see fit. There are posters here and on other sites who I simply skip over because I've learned we are too far apart in our perspectives that my reading would be of any value. Maybe a few here could do that with Raul if that's how you feel. Peace! |
folkfreak, "changes in VTF of +/- 0.05g"!?!
While I don't pretend to have expertise in such things it seems reasonable that many LPs (i.e. not being perfectly flat) will cause more variation in VTF than that. As a folk freak, hill and gully rider?
A friend who worked as an engineer in the aircraft industry has a favorite saying, "Don't worry about picking the fly sh*t out of the pepper."
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Just now I read Raul’s invitation to add memories of his visit to San Diego. I don’t have any special qualifications for that other than possibly being the only one from that group who still participates on Audiogon.
We are fortunate here that we have an active club, the San Diego Music and Audio Guild. The MAG has provided a way to meet many other local hobbyists and with that, many solid friendships have been formed. It was one of those members who was instrumental in inviting Raul to visit us during a US tour, and to call together a smaller group of individuals to meet with him. As I recall there was a core group of about six of us.
Over the days of his visit we met at one another’s homes so had great exposure to a few very different systems and the opportunity to discuss our impressions of them. They varied from HE speakers driven by SET amps to multi-way floor standers driven by hundreds of watts. Both analog and digital sources were utilized. Also Raul brought along his newly developed preamp which we had the chance to audition in some of those systems in direct comparison with the owner’s preamp. My system was one of those, although it is completely different today.
My major point though are my impressions of Raul. As I’ve posted previously I found him to be a very considerate, knowledgeable, and polite gentleman. He was able to contribute many insightful comments on the various systems, always doing so in a constructive way. So I consider it unfortunate that so many harsh words have passed here in response to some of his posts.
Just the same, I believe I can understand some of this criticism. Many of Raul’s comments come off as condescending. I didn’t find that in our face to face discussions but some of his writing appears that way. So why is that? Again I’m not an expert, but I do have some suggestions. First, English is not his native language and I’ve read multiple times where his word choice or expressions may not convey what I think he may intend. Second, you need to understand his degree of enthusiasm and commitment to musical reproduction and enjoyment. I think that leads to over-long replies and posts. He easily gets carried away when a simpler statement or description might serve better. Third, I suspect he spends so much time with those lengthly posts that he does not take time to review and edit them before submitting. Otherwise he might shorten or clear up points which may be misconstrued. And fourth, it could be a matter of style. I found Raul to be open to learning, sharing, and not condescending, but I can see where some of his knowledge and enthusiasm to share that comes off in ways that many ’Goners find offensive.
And now, back to tonearms. ;^)
Peace. |
Dover, you said "most enthusiasts of the EPA100 replace the ruby bearings with silicone nitride or ceramic balls".
I found that very interesting since it is the first time I've seen it stated. I have an EPA 100 so I read anything I find mentioning it.
After buying my EPA I discovered the bearings were out of adjustment and some of the rubies may have been damaged. I happened to have mine repaired with silicone nitride, just as you suggested, because I was told they were better than the original rubies.
Anyway, that was reassuring, even if I never read any reference to it previously. |
fleib, thanks for the helpful response.
In fact I have used my Dennesen for the reverse process, to draw the arc to identify location for mounting an arm.
I also use a small Tensor light and hand held magnifier with the Dennesen when doing an alignment. And I ignore the cartridge body and do all my sightings along the cantilever. But I will check out linen magnifiers to see if one might be easier that what I use now (a small version of your standard Sherlock Holmes model).
And now that you mention it, I seem to recall the Feickert I saw did offer alignment options, but as stated, I'm happy with Baerwald.
Over the years I've owned a dB Systems protractor and those from various arm manufacturers but I really like the simplicity of the Dennesen. And the results sound good to me and elicit complements on my system. ;^)
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fleib, when you say "fancy Dennesen tonearm locator, just as all these alignment grid/pivot pointer protractors are based on the SoundTractor, only they're better." do you mean the others are more accurate than the Dennesen? Or easier to use? Something else?
I'm not at all familiar with the UNI and I've at least looked at a Feickert at audio shows. But I've owned and used a metal Dennesen for nearly as long as Lew. So long as the pivot point of the arm can be located I've had no reason to be disappointed with my cartridge set ups. And yes, I'm satisfied with the Baerwald alignment.
If I'm out of date I'd appreciate being updated.
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fleib, because of another comment I just reread your 3-4-2016 post. I may have misunderstood something with my first reading.
You mentioned a Dennesen accessory to locate the arm mounting hole. I thought that was in response to my comment on locating the pivot point for the arm. But my mention had nothing to do with locating the pivot point to drill and mount an arm. Rather it related to setting up the Dennesen. This can be difficult with arms which do not identify their pivot point in some way on top of the arm tube or pivot armature. That was my reference to disappointments in use. Fortunately that has not been an issue with most arms I've used.
Back to arm recommendations and some discussion here of the DV505. Without making any specific recommendation I might suggest that Crazy Bill, and any others looking for an arm, to consider if they have reason to prefer one of the common alignment formulas and pick an arm which conforms with that. Case in point, which includes the DV505, I recently found this in a post on Vinyl Asylum by bkearns, "The following is a list of tonearms with recommended null radii at or near the IEC inner groove radius (60.325mm):- Audio Technica AT1009; Audio Technica AT1010; Dynavector DV 505; Hadcock Super Unilift MKIII; Infinity Black Widow GF; Keith Monks M9BA Mk3; Series 20 PA1000. In addition the Rega tonearms (perhaps), and many integrated turntables from Japan appear to conform to this system. Perhaps the popularity of Stevenson's method relates to the predominance of British engineering in turntables and tonearms."
Happy listening. |
fleib, for you, and anyone else considering a Dennesen/Feickert type device, allow me to be more precise. Sometimes my mind works faster than my fingers can type! ;^)
My only issue in using an alignment device such as the Dennesen is the need to accurately locate the pivot point of an already mounted arm. Some arms in my experience (EPA-100, Kuzma Stogi Reference, VPI) have a screw or at least an indentation on top of the arm tube or bearing armature so the reference rod can be positioned directly above the pivot point of the arm. This is necessary for both overhang and offset.
When I’ve tried using my Dennesen on any arm without such a reference marking I’m forced to eyeball the position of the vertical reference rod to the "estimated" pivot point and then hold it in that position while I continue with a one-handed alignment. Given the scale of alignment distances that is chancy at best.
My reference to sighting the cantilever for offset alignment meant relative to the lines etched on the Dennesen base plate, NOT back to the pivot point for the arm. That would defeat the offset alignment.
The last time I needed to mark a pivot point to drill a mounting hole for an arm I made a dedicated template. Using a manila file folder I cut out a 2" wide strip of appropriate length. Then with a good quality metal scale I marked off the spindle to pivot distance and precisely marked both. I carefully cut a X over the spindle marking (that allowed a pressure grip by the quadrants around the spindle) and punched the pivot point with a pin. Then inserting a 0.5 Pentel pencil I scribed the arc line to drill for arm placement. I found that easier than using the Dennesen.
Lastly, perhaps I should not have mentioned the DV-505 since I have no personal experience with it.
Crazy Bill, I enjoyed your story. My nickname "Pryso" goes back to high school so that was fun.
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chakster, would you consider a moderately priced new arm of good quality? If so I might suggest one of the Jelco models.
Also there are used versions made by Jelco for other brands, such as Audioquest, Sumiko Premier, and Ortofon. I owned a Premier FT-3 arm some years ago and found it to be a very competent performer.
Jelco also continues to build arms which a number of manufacturers offer new with their turntables.
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chakster, twice now you've used the term "budged". First time I thought that was a typo and you intended to say budget. That is why I suggested Jelco. And BTW, without checking compliance numbers I did use a couple of Grados and possibly a Shure or Stanton in my Premier FT-3 without issue. All that was several years ago. Anyway, I don't know what budged means.
But now you speak of Reed, Schick, EPA-100 and 100 Mk 2. None of those are budget arms. There was an EPA-100 Mk 2 on Ebay not long ago for around $1,800. Your situation may be different than mine but I would not consider that a budget arm.
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chakster, with apologies to the OP for this sidetrack I will offer arm suggestions specifically for high compliance cartridges as all were introduced during their peak popularity (no particular order).
- Infinity/ADC
- Mayware Formula IV or others in this series (I adapted one to an AR-XA table)
- SME 3009 Series III
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