Jeez, and I thought I had too many tonearms and cartridges and record players. When does he have time to listen to them all? Now to start a 3-arm Lenco...or 3. Some very fine vintage legends in there, gotta respect that. What's your take on the Stax unipivot Raul, I know someone who is selling one.
Visit the Wonderful World of Analog Raul Style
OK, all regulars on this site know Raul. As some of you may remember, I suggested to Raul within a previous thread that he post pictures of the various tables, tonearms, and especially the large number of cartridges he has referenced over the past several months. I figured that such would provide a great resource for the vast majority of us who have never even seen, let alone heard, a number of the cartridges he mentions both favorably and critically. Some contacted me with encouragement, some with skepticism that I could pull it off, and some with skepticism that the cartridges existed. In short order, I heard from Raul, himself, and it became clear that he was not unwilling to share images of his treasure trove (and I mean treasure trove, literally) but, rather, did not know how to go about creating a forum to do so. As such, I agreed to create for Raul a dedicated webpage for their display, if he would send to me pictures. Well, to say that I was overwhelmed at what came my way was an understatement. I think you will agree.
I subsequently created the webpage, a link for which I provide below. No, it is not professional – I am not a professional web builder. Yes, it is LARGE and, yes, it will take awhile to load, depending on your connection speed. In any case, my advice is to be patient and wait for it to load completely. It is my hope that this will prove a fun and educative resource for us all. I would appreciate it if folks would bump this thread now and again so that others might have the opportunity to view the site and bookmark it for future enjoyment.
Above all, THANKS to you, Raul!!!
The Otherworldy Analog World of Raul
I subsequently created the webpage, a link for which I provide below. No, it is not professional – I am not a professional web builder. Yes, it is LARGE and, yes, it will take awhile to load, depending on your connection speed. In any case, my advice is to be patient and wait for it to load completely. It is my hope that this will prove a fun and educative resource for us all. I would appreciate it if folks would bump this thread now and again so that others might have the opportunity to view the site and bookmark it for future enjoyment.
Above all, THANKS to you, Raul!!!
The Otherworldy Analog World of Raul
51 responses Add your response
It has come to my attention that the web page may contain images that look "out of screen size" for some. When I view the site, it looks fine and loads fast. I am a bit of a novice when it comes to web page building and my real concern is that become a fun and lasting resource, of sorts. If anyone out there has the technical skills to make this a better looking, faster loading site, I'd be happy to work with them. |
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4yanx, you have some very big images there. The whole page is over 15MB so it takes a while to load. And the images are really much bigger that the image size you have set, forcing the browser to resize them - something they do very poorly. Let's take an example. http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Analog_rig.jpg is 1600x1200 pixels - half a MB. But your HTML says to show this as: IMG SRC="/~iowan1/Analog_rig.jpg" ALIGN=left HEIGHT=400 WIDTH=533 It doesn't look as good like that, and there is no download saving in restricting the image size - the browser fetches the big image and then resizes it. What you need to do is adjust the image with PhotoShop, ArcSoft PhotoStudio etc to make it a smaller size (say 640x480) and put that on the main page. Photo editing software will do a much better job of resizing each image. Each small image should be a hyperlink to the big mothas you have stored on your site. It will take a bit of effort to run each one through the PhotoStudio and resize them, and then put those up on your site. And then the HTML page needs to be recreated with the smaller images (don't set the HEIGHT and WIDTH parameters) and activating the hyperlink. The page would be only a couple of MB, but people could get access to the full resolution images you have stored on your Web server. They are the treasures. If anyone wants to see these in HiRez, click on these links: http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Turntable_1.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Turntable_2.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Turntable_3.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Phono-line_preamplifier.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Tonearms_1.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Moerch_DP-6.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Technics_EPA-100.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Koetsu_SA_1100D-Mark_2.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Ortofon_RS-212.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Cartridges_1.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Cartridges_2.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Cartridges_3.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Audio_Technica_OC-30.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Benz_Micro_LP.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Benz_Micro_Ruby_2.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Clearaudio_Discovery.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Dynavector_XD-1.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Goldbug_Mr_Brier.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Koetsu_Onyx.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Lyra_Helikon.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Ortofon_MC-7500.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Sumiko_Celebration.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Transfiguration.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Van_denHul_Colibri.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Van_denHul_The_Frog.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Accuphase_AC-2.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Allaerts_MC2.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Audio_Technica_ART2000.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Audio_Technica_ART-1.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Audioquest_AQ-7000Fe5.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Denon_DS-1.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Ikeda_Rex_9.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Koetsu_Rosewood.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Ortofon_MC-2000.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/Shelter_90X.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~iowan1/body2.jpg Regards, |
Metralla, good point. I resized all the images and forwarded them last night to 4yanx. Hopefully he'll be able to substitute with the resized images to make things easier on the bandwidth. If he's successful making the switch, I'll help him create some hyperlinks to the full-sized images for those wanting to see any given image in greater detail. (In the interim, the full-sized images may go away for a while because the re-sized images all use the same file names, but we'll get 'em back again in a few days.) My compliments to 4yanx, though, in helping Raul make these pictures available. Without his efforts working with Raul on this, we'd never have been able to see these. And thanks to Raul for being willing to take all of these photos and make them available. . |
On a lighter note:Raul,your wife must be a GODDESS to allow you to indulge,to this level.I know,when I built my dedicated room,some years ago,I had to come up with some pretty pricey "BLING",to quell her!!Now,I've basically"Bought" her off,so I'm free to play!! In your case,it probably would be in your best interest to take "the little woman" out to a movie,now and again.Based on your, seeming, propensity for modding/collecting (I DO love it),I don't see how you have the time.If she does ever leave you, I know some N.Y. based audiophiles who would snatch her up,in a "New York Minute".BEWARE!! Also,her influence,in your audio room is obvious,in the little "Chakas"(Hummels)on the front table.BTW-you DO know that they screw up your soundstage,by vibrating above 12khz!Just kidding!! Oh,Yeah-forgot to mention(the timing is good here)that although you were always denigrated,enough to seem like the young Anakin Skywalker,I somehow,always felt that it was the light side of the FORCE that you "Glowed" in!!Have fun. |
Dear Johnnantais: I really like the Stax tonearm, only a grade down to the Satin unipivot: that for me is the best unipivot ever made. I already listen all those cartridges and take my time for hear it time to time. What I'm not finished is to find the best tonearm/cartridge match for every one. Regards and enjoy the music. Raul. |
Raul, a mind boggling collection of cartridges, probably the single largest collection in one place. I had a few of those in your collection, notably the Accuphase AC2 and the Goldbug Brier (gosh I miss them) but am sure they would be non functional, or semi dysfunctional, if I had kept them for today. So will you say those still work optimally in your case? And for all your diatribe against the use of step-ups with MCs, permit me to raise one of my own: that no serious user of analogue will station his front end between the loudspeakers. But I'll not keep hammering at it. All said, you get my complete respect for your dedication. You will next tell us about your vinyl library? |
Dear Cmk: When I'm hearing to the Allaerts MC2 Finish, I really can't ask for anything more. Everything is right on target: tonal balance, neutral/natural flavor, great performance at both frecuency extremes, the music flow through your body and you feel full of emotions, it is a full performer for music lover's, etc..... It is a very low output cartridge, so be carefully here. I tested with all my tonearms and till today the SME IV do an extraordinary match with it. I love this cartridge, do justice to the music/sound reproduction. Like a whole performer I don't know any cartridge that can evenn: maybe some ones are better in some music reproduction areas but anyone ( that I hear ) come really close like a whole performer. I lke very much the Dynavector XV-1, the Colibri and the Transfigurations, all these cartridges are great but not like the MC2 Finish. Now, the MC2 Finish is really close to my priorities and fits it very well, but your priorities or the priorities of other music lover's can be differents from mines. Btw, I can't see how any people can't be in love with this Allaerts cartridge. Regards and enjoy the music. Raul. |
Raul,I think it would have been fun to see a picture of your music collection too.Far too many hobbyists(I'm not accusing you of this)are way too into the hardware aspect of the hobby.I've been accused of that as well.However,it is the software that has been the driving force,for me,as well as ALL of my audio pals,in the TRI-STATE N.Y.area. These days,though I LOVE the materialism of my set-up,I really take pride in the music collection I've been able to put together,since the early 1980's!! |
Raul, you are 'da man! Question: as a longtime owner/listener/lover of the Accuphase AC2 phono cartridge, can you please compare its performance to the others in your stable? I am particularly interested in hearing your comments comparing the Lyra Helikon vs. the AC2 as I have just purchased the Helikon and am awaiting delivery. Thanks, Dennis. |
Dear Dennis: +++++ " Accuphase AC2 phono cartridge, can you please compare its performance to the others in your stable? " +++++ Well, I would like to do that hard/titanic job but I don't know when I can do it. Btw, the Accuphase AC2 is mounted ( right now ) on my system in a heavy mass tonearm: SAEC WE 8000/ST. You are a " longtime owner " of this cartridge so you know very well ( what a low bass reproduction !!! ), against the Helikon?, well: the Helikon is on the hifi side of the music sound reproduction, the AC2 is more " true" to the music ( it is not perfect but is very good ). Now this is a matter of personal music sound reproduction priorities and the anolog rig where you want match your cartridge and of course with your whole system character. Regards and enjoy the music. Raul. |
Raul, it appears from your comment that I may not be as satisfied with the soon to be delivered Helikon as I have been these many years with the AC2!! I have never searched for hi-fi sound, but the musical truth. I have always felt that the AC2 was getting me pretty close to that goal. Thanks for your feedback, Dennis. |
Dear Sirspeedy: There was aproblem: the owner of the Schroeder tonearm send me with an insurance ( of course ) and here in México we have to pay at customs around 35% for every item that cross over the border. I can't have time for a temporary introduction because the tonearm was already at the customs, so I have to return it. But I already have the opportunity to hear it and in some thread I post that I'm not satisfied at both frecuency extremes: it is a little soft in the low bass and needs more definition at the high frecuency extreme. In these topics the germany tonearm sound is like the air tangential tonearms. If I can remember in that ( december ) thread I post that there will not be any surprise for me with the Shroeder tonearm. The whole idea/design behind this tonearm is facinating and I like it: it is an excellent tonearm like others in the audio market. Regards and enjoy the music. Raul. |
4yanx,just wanted to let you know that you did a great job with this thread.It is not all Audiogon members that would be amicable to spending the time to give all of us the "Little Rush" we all get when viewing new pics,and system input,like Raul's set-up!I,myself have had a very recent experience with an Audiogon "LOW LIFE",who corresponded to me in a disgusting manner,and used my own screen name to vilify me,on impersonated threads(see 6922 tubes,in the "amp" section,if curious)because I had the "nerve" to question his intentions,in his pushing 2 tubes for 200 dollars each,that had NO tube testing,or conclusive indication of tube age!!Not a good thing for serious hobbyists!!! YOU are one of the really good guys,for your unselfishness,and ability to share with us.As well as the level of professionalism shown in your talents. ,as indicated here. Raul,although criticised in the past by those that I believe misunderstand his "Truly Good" intentions,is,to me,a very passionate hobbyist who simply "needs" to share his passion with other hobbyists.Nothing wrong there.He,also, has good input at many times. I have considered,at the behest of my personal audio group,stopping any correspondence on Audiogon,due to childish experiences,like the one I had recently.However,due to guys like you,4yanx,and passionate hobbyists(who are a load of fun to read,regardless of personal"style"),like Raul,I won't quite give up the ship as of yet. Thanks,to ALL of the Gentlemen,and Good Guys that have made this forum what it SHOULD be,FUN!! |
