Edit: That should read, I think the 550ML was the only round plug beryllium/ML ever made. |
Some time ago when 'we' discovered the Italian source for those Acutex (420, 415, etc.) carts we referred to the source as 'pizza seller'. I discovered a new one. His cart is hidden, uh, behind the name 'Azzurra'. We needed some time to discovere that Astatic and Glanz are made by Mitachi corp. and so is the 'Azzurra' which was ordered by Glanz. The Azzurra has the same 'generator' as the Glanz 31(l) which is 'the same' as the Astatic MF 200. That is to say 'the same' according to Vetterone (Dobbins) and Nandric (Glanz thread). The difference is the stylus. Azzurra has a conical one. However Astatic MF 300 stylus is still available (ebay.com)so the potential buyer can 'compose' his own Astatic MF 300 cart. The 'pizza address': esotar@gmail.com. To get a preferred treatment reference to Nikola will do as introduction.
Regards, |
Dear Fleib: Yes, I will return that 550ML fake. Pity that a " reputable " seller as LPGear marketed this kind of fake items. We have to be more careful with.
Regards and enjoy the music, R. |
Flieb,
Quote: "That should read, I think the 550ML was the only round plug beryllium/ML ever made."
I'm thinking a transplant might be in order here!
Regards, Don |
Assume I open the box. How will I know I am looking at beryllium? |
Lew, Some magnification would help. All you really need to tell if it's alum or beryl - bonded or nude, is handheld 30 to 60X.
Look at the end of the cantilever and see if it's folded over like the pics on Asylum - that's alum. Bonded will have a little platform under the round shank needle. That platform will go through the cantilever and look like a nail head on the other side. Mine is covered over with some black stuff. A square shank nudie is glued and doesn't go through a beryl cantilever. Most of the ML are really small, but that should be enough magnification to tell if it's bonded or not. If you have enough magnification to see a nude sq shank, it's beautiful like a pin-up girl.
Those photos on Asylum were less than 100X. You can use a low power biological scope, but you have to block the hole under the slide, light it from above, and have enough height with the stage to accommodate the stylus. Regards, |
Dear Lew, Don't open the box. It is the Pandora kind. To know what is inside one need to open the box but than every seller will tell you: ''sorry we don't accept used items.'' Besides this beryllium stuff is toxic. Only Fleib can be attracted by such stuff because he thinks they make the best cantilevers. |
I have several beryllium cantilevers. Most are solid rod type. I also have a couple (purported to be beryllium), that are tapered tube. Looking at the cantilever from the end, it appears to be a hollow square. Actually more rectangular than square, but you get the idea. Any confirmation of this design as to whether it would confirm a "beryllium" tube?
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Hi Nikola, You're a lawyer? Obviously not a civil lawyer, LOL. Maybe things are different in Europe, especially eastern Europe, but this is the USA. All one has to do is contact their credit card company and cancel the charge. Opened box or not, is irrelevant. I doubt if the seller will dispute the claim. This is a fraudulent or misidentified item. They already acknowledged as much, and wouldn't have a leg (or cantilever) to stand on, so to speak.
Beryllium is only toxic when being manufactured. If you breath in the dust or ingest small particles it's toxic. Otherwise it's safe. They still make tweeter diaphragms out of beryllium. When you do very exacting close work or party too much it's normal to start seeing double, get headaches and nausea, and you skin turns various shades of red and green. Thus it is called the Xmasexcess syndrome. Take a day off and it goes away. When I broke the 152MLP the cantilever went flying and landed in my forearm which bled a little. Nothing happened - no symptoms of anything. I've recently started st st stuttering and images appear upside down. I wonder if they could be related? Regards,
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Griff, AFAIK, AT only made a couple exotic tube cantilevers. What models? Compare them to a tapered alum w/nude stylus like your 440MLa. Regards, |
I've got a hand-held magnifier that should do the trick, maybe even without opening the clear plastic box. Anyway, there is low probability that I lucked out here. Just wishful thinking.
My understanding is that LP Gear is taking these items back under "return authorization". I intend to go that route. |
Flieb,
My comments doesn't have anything to do with AT in particular, just beryllium cantilevers in general. All my re tipper beryllium's are rod. I do know that there are tube beryllium cantilevers. I just want to know if there is a tell tale sign (No, not "here's your sign"!), but a way to tell at first glance, yep, that's beryllium!
Regards, Don |
I have no idea why my comrade Don addresses Fleib as 'Flieb' but I have some idea about how objects are determinated . There are two ways: 1. an object satisfying an property in Tarsky's conception of thruth by satisfaction conditions. Or 2. an object being determinated by a property.
I think that we usually think with the second mentioned criterion. So, dear comrade Don, if the object of your investigation has the property of beryllium you will know the answer for your question(grin).
Regards, |
Lew, If you can wait a day or two I can email you enlargements of the legitimate (dark blue) PC550ML beryllium stylus that I recently acquired with a 550 body. |
Dear Comrade,
As always, your brilliance just baffles me. I'm speechless!
BTW: Sorry Flieb, my typing is not the greatest. I've even misspelled my own name once.
Regards, Dno (grin) |
Hey Dave, that would be great. I will hold up on returning the stylus until I receive photos from you privately or here. |
Griff, ** I just want to know if there is a tell tale sign (No, not "here's your sign"!), but a way to tell at first glance, yep, that's beryllium!**
First glance? No. Second glance? Possibly.
Ways to tell if it's beryllium: 1) Look up info on the cart and see if it's listed as beryllium. 2)Date of manufacturer. Everyone stopped using beryllium around the time Signet carts hit the market, or shortly thereafter. 3)Look at the cantilever under some magnification (see above) and determine if it is aluminum. If it's not aluminum, chances are it's beryllium, boron, ruby or sapphire. If that is the case go back to step 1. 4)Break the cantilever in half and stab yourself in the forearm with it until you bleed. If you start stuttering and see images upside down, it's beryllium. 5)If step 4 seems a bit much and you still haven't identified material, do its horoscope (you asked for it). For this you need location and time of its manufacture. For example - Osaka Japan, 10:45 AM. Look up rising sign for that place and time. All beryllium cantilevers are born under the sign of Scorpio, boron is Aquarius and ruby is Leo. Regards, fleib or flieb I know who you mean |
Sorry, I left out date on horoscope. That would be Osaka Japan, Sept 17, 1975, 10:45 AM. Regards, |
Fleib,
You are a funny man! You must be related to my comrade, Nikola! (grin)
Regards, Don |
Dear comrade Don, Totally wrong ! I am not obsessesd with cantilevers and he turned around my truth criterions. I.e. 5 conditions which an object need to satisfy in order to be determinated as beryllium while I needed just one. Something like : if it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, swims like a duck, it's pobably a duck. Poor duck need to satisfy all those conditions to be recognized for what he alredy is; a duck. Compare this with my UFO. Just one property is needed : the capablity to fly. So not even 'U' in the abbrevitation 'UFO' is needed to determine that we are dealing with a flying object. As you can see Flieb and I have nothing in common.
Regards,
' |
Dear Nikola Nandric esq, For someone who quotes logicians, you once again amaze me. Those are not 5 criteria which must be met, merely 5 alternate ways to identify beryllium. Now your calling ducks UFOs. No wonder there are so many sightings. Many of the sightings in the US are real and not ducks. Our military has prototype flying saucers and the test flights are often reported as UFO.
We actually have something in common. My grandparents emigrated to the US from Russia and eastern Europe sometime before the glorious revolution and establishment of USSR. They had the foresight to get the hell out of there while your grandparents..... Our expression for that is, luck of the draw.
This is slightly amusing banter while we wait for Raul and further revelations. He's probably preoccupied with his Denon CD player or all-in-one. What's not to like? Just put in a disk and hear the bass go thump thump and with feeling. I think this is especially effective if you listen with your clothes off. If you put an X rated channel on the TV at the same time, and have your girlfriend next to you it can turn into an extra terrestrial experience - out of this world. Regards, |
Dear Flieb, I am really, really sorry. At last one real Slavic brother in our forum while I was not aware of this fact. The problem, you know, with those Polish descendants, Lew and Henry is this. When you ask a Pole:'are you Slavic?' his answer is : 'no I am catholic'. And you question MY logical capability? BTW our Dutch ducks can't fly; too well -fed.
With Slavic regards, |
My dear comrades,
Sooooo, I'm not "totally wrong"! You and Flieb are related! (grin) |
Dear Don, An engineer is always right. More in particular those involved with flying objects. The Dutch ducks being the exception. |
Dear Fleib, Speaking of Raul. I am on non speaking terms with him because we insulted each other lately. While revange is more important than sex in my native Serbia and we, the Serbian warriors don't need any reason to star a war I must say this. Raul kind of walks in front of all us on the mine fields of carts. In this sense we all profit from him while his self-sacrifice is of course valued by everyone who cares about his own life or wallet. |
Nandric, your description of Raul is correct. It is a hate and love thing. |
Nikola, As long as you didn't insult Raul's honor, it will eventually blow over I'm sure. Friendships ebb and flow and people have disagreements, and so it goes.
One of the terrible things about US culture, besides all the cowboys with guns, is political correctness. Like the dark cloud of big brother it hangs over every joke and utterance. In the spirit of incorrectness: A guy goes into a store and asks the man behind the counter for a pound of kielbasa. The man asks him if he's Polish. The guy gets angry and asks the man, If I asked you for a pound of spaghetti would you think I'm Italian? The man says, No, not necessarily. The guy asks the man, if I asked you for a dozen bagels and a pound of cream cheese, would you ask if I was Jewish? The man says, No, not necessarily. The guy asks the man, Why is it when I ask for a pound of kielbasa you ask me if I'm Polish? The man replies, Well you see, this is a hardware store. Regards, |
Fleib, I hate the acronym LOL, but I am laughing out loud, or was.
To my right as I sit here at my computer is a huge photo of my mother's family as they were in about 1935. My great grandparents are seated in the middle among their 10 children, the spouses of those 10 children, and the then extant children of those matings. My great grandfather was a tailor who fled czarist Russia only to end up in Alexandria, Egypt, where he must have thrived, because from there he was eventually able to send each of his 10 children to the US, one of whom went to medical school in Heidelburg, Germany, along the way. And my grandmother herself was born in Salonika, also along the way from Russia to Egypt. Otherwise, I would be collecting tonearms in northern Europe. Either that or I never would have existed. |
Lewm,
"Collecting tonearms in northern Europe"!
Is the world shrinking or what? My comrades lineage seems to have spread roots everywhere! Never though tonearm collecting would be something that would run in the family! (grin) |
Dear Flieb, Your sense for humour is much better then for the reality. I wanted to kill the guy and you worry about his honor. Dear Lew, Your grandfather was from Poland I thought. Or was this Polish part occupay by the Russian? I have the impression that many Americans want to be descendants from tsaristic Russia. A new kind of fashion in the USA of America? |
So, a Polish guy, a Mexican and a Russian walk into a bar... |
Dear Raul,
I was 3 years ago today that you posted your glowing review of the Empire 4000D/III:
http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?ranlg&1275323834&openfrom&1&4#1
At that time, you ranked it as second only to your Technics EPC-P100Mk4 and equal to (yet different than) the Acutex 315III STR.
A few quotes for memory's sake:
"I compare the Empire not only against the Acutex and Technics but against all the 10 ranking cartridges, LOMC and the Lewm beloved Ortofon M20FL Super. All them but the Acutex/Technics performs in a lower quality level especially the 20FL that against the Empire shows its real limitations."
"A cartridge that for its own " rigths " belongs to that 10+ top level/rank in the cartridge quality performance ladder."
I recently acquired a 4000D/III and found a NOS D/III stylus (the "old style" version like the one in your review) and I am blown away by its performance. I was wondering how you feel that the 4000D/III stacks up to your other favorites today, 3 years after your review?
Best, Dave |
Tubed1,
......and?
Regards, Don |
No Nikola, My FATHER's father came to the US from Poland. Oddly, he too was a tailor. I really know nothing much about that side of my family. My father was the strong, silent type. My maternal grandfather was in fact Rumanian. So, in total we have two Polish grandparents on my father's side, and one Russian (born in Salonika and never actually living in Russia) plus one Rumanian on my mother's side.
Being FROM czarist Russia was apparently far preferable to living IN czarist Russia. I remember my great-grandfather quite well, because when I was a young child he lived in an apartment above that of my maternal grandparents. He and my grandfather listened to Toscanini and the NBC symphony orchestra and to the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts every week. He always wore a 3-piece suit and a tie and smoked a cigaret in a holder. Somehow I think memories of my family are off-topic. Sorry. |
Comrade Don, a Polish guy, a Mexican, a russian and a cheeseburger walk into a bar upon which the bartender proclaims "I'm sorry sir we do not serve food in this establishment" |
And this was offensive to the Polish guy.
Horse walks into a bar. Bartender says, "Why the long face?" |
The Polish guy ordered Vodka Dubrova with the remark 'the best Vodka in the world' looking straight in the eye of the Russian guy. The Russian guy reply:'only a nitwit is unaware that Stolnickaja is the best'. The Mexican guy: 'obvioulsy never heard about tequilla.' Those words caused the fight by which Tubed1 got a blow by accident and that is why he is not able to tell what actually happend. |
BTW Tubed1 reminds my of my dad. My dad enjoyed in particular to tell jokes to my mom. However my mom as a Balkan lady was very pragmatic because of the social environment (aka the man there)and considered, like the other ladies,that listening to jokes was a waste of time. She never grasped any of those jokes. Nor deed I. So probably either my granddad or my dad was someone else.
|
Nandric, my son it makes me happy that you enjoy some of my french humor.
Any old head suggestions (the more the merrier) regarding a Grado TLZ re-tip would be welcome. I know lewm used to run one of these back in the day (early 80s). In it's stock configuration the TLZ shipped with a Grado twin tip, whatever proprietary nomenclature that refers to, I am having a hard time identifying the exact diamond type. which I need to know to make it better! I sometimes wonder what impact a shibata stylus would have on this cartridge, while not trying to reivent the wheel. C'est ce bon |
Dear Tubed1, This may be very difficult for the western capitalist to understand but thanks the total lack of any sense for humor my dad was accepted as a party member by his first application. Then thanks to his membership we got a luxury appartement of 50 m surface. Even a kitchen was provided. The luxure was such that I needed to share my bedroom with only 3 other members of the family. But,alas, my aunt Natalija was not one of them. And, you know, she was twice as huge in the important places as Sofia Loren. However an french dad would be interesting provided he owns a villa on the Rivieara. |
Tubed1, My Grado TLZ is still here. Early on after I started following this thread, I got it out of mothballs for an audition. The results were not as stellar as is my memory of the performance of the cartridge. I had concluded that the suspension had stiffened during 25 years of lack of use. Perhaps I did not stick with it long enough; it may have loosened up over time. Also, perhaps a different tonearm would bring out its former glory. I need to re-visit. After all is said and done, a re-tip by one of our skilled professionals is most likely to do wonders for it, but it won't sound like a Grado TLZ after that. Not really a problem, since I can hardly remember what it sounded like except that it was very good.
Henry, My QL10 arrived today, or at least most of it did; it was shipped in 3 boxes, one of which is still in transit. The TT101 chassis assembly is absolutely mint, truly like new. So too are the plinth, dust cover, and 7045 tonearm. However, the one item that did not yet arrive is the platter, so I cannot assess the function. As you may recall, I bought it with the knowledge that it was running "fast", and "speed can not be adjusted down to normal" (quote from seller). As you may also recall, the seller was running it on 120V, after buying it at an estate sale. I am hoping that when I feed it the correct AC at 100V, all will be well or see below.
Now I have the service manual, I see that the TT101 has a DC motor. The AC input voltage from the wall is immediately converted to +/-12VDC and +/-5VDC output voltages that then feed various parts of the very complex circuits. If simply supplying 100V does not fix the glitch, the second best scenario is that inputting 120V blew one of the voltage regulators in the power supply; that would be an easy fix. |
Dear Lew, My fingers are crossed for you :-) |
Dlcockrum this thread has added many cartridges to my stable. Raul has done a fine job digging up a variety of sweet sounding delivers of music.
I totally agree with the assessment of Empire 4000d3. I listened to this jewel for 6 months about 2 years ago and moved on. I just acquired and had been looking for a good while a Technics epa 100 I believe I can get 3 arms around my Redpoint and be in position to audition more cartridges. Putting together all that's going to be needed to build another arm pod. Really looking forward to epa 100 hopefully it arrives like described.
I have a nos Ortofon M20FL Super that's been setting for a long while and I just received the Grace f9 and Signet tk7lc from Andy so here we go real soon. I can't bear to take the p100 off of the micro or the 155/160lc off of triplaner they have won my ears. Man I love this hobby. Happy listening all. Mike I |
Thanks Mike. The Empire has a very balanced and lively sound that I enjoy. I was hoping that it had endured as one of the "standards" among the folks on this thread, but maybe it was just another short-lived favorite.
I also have a TK7-LCa and would like to hear your opinions of its sound quality vs the Grace F9 and the 155/160LC.
Raul, I still would like to get your updated opinion on the 4000D/III please sir ;)
Best, Dave |
Halcro, I am very impressed with the quality of the construction of both the TT101 and the 7045. They are both beautiful pieces of industrial engineering. My fingers are crossed, too. It would probably be most prudent to check the DC voltages mentioned above, before proceeding to push the start button. Or even to replace the electrolytic caps before starting it up. |
Nikola, **Your sense for humour is much better then for the reality. I wanted to kill the guy and you worry about his honor.**
On a more mundane level, I think if you reexamine the situation you'll find the fault is entirely your own. Why use such a strong word, life is too short for this. Maybe I assume too much and don't even know the problem. I think it's about the 150ANV investment. Is that correct? Regards, |
Dear Fleib, I was actually encouraged by your thoughts about 'political corectness' while the 'strong words' are the 'natural part' of the Balkan humor. I even composed a very funny sentence about the honor of the Mexican but by the so called 'second thought' decided not to post. The tought was this: as far as I am concerned he can get a military funeral with all the honors known in Mexico. When I am done with him of course. But the facts are the facts. This sick obsesssion with carts awakened ,so to speak, my algebra so as soon as made some 'provisional' calculation of the travel cost to Mexico and back and compared this with the potential number of carts that I can get for the money involved my pragmatic ego won. My problem with Raul has nothing to do with the AT 150 ANV. What is more: on the contrary. I think it is a fantastic cart and still improving. The problem is that whenever I mention the name Dertonarm this Mexican question my morality. I have meanawhile many indications about his 'morality'.
Regards, |
Nikola, My apologies for the assumption. I don't know what the situation is so I'll butt out. Glad to hear the ANV is working out. Last I read it was a poor tracker and I thought you were disappointed.
A gorilla escapes from the zoo and runs into a suburban area, where it climbs up a tree belonging to Mr. Jones and won't come down. Naturally, Jones is a bit worried about the gorilla, and calls the local gorilla handler.
The handler arrives with a shotgun, chains, and a big mean doberman. "Mr. Jones, is it? I hear you have a gorilla problem. Well, you see, my assistant is out sick today, and I could use your help. Can you take me to the gorilla, first of all?" Jones leads the handler to the tree where the gorilla is. "Okay," says the handler. "I'll need you to hold the shotgun. I'm going to let the dog loose, and climb up this tree. When I get to the gorilla, I'll give the branch a good shake and he'll come falling out of the tree. Once he does, ol' Fido here is trained to jump on the gorilla and bite good and hard into his nuts, and he'll be helpless while you put the chains on him."
"I see," says Jones. "But, then, what is the gun for?"
"Oh, the gun is the most important part," says the handler. "If by some chance, I should fall out of the tree instead of the gorilla ...SHOOT THE DOG!"
Regards,
|
Lew, when you first power-up the TT-101 let it warm up for 5 or 10 minutes before hitting speed selection. It would also be good to spin the platter in both directions to loosen up the bearing and wake up the speed sensor.
If it starts to spin to fast at first, let it and it may regain its senses in a minute. If not, hit stop and try it again. Good luck, it is certainly worth the trouble. Gary |
Dear Aigenga, You wrote, "when you first power-up the TT-101 let it warm up for 5 or 10 minutes before hitting speed selection. It would also be good to spin the platter in both directions to loosen up the bearing and wake up the speed sensor."
What is the basis for those ideas? Do you own one, and is this your personal experience, or did you read it somewhere? Thanks for the input, by the way. But "warm up", "loosen up", and "wake up" do not seem normal for a well functioning essentially solid state circuit. If it behaves that way, I will suspect leaky capacitors. If it ran on tubes, I might accept the ideas as normal more readily. (I spun the spindle by hand; the bearing feels "like butter", and there is no sense of any friction or noise.)
I did notice that the AC input is labeled as OK for 100V, 120V, and even 220V. So much for my idea that the problem would be simply cured by supplying it with 100V. |