cocoabaroque

Responses from cocoabaroque

Why use a super accurate cartridge protractor
Are we not taking it on faith that the great masters of cartridge alignment(!)--Lofgren, Baerwald, Stephenson, etc knew what they were doing even though they disagree amongst themselves? Are audiophiles ready to admit that Rega's (mis)alignment sc... 
Why use a super accurate cartridge protractor
Lots of confusing and conflicting info with regards to alignment-- Lofgren, Stephenson, Baerwald, Rega-- all different alignments, all compromises. I've been trying find a definitive answer, but I think the geometry is not sufficient to address tr... 
Mystical Performances
Dinu Lipatti: Besancon Recital-- recorded in 1950. Profound wisdom from one of the most sensitive and honest pianists of all time. Everything he plays is pure magic. He died shortly after from a long and painful illness. Nothing compares. 
Where is the next generation of direct drive?
Cabbiendi-- overcoming motor cogging in DD is an issue as massive platters don't seem to be enough for most turntable designs. I believe belt drive motors with faster RPM set up their own rapid vibrations, which are either less detectable by human... 
When less is more...10 reasons to own Thorens
Hififile, I used to have the M97he on my Thorens TD166, but switched to Grado-- a big improvement in my opinion. Even the entry Grados (Black, Green, Red) are quite good, the GOLD offering a smoother, more refined sound and better tracking than th... 
Oh how I wish Class D amps ...
I've owned several variants of TA2024 including Trends 10.1, a few TA2020 amps from Muse, Topping, etc, and currently use a LM1875 from Brian Bell (chipamp_dot_com.)This last one is a pure gainclone, minimalistic, very few parts. The best 20wpc I'... 
Why do digital cables sound different?
Maybe the differences in sound can be attributed to thick, heavy cables damping analog resonances on the transport or DAC. There may be mass-loading thing going on here. Also, its possible that in a high rez system and an undamped, sparsely furnis... 
Where is the next generation of direct drive?
I just scored a cheap ADC DD unit-- I'll tweak it and see what I can do, post results if anyone is interested. Onkyo also made adequate DD decks, resembled their belt-drive units of the same era. At this price point, BD/DD performs about the same.... 
Where is the next generation of direct drive?
Pryso--I agree with your response, I've owned many good belt drive tables, and *tried* many DD. Even the biggest and most expensive DD's of the 80s like Denon was severly limited in capability compared to a humble Thorens or even a good Philips! T... 
Isolation transformer - does it offer protection
FYI, the discontinued PS audio ultimate outlet used a balanced (balun) isolation transformer plus filtering that works well to reduce noise-- it also claims to stop spikes, but I have no way to test. Keces also makes a high end iso sold through eb... 
Whats on your turntable tonight?
Mozart string quintets, Barchet quartet with Kessinger on viola Vox (records labled Yorkshire!) my later pressing is in simulated stereo, lousy mastering, but what a great performances! 
great bookshelf speakers vs 12-18 k floor speakers
Very few "rules" in audio, but I've always believed small rooms require small speakers. Big floor-standers with large woofers and deep bass require larger rooms for the bass to sound right. Luckily, I've found many small bookshelf speakers sound g... 
When less is more...10 reasons to own Thorens
I can see it now, a Chinese reality show based on "Space 1999", building sub-chassis suspended turntables in low-gravity on a moon base. Shipping rates to Earth would be expensive though. :-) 
Linn Ittok or Grace 707?
I've been using a Grace 707 or 727 on my Thorens 160 series turntables for over 20 years. I recently mounted a Linn Basik and auditioned: Basik is more polite sounding, perhaps a bit too lifeless with a Grado Gold cartridge. To be fair, I listened... 
Cat-proofing your speakers...
LOL-- Looks like some folks got this website confused with "petgon" -- my cat is comfortable, well fed and always in control-- certainly in a better condition than most humans. He enjoys the finest audio system I can provide, with plenty of classi...