dgarretson

Responses from dgarretson

Balanced Phono question - forgive my ignorance
TD, I doubt you're giving up anything with your special cable. My guess is that if you take a multimeter you'll find that XLR pin 2 is connected to RCA hot, pin 3 is connected to RCA jacket, and pin 1 is connected to an RFI foil drain that floats ... 
Best 6H30 for CJ Premier 140?
I've bought both NOS/milspec -DR version & new production -PI from tubestore.com. While the -DR is better, the -PI sounds fine, particularly at $18. IMO there are better places to put money than into an $80 -DR. 
Balanced Phono question - forgive my ignorance
The ground wire coming from the TT and the tonearm cable's RFI shield are both unrelated to forming a balanced input to the phono stage. The signal from the cartridge is just two wires per channel coil. These two wires can be connected to pins 2 &... 
Anybody familiar with Mundorf silver&oil caps
VH Audio recommends trying TFTF bypass with their OIMP caps, so you might be onto something with the Mundorf Silver/Oil. I have used .47uf Mundorf Silver/Gold as couplers in a phono stage & I like them a lot. 
New TT ideas please
I've tried both sprung and unsprung suspensions on the same TT (VPI TNT III.) The best result was achieved after converting the TT to a hard-mount suspension & coupling the plinth to a large dump for internally generated vibration(sandbox). Th... 
Maple platforms
Dan ed,Currently my TT is resting on cut-up MDF pieces in my sandbox. As you suggest I need to try some exotic wood on top of the sand.The fellow who turned me on to the springs had cement floors like you & was surprised by the improvement. Mo... 
Maple platforms
Dan ed,You have beautiful woods in your plinth and custom rack, and I don't doubt the superiority of dense hardwoods. What I'm suggesting is that anyone with a hard-mount TT on a wood block or in a wood case (e.g. Lenco, Garrard)try floating the e... 
Maple platforms
Tom,Glad to read in your Faq that you also like sandboxes. I improved my sandbox by cutting up the wood plinth that rests on the sand to isolate suspension towers, motor, and flywheel from each other and prevent vibration from being conducted acro... 
Review: Tact Audio Tact 2.2x Preamplifier
At the recent NY Home Entertainment show I found the clarity and neutrality of the TACT room refreshing in comparison to 80% of other systems in untreated or lightly treated rooms. Most systems displayed boomy bass and brittle treble belying their... 
Best subwoofer for a Wilson Puppy
That's not an acceptable answer from the manufacturer, particularly for a product in production as long as the DD series. It should be a simple matter for Velodyne to give you FTP access to V2.0 software. Alternatively you could use digital EQ to ... 
Best subwoofer for a Wilson Puppy
I never had a problem with this. Call Kurt at Velodyne tech support in Arizona at 928-858-4430. 
Best "album" of 2006
I lately discovered Chris Whitley's posthumous 2006 release "Dislocation Blues." This together with "Soft Dangerous Shores"(2005) testify to the artist's compositional power & Hendrix-like guitar work, filtered through the electric steel Natio... 
Audiophile TT article in Forbes
Michael Fremer (and his Analog Corner column in Stereophile) is probably the individual most responsible for the current renaissance of interest in hi-end vinyl. If anybody deserves a tax deduction on a $100K TT, it's him. 
Audiophile TT article in Forbes
Probably no issue with depreciating that TT for tax purposes, provided the tax deduction is partly recovered by the IRS later on, reflecting the proceeds of resale.And in the stratosphere of high-end TTs, anybody who pays anywhere near list price ... 
cleaning a laser
Never had a problem with gentle use of a Q-Tip & a light dip of Windex. I believe this was once suggested by Alex Paychev of APL.