dougdeacon
Responses from dougdeacon
| Breaking in a new cartridge,..Denon DL 103 R. Sorry for talking nonsensically about a Benz. I saw "R" and my brain thought "Ruby". Senior moment.I haven't broken in a Denon either, so I'm sticking to my guns on the rest of my post! | |
| Breaking in a new cartridge,..Denon DL 103 R. IME different cartridges break in differently. On some the bass takes a while to open up. On others its the highs that need a while to come in. On still others it's both, while a rare and happy few models seem to change very little at all.I've nev... | |
| What Cleaning Machine? I also second the RRL + Buggtussel Vinyl-Zyme recommendation. Vinyl Zyme is especially good at reducing sharp clicks and pops. | |
| What Cleaning Machine? If your budget allows, a Loricraft is indeed the answer. No RCM at any price (except a used Keith Monks, if you can find one) will compare with it. Every other RCM starts with the same flawed design, vacuum wands and felt-covered slots. A record-s... | |
| Is RAVEN TABLE that good over sme or Walker? The Stillpoints certainly make a substantial improvement beneath a Teres. I've A/B'd them with the original spikes and the Stillpoints were a worthwhile upgrade. On our table the benefits were more in the direction of a lower noise floor, superior... | |
| Dense, powerful sounding TT, decent top $3500 max? I'll second Jtimothya and AudioFeil. A Teres easily outplays an HW19 or an Orbe. I suspect a Galibier Serac would too. These will come closer to being worthy of your tonearm, which you've never heard to full advantage due on your present table. Yo... | |
| Record Cleaners / RCMs Another vote for cleaning all records, including new ones. I've ruined new records by playing them without cleaning, so I learned the hard way. The reasons (mold release chemistry) were well explained by others, above.Also as said above, RCM's are... | |
| whats the best styus cleaner gel I used to think the same as Nsgarch, namely that aggressive cleaning with something like the ME was only necessary every ten sides or so and that a dry brushing was adequate otherwise.Jonathon Carr of Lyra encouraged me to clean more frequently, f... | |
| The Cartridgeman Isolater. Piedpiper,I believe you. I'm not that brave but it makes sense. Super Glue Gel might work even better. Unlike regular Super Glue it's actually designed to set up a bit slower and fill gaps and voids. Please don't sue me if it turns out to be perma... | |
| Tranfiguration Orpheus description That < is indeed my dunce cap, worn whenever I attempt a particularly lame jest. Anything I say while wearing it may (and probably should) be used against me.Neil, that one was just too juicy to pass up - sorry! I'm sure you took it in the utte... | |
| Tranfiguration Orpheus description BTW, how come SP never tested a ZYX cart?Presumably because Mehran listened to your good advice! ;-)ZYX doesn't advertise, so sending SP a review sample might be asking for death-by-faint-praise. Not that I'm implying anything...BTW, can't we have... | |
| The Cartridgeman Isolater. There are several principles at work. IMO most of them are flawed.A loose connection between cartridge and headshell will allow unnecessary movement. This will sap bass strength, reduce peak amplitudes, slow transient responses and generally suck ... | |
| Inventory of vinyl - what software do you use? An "already been done" list containing many existing titles would obviously save a ton of redundant data entry. I agree with those who recommended Access (or any relational DB) over Excel. It's not much harder to learn Access than a spreadsheet, a... | |
| How Do You Measure VTF? Dgad,Setting VTF by ear is indeed the way to go. A scale is a tool used to get in the ballpark or to return to a known baseline after changing cartridges. It can't determine the final value that's optimal for a given cartridge on a given day.What ... | |
| How Do You Measure VTF? Agree with Neil and Raul.Of course if your weighing platform is at record height and is "perfectly" smooth and level, AS "shouldn't" affect VTF. A properly designed AS device pulls the arm directly sideways with no vertical component at all. But o... |