dougdeacon
Responses from dougdeacon
| Where do I start? For a $1K budget you should definitely consider a used table and arm. They're plentiful enough on both A'gon and ebay, though in general I'd trust an A'gon seller more. Used cartridges are riskier business, so unless the table comes with one I'd g... | |
| Setting anti-skate Undertow,Please do what Nsgarch said, immediately. The cure for slippery cueing is learning to cue more carefully. Whether you cue by hand or with a cueing lever, the tonearm should not be released until the stylus has found a groove.Adjusting VTF... | |
| Setting anti-skate Rmaurin wrote:Why are the widely spaced tracks better?Because skating forces vary across the record. Measuring at just one place cannot account for this. Measuring on outer, middle and inner grooves lets you identify an AS setting that balances th... | |
| Setting anti-skate I have the HiFi News record. With minimum anti-skate, the cartridge, Helikon, goes through the frst 3 tracks with no buzzing. It does buzz in the right channel slightly during the last track with the highest modulation.Tracks 6-9 on side one of th... | |
| Can I clean my records manually? ...you sure gotta go far to do it, doncha?Sad, but true. I totally agree that a well operated DIY setup should substantially equal the effectiveness of a $500-$1500 VPI. After all, they both rely on the same technology: a felt-covered vacuum slot ... | |
| Shelter and Triplanar matching ? Kftool,The normal setup for a TriPlanar has the chamfer pointing toward the arm bearings, not away.Assuming proper setup, there is no reason for a TP/Shelter to "shake badly", on any record. If the problem is as bad as you describe, changing count... | |
| Can I clean my records manually? Gadfly and Stltrains,I'll echo Tbg's experience. I used to clean by hand. I also made and used a DIY vacuum device identical to Gadfly's.It worked okay but trust me, it doesn't come anywhere close to what a Loricraft can do. It may be expensive, b... | |
| Can I clean my records manually? Read the Record Playing Rituals stickied at the top of the page. There are tons of ideas on record cleaning there.BTW, as you correctly surmised, the biggest risk in playing dirty records is not to your stylus. There will be some additional wear b... | |
| Demagnatize cartridge?? Cekiv,There's nothing wrong with "digital" scales of course. They are certainly more accurate than the Shure teeter-totter, even a non-magnetic one. (Some Shures are magnetic and some aren't. This is because Shure failed to accurately specify the ... | |
| Levinson 320S Phono Module vs. Klyne 7PX Ca2284,First, the recommended impedance for a LO ZYX is 100 ohms or above, not 100 ohms specifically.Second, I am not aware of many LO ZYX users who prefer a 1K load. Virtually every owner I've talked to (dozens) is somewhere between 100 and 250. ... | |
| Tool kit for cartridge setup Dan,It's a peculiarity of my arm. Every cartridge has been that way: multiple ZYX's, two Shelters, a Koetsu and a Denon. The 4 or 5 other arms we used at Cello's had their armtubes fairly level when using the same ZYX's.Whether it's just my partic... | |
| Analog vs. CDP: A fair comparison? Hey, it could happen. My cats lick the records clean for me. I'm selling the Loricraft and buying more Friskies. | |
| Scratchy sound on certain notes right side only? You've isolated the problem as coming from the phono preamp or before. Good. Now isolate it further. Swap the L and R inputs from the tonearm to the phono stage. Does the noise change sides? If not, the problem's in the phono preamp. Check tubes a... | |
| Tool kit for cartridge setup Dan, Sorry if I misunderstood. I thought you were saying Nsgarch recommended starting with the tonearm level. That would be fairly random IMO.If his starting point is a 1.5 (or so) degree SRA, then I would concur. That method was first published b... | |
| Tool kit for cartridge setup Jeff,I also agree with Larry on the scale recommendation. Best bang/buck ratio out there, and as accurate as you'll ever need. If you want to spend more, you can buy the same scale from Acoustic Sounds for $90 more. ;-)BTW, you will hear few diffe... |