dougdeacon
Responses from dougdeacon
| favorite phono cartridge Of course it's a question of personal taste, but since that's what the OP asked for, my choice would be (and is) ZYX UNIverse II-X-SB, low output. | |
| VPI Classic and ZYX Airy 3 X SB...good match? Brrgrr,The SB option is factory-installed by ZYX before the cartridge is shipped. You can't field retrofit one and it's not sold separately. | |
| VPI Classic and ZYX Airy 3 X SB...good match? Brrgrr,The purpose of the SB option is to get the effective mass of the cartridge/tonearm combo high enough to get into the range where a ZYX performs best. From my experience with many ZYX models and reports of others, that range is somewhere aro... | |
| Does a phono cartridge have a break-in period?? IME they certainly do, more than any other component (along with speakers).IMO and as noted by Swampwalker, this is largely due to changes in the suspension. The process is inevitable, because subjecting a new, never stressed elastomer to repeated... | |
| Upgrade for users of 1/2" mylar belt Tom,I've read about Thom's upgrades (I'm actually on his mailing list, lol). I know he worked hard to find a better belt material. It sounds like he succeeded, which is great! Glad to see (at least) one of the three original Teres experiment spino... | |
| Wasn't this forum going to be updated? I did the same, but we only have ourselves to blame for the delay. Responding with "alacrity" undoubtedly confused the transition team. | |
| Spindle hole restoration? Try gluing one of these to the record label? Available from many sources. | |
| Cartridges and old man Nakatsuka-san of ZYX is another elderly man who hand makes his cartridges. Recognizing that he won't be able to work forever, he's been training several younger family members. They've been actively involved in making cartridges for a couple of ye... | |
| Ortofon's new A95 - titanium SLM cartridge Lewm, be happy you're not in North Korea, where the state of the art is subject to the art of the state! | |
| Clean new recording? Agree with the above, and I've heard the sonic improvements and noted a lessening of stylus residues when playing new LPs cleaned vs. uncleaned. Like it or not, pressing plants do not clean new LPs before sliding them into the jacket for sale. Tra... | |
| Buying a used cartridge...tell us your tale. Only tried it once (other than inexpensive MM's costing $200 or less). It was my first venture into LOMC's. The entry price seemed steep so I decided to risk buying used (understanding that there was a risk). Got a $2K cartridge for $900. On arriv... | |
| Does the MAPLESHADE STATIC DRAINING BRUSH work? Lewm,I knew you were too smart to be just a medical mechanic! ;-)Do you have something you use as a "control", so you know for sure that DE-magnetization has occurred?I've used the device to intentionally magnetize, de-magnetize and re-magnetize n... | |
| Does the MAPLESHADE STATIC DRAINING BRUSH work? Lewm,It's true that improper use of a de-magnetizer can (will) have the opposite effect. However...1) any such undesired effect is easily reversible; and2) proper use is hardly difficult. A discussion of one inexpensive de-magnetizer and how to us... | |
| Does the MAPLESHADE STATIC DRAINING BRUSH work? But none of this has anything whatever to do with magnetism or demagnetizing an LP, the need for which is still a controversial topic, at best.There's no controversy among those who've actually tried it - at least not about the need. The benefits ... | |
| Is this level of "needle talk" normal? Agree, this is normal...1. The stylus traces the modulated groove. 2. The cantilever, which is rigidly attached to the stylus, vibrates accordingly.3. The vibrating cantilever imparts these vibrations to the air (like a tuning fork, but on a small... |