mulveling
Responses from mulveling
| Phonostage recommendations under $3K I’d look very strongly at the new just released Hagerman Trumpet MC for only $1K. Previous versions of the Trumpet sold from $2K to $7K - it seems Jim has really focused on getting the cost down while keeping that level of sound quality. I used to... | |
| Anyone try the replica B-60 Fidelity Research VTA? I'm lucky enough to have both an original FR B60 and the Ikeda VTA-06. Yeah, they're basically the same level of quality and functionality. But the set-screws on the older B60 have gotten kind of gnarly - I don't have a hex key that really fits an... | |
| Tubes most likely to improve SQ? All of the tube slots should affect the sound, and I imagine it would be mostly in a positive way for vintage tube swaps. Yes start with 12ax7 - it’s the most likely to make the most impact, and there are gobs of them out there. Then 12au7 - like ... | |
| Really...My favorite power tube is reissue that's not widely popular @soundermn Awesome, glad you found out your favorite tube and personal nirvana, even if it was with the original EL34! Funny, I tried KT150 in my own amps (VAC 200iQ) earlier this year, and like your case they came in dead LAST of 3 sets - versus ... | |
| Really...My favorite power tube is reissue that's not widely popular @soundermn A vintage 7581A should be closest to a 6L6GC, and then to KT66. It's not really "that" close to an EL34, but according to Prima Luna's manual the EL34 setting is your best choice available and should work fine though it will somewhat re... | |
| EAR MC-3 - Multiple inputs wired up at same time? Yeah, there's no switching mechanism on the MC-3 (or the newer MC-4), so all 3 inputs are direct connections to the primary taps - hence my concern. It's a great sounding versatile SUT; just trying to save some cable swapping if there's no penalty... | |
| Second hand vinyl surface damage. I’m probably more tolerant than most audiophiles. But if there are any grooves that either skip or repeat, if there are grooves that display significant distortion (from being chewed up by a previous owner), or if the noise floor becomes overpower... | |
| Dedicated Vinyl system next upgrade? That’s nice gear. I would recommend two upgrades:1. If you have the magnetic-bearing Concept tonearm, change that out to a rigid bearing arm: e.g. in the Clearaudio amp, a Satisfy (good) or Tracer (better). You may not have severe issues with the ... | |
| Is my Stylus damaged? I assume that was with the record sinning, and stylus repeating in the end groove? That could be bad - because of the grime that collects in the groove and rubs against stylus without cleaning cycles to break it up. Possibly much worse that equal ... | |
| Upgrade my tone arm? Matching arm to cartridge is extremely important. Who or what gave you the idea the Triplanar would be better suited to the Miyajima, and why (i.e. make sure you’re not just going on price)? The Shilabe seems to be very low compliance, and the exc... | |
| Woofer pumping possibly due to tube amp when playing vinyl Despite swapping out turntable/cart/phono stage, your constant factors here are: your rack/mounting/floor under the turntable, its location (relative to the speakers too), and your (lack of) clamping over the whole record surface. You could leave ... | |
| Looking for ideas on Lyra Delos - muddy middle @daveyf brings up another good point. 70dB of active JFET gain is a LOT of gain for a cartridge with a healthy 0.6mV of output. You could be cutting it close to the stage's overload margins? Paradox seems like a small shop, and it's possible the f... | |
| Looking for ideas on Lyra Delos - muddy middle I would definitely check the rest of that signal path. I’ve run Stax and vinyl and it can be simply sublime, but Stax amps push out a ton of gain (almost as much as an MC phono stage, 54 - 60 dB typical), at very high voltage rails (+/-300V and hi... | |
| My #@%$ Cat Destroyed My ARC REF 5SE. Soliciting Suggestions. Very sorry to hear, OP. My girlfriend has 2 cats, and I mostly enjoy them, but they’re pretty dumb animals. Their curiosity serves more for destructive powers than intelligent learning. Yes, they have tweaked up a valued piece of audio gear I had ... | |
| Why Do 12" Tonearms Cost So Much More Than 9"? It probably depends a lot on the design of the arm, and the available tooling etc, whether a longer arm tube is very difficult for the manufacturer to make. Clearaudio Universal is an example where the price difference is reasonable - the 12” vers... |