Author Topic: Turntable Pic's...  (Read 27330 times)

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #40 on: June 14, 2014, 03:26:27 PM »
Soundsmith has arrived,  and here it is (nuded) compared to the stock nude 103r.    SS on left (with pretty ruby cantilever),,,,,



And fitted to Duc's Kingwood body.



Now running in.

PS:  In removing the stock cart from the wooden body,  I got to have a really close look at it,  and yes,  the suspension had been compromised in dropping it.    So,  the change was certainly necessary.
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #41 on: June 14, 2014, 09:31:02 PM »
Well, it's been running all afternoon and evening, and I have to say it's noticbly different.

The most obvious is the treble,  it's got more extension, but is smooth and natural.   

I thought the stock cartridge was fine,  before I heard this,   but now I think it was bordering on being a little edgy.

Mids and bass seem the same so far.   Bigger sound stage, tighter imaging.   But that top end is quite intoxicating now with the Ruby OC/CL upgrade.   

Trawling through the recently cleaned records tonight.  Very nice.    Should be good to start recording again in a week or so.  8)
« Last Edit: June 14, 2014, 09:34:03 PM by ozmillsy »
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #42 on: July 06, 2014, 08:25:27 AM »
So, after a bit of running in, it was time to go through the process of fine tuning the cart installation.

This one was more challenging than most, because the ruby cantilever was not perfectly aligned to the cart body.  If you look at the pic above, it is slightly off to 1 side.  So rather than align the cart body to the protractor, I had to squint and line up the cantilever to protractor by eye.

I then adjusted azimuth,  which again needed a bit more tweaking than I am used to due to the cantilever angle,  but I have got it pretty close to optimum.   It's a slow process, as the little-est of change can tilt you off the optimum point.   

Then I did VTA,  which is really fiddly with my arm.   But I have got it pretty close to the sweet spot, after fiddling.   Came back and checked/tweaked azimuth.   Every adjustment inter-relates, in a way.

I'll now put another 100 odd hours on the cart, and check it all again.

Long story short,  with this new cart,  and after the fine tuning,   my TT now sounds better than the Kdac (and by a significant margin).  :o

I now have to come back and revisit the dac.   It has never really been properly dialled in to this Tannoy system,   So,   Time to tackle it again.

Peeling back the onion.    8)
« Last Edit: July 06, 2014, 08:27:51 AM by ozmillsy »
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline klackto

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #43 on: July 06, 2014, 01:00:16 PM »
Hi Ozmillsy
Nice looking cartridge ... have at times been tempted to get something similar myself.
Was wondering which phono stage you're using and if you use step up transformers with it.

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #44 on: July 06, 2014, 04:52:26 PM »
Hey Klackto,  I use an EAR 834P (MM) phono, and a transformer based stepup by GoldenAge Audio (Duc).
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline klackto

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #45 on: July 07, 2014, 10:25:15 AM »
Nice combo.
Is that a PU3 I spotted in one of your photos?

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #46 on: July 07, 2014, 06:38:57 PM »
Nice combo.
Is that a PU3 I spotted in one of your photos?
It is sounding nice, especially after loading the phono with nice tubes.   

Yep,  PU3 rewired with cardas direct to RCA bullets wiring loom.    Azimuth is a breeze on the PU3,  VTA fiddly.   The PU3 is a nice arm,  although it is light,  I measured resonance at 9hz on the weekend. :)

TT is an old Luxman PD-310.
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline klackto

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #47 on: July 07, 2014, 09:47:02 PM »
I have a PU3 sitting in the cupboard. I'm holding onto it for my next TT project and plan to rewire it as well (have so many projects in the back of my head it's a wonder I have any brain cells left for anything else :D).
Did you rewire the arm yourself?  Also, where did you source the Cardas? .... i was thinking of getting a Rega rewiring kit like the Incognito and adapting that?

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #48 on: July 08, 2014, 07:31:08 AM »
Nah,  I believe the former owner sent it off for re-wiring.   I bought it that way.

I have no complaints, but I do have to be super super careful with the wiring and bullets.   I have had to fix it once.
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline springcreek

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #49 on: July 09, 2014, 04:53:45 PM »
Duc (Golden Age Audio) in Melbourne can rewire your tonearm and he does great work. He is a tonearm specialist. He has several options re wiring. Check out his website.

Offline klackto

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #50 on: July 09, 2014, 10:51:27 PM »
Thanks   Springcreek ....... will keep that in mind.

Offline springcreek

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #51 on: July 10, 2014, 08:05:38 AM »
So, after a bit of running in, it was time to go through the process of fine tuning the cart installation.

This one was more challenging than most, because the ruby cantilever was not perfectly aligned to the cart body.  If you look at the pic above, it is slightly off to 1 side.  So rather than align the cart body to the protractor, I had to squint and line up the cantilever to protractor by eye.

I then adjusted azimuth,  which again needed a bit more tweaking than I am used to due to the cantilever angle,  but I have got it pretty close to optimum.   It's a slow process, as the little-est of change can tilt you off the optimum point.   

Then I did VTA,  which is really fiddly with my arm.   But I have got it pretty close to the sweet spot, after fiddling.   Came back and checked/tweaked azimuth.   Every adjustment inter-relates, in a way.

I'll now put another 100 odd hours on the cart, and check it all again.

Long story short,  with this new cart,  and after the fine tuning,   my TT now sounds better than the Kdac (and by a significant margin).  :o

I now have to come back and revisit the dac.   It has never really been properly dialled in to this Tannoy system,   So,   Time to tackle it again.

Peeling back the onion.    8)

Nice one Oz! Enjoy the new cart mate, glad to hear it is singing.

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #52 on: September 14, 2014, 08:33:40 AM »
Soundsmith has arrived,  and here it is (nuded) compared to the stock nude 103r.    SS on left (with pretty ruby cantilever),,,,,


Was in the mood for some Sunday morning LP spinning.   

Went to lower the arm,  and my cantilever was missing.   WTF !!

Had visitors last night with a bunch of kids,  playing around all over the house with our kids.    [sighs]

Soundsmith is dead.     That really stings.   :-[  :'(

Young kids and TT's just dont mix.     >:(

Might have to pull up stumps on the TT until I am in the next place, which will have dedicated room,  well away from other living areas.
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline stevenvalve

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #53 on: September 14, 2014, 03:03:48 PM »
That hurts, I once caught my sleeve on the lifter of my graham arm, it moved up and down hitting the record, upon inspection to my horror, no cantilever. It was a new Lyra clavis $1800, $900 to fix the tip.

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #54 on: September 14, 2014, 03:20:54 PM »
Steven, 1 of my el34 metal base tubes popped yesterday morning (I was tube rolling).

Looks like I've been hexed !!!  :o   :-\   :-X
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline klackto

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #55 on: September 14, 2014, 06:50:35 PM »
That hurts, I once caught my sleeve on the lifter of my graham arm, it moved up and down hitting the record, upon inspection to my horror, no cantilever. It was a new Lyra clavis $1800, $900 to fix the tip.
So easily done. I did it a few years ago to a Sumiko Blue Point Special that came with a Sota Star I once had. ... bumped the arm and for some reason the cueing lever was down and the cantilever snagged the vacuum lip on the platter.
Have to confess I had mixed emotions when it happened ....  never found it a very pleasant cartridge to listen to, so I was kind of happy to have an excuse to get something else.

Offline ozmillsy

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #56 on: September 25, 2014, 09:11:34 PM »
Have to confess I had mixed emotions when it happened ....  never found it a very pleasant cartridge to listen to, so I was kind of happy to have an excuse to get something else.
:)   Yeah,  I know that feeling.    In this case, I was pretty bummed.   

But, following the shock factor of a broken 1k cart,  I realise that I just cant do without my TT. So I buckled and bought a standard 103r,  fitted it to my wooden body,  and have been running it in since the weekend.

I wouldnt say the standard 103r is bad,  not at all,   especially in the wooden body it has a lovely weight to it.    The issue with it, is the very top end.   It's not like it is bad, or harsh.    But the Soundsmith upgraded ruby cantilever had a silky clean top end,  amazingly transparent and extended.  Sometimes bordering on too extended, I was still running it in though.  Also, it sounded like the Soundsmith cart was gliding smoother over the surface.   Stock 103r sounds like it is literally dragging over the surface, well it is, but I can hear it in silent passages between tracks, the Soundsmith would be near silent (all subjective, and as per my failing memory   :-[  ). 

Rather than go to the expense of Soundsmith again (with wild kiddies running around),   I am going to explore getting my broken 103r retipped by Expert Stylus in the UK, they seem to have a good rep and are abit more economical.   
« Last Edit: September 25, 2014, 10:09:11 PM by ozmillsy »
It's all about the music,, not the equipment.

Offline gamve

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Re: Turntable Pic's...
« Reply #57 on: September 26, 2014, 01:03:15 PM »
Oz,
Much better solution is to mount your TT where the kids can't possibly reach? I feel your pain, have broken a couple of cantilevers
and had a couple of diamond tips disappear, all a part of LP playback unfortunately.