your favo TT

i have an emt 950

the platter/drive is great, arm and amp are less. i wish i could make my own amp, and have another arm than the standard one, it will be great. i don't know which DD would be more stable than this one.

what's your TT, and which one you should really want?

I have

Rega Planar 3

Technics SL1210 with Rega RB250 arm

Kenwood KD 8030

Linn Sondek LP12 with Lingo psu and Ekos arm

wow, that's alot of TT's Claret

what's your favo

or what's your favo for which kind of music?

can you give the difference of sound between those?

actually i'm interested in the 1200 series with a denon 110 cart.

got the 110 cart on my kenwood - good budget cart

About 13 years ago I went to a blokes house originally to buy some Quad amps (advert in local rag). I had the indignity of having to wait as someone else got there before me. And promptly bought the amps! After the lucky punter (I referred to him as something else at the time) had gone, the guy whose placed the advert then casually said do you want to buy a TT? I said no as I had a 1 or 2..he then showed me a Technics SL 220 in nice condition. How much I asked? Dunno he said...Fiver? I said yes..had it's box, packing etc and paperwork. Must get round to using it again. Not high end but quite nice. Thinking of getting an AT95 cart for it soon.

I have an Acoustic Solid One to One with a Dynavector 507MK II arm and Roksan Shiraz cartridge. This is the only turntable I want and the only thing I am going to change is the cartridge for an even better one.

^

show off

one day you'll upgrade to an LP12 though

Yes just a bit ha ha. You mean down grade to Linn

I`m gonna upset a few people here, but, who cares? The last TT i used, was the dual cs731Q, which, I, liked over my linn.

Does not upset me

That`s why, you are "toocool". Good on ya bro.

because you had it incorrectly set up with a crap needle and rubbish amp and speakers

and your room sucks

hth

Now now, let’s play nicely.

I do agree that the LP12 is very sensitive to setup.

too harsh?

some of my junk

I see a nice Naim SBL there and is that a Naim Nac 72 i see next to the LP12?

Doesn`t bother me at all. i used to repair tube amps. Setting up an LP12, with correct arm, cartridge, power supply, etc, was a walk in the park. I`ve seen, and heard some stuff, that only millionaires can afford. It`s personal preferance.

This is where it gets tricky WA. I have known some audiophiles, that notice, the slightest change in alignment. You can go on forever, tweeking. If you find the aignment that suits you, leave it. There is a good one to download on the net.

Here you go. Good luck

          http://www.enjoythemusic.com/freestuff.htm

Walkman Archive give this a read http://www.theabsolutesound.co...p-a-phono-cartridge/ 

WA

First step is to bin the Stanton 500 - it's woeful

buy a Shure M44-7 at the least - Denon 110 qould be better

setting up a  SL1200 is relatively easy - ensure the counter weight is mounted correctly - do you have the white L shaped stylus adjustment guage that came with the technics

 72 next to the LP12

HiCap and 140 t'other end

Lingo under sideboard

I josh of course

but it's been vogue in the last 10 years to trashtalk the LP12 due to it's previous longterm view as the reference deck to which all others were/are  judged

sure it's coloured - sure it ain't perfect - but there's something in that old sprung design that does something to elevate music

IMHO

@Lit: thanks for the interesting info!

@Toocool: wow, that's real expertise. People that can spent 8000$ in a stylus are simply millionaires or crazy :-O

impressive setup, however excellent info.

@Claret: my stylus is the 500 MkII. It sounds pretty well to me, although I never heard any TT better then mine. My father's one at home was a simple sony. So I don't know how much better can sound, although don't believe there's room for huge improvements.

I've just received yesterday a 2nd hand Stanton 500 II, a much modern one and noticed a very good sound quality,although couldn't do a direct comparison with my old stanton. seems to sound a bit better...

what's clear is that i won't throw to the bin any :-). selling is a better option...

OMG!! Toocool, you leave me speachless!

Your cartridge cost "only" 4500$ !! OMG OMG OMG OMG!! 

link: http://www.needledoctor.com/Roksan-Shiraz-Cartridge

Only the cartridge costs more than three Nak Dragons!! And all for a very small device that's even useless without a TT! :-OO

The Dynavector 507 costs... 5350$ !!! OMG OMG!!  

http://www.needledoctor.com/Dy...=7&category=1104

If the price is surprising, the term "ONLY" is somewhat funny... OMG!

The Turntable Acoustic research costs more than 6000 pounds!!    

http://www.bd-audio.co.uk/acou...solid-solid-one.html

I'm really speachless :-OOOOO

I`m not. I have heard TT`s, costing over £20,000, at a hi-fi show. You have never seen a crowd of people, more disappointed, at the playing session. Meanwhile, next door, people, were clammering to get in, to hear a garrard 301, with SME arm. Not sure about the cartridge, and, it was on a black marble plinth. It was playing jean michelle jarre, through a radford sta25, connected to quad electrostatics. People, were clapping, cheering. Amazing. I learned, in the 80s, spending lots of cash on hi-fi, doesn`t alway`s bring rewards. That`s when, i sarted spending the money on cars instead. Still, each to his/her own.

Hi Walkman Archive thanks for the complements.

The turntable you linked to is not my one, the one you see there is the Acoustic Solid One which is a much lower spec one than mine. Mine is the One to One see this link http://www.hifigear.co.uk/acou...o-one-turntable.html

They no longer make my one, the last time I spoke to the manufacturer they told me they stopped making them because it cost too much for the material to make them. Hence they could not make them at a competitive price.

From your quote before you say “People that can spend $8000 on a cartridge are simply millionaires or crazy” millionaire I am not, crazy about music I am.

If you notice some people have plenty of turntables, amps, tape decks etc for me I by the best I can afford. Why have 3 - 4 - 5 or more of the same thing, you can put that money together and get a good one or two.  I know some people are collectors I am not, just like good sound. Also people will say they all sound different and yes they do so that is why they have multiple machines, why not get the best one that sounds close to what you like.

By the way the SL1200 and SL1210’s are very good decks.

The old stuff are some of the best around.

As we all know expensive does not always mean good, which is why you need to listen.

Also high-end turntables need good setup and often hi-fi shows are not the best place for them to shine. 

It should be, when the technician from the TT factory, was setting it all up. White coat, instruments, you name it. If he couldn`t get it to sound right?

OMG again...

Let me say that I was not saying it as despective in any way. With Crazy I mean, like you say: "crazy for XXX" (replace XXX with the subject you prefer, like music).
In fact I'm crazy for walkmans and some other audio gear, but not to the point of spending such big money.

Although I confess if I have such money and could spend it (and my wife let me <- that's an IMPORTANT point) maybe I end spending it sooner or later.
In fact I have spent big money in photography, much more than you on that TT (I guess about 80-100.000 euros since 1995) but it's different because it's related with my work and they are my tools and I need them to work.
So, in the end... you're lucky!

Yeah, you're right. Many buy many decks and maybe it's better to put all in one device. But what's true is that those that buy many decks hardly spent as high money on all decks as those high sums.
I, for example, have a Dragon (900 euros), a SONY K909 (125 eur) and AIWA FX800 (60 eur), so all in all is not as high. I have bought this three because I like to have a good, excellent and extraordinary decks, just to do experiments and learn the difference between them. And get conclusions about the real difference in performance/price...

I wonder how different is the quality from my SL1200 and budget cartridge to your spaceship TT 

Hi am sure there is a big difference, if I get a chance I will try and find out for you. I have a friend with SL1210 with Rega RB300 arm on it but can’t remember the cartridge.

Also I would like to say with high-fidelity gear, I think for about  £3000 - £4000 you can get maybe 80% - 85% of the sound quality of the best. It’s that last 20% - 15% that cost you thousands of pounds to get.

As we all know sound quality / price is not linear, as you get better and better the price for a minor improvement becomes bigger and bigger.

Look at formula one cars, they are very fast already then it cost them 10’s of thousands of pounds to get 10’s of a second faster advantage over the competition. For them it is worth the money if they get that 10’s of a second advantage.

To most audiophiles to get that little bit better it’s worth the extra outlay. 

So what I am really saying is for £3000 - £4000, you are in striking distance of the best systems. From that point on it will cost you the price of a nice house, if you can live with 80% - 85% of the best then you can save a lot of money.

Toocool. That`s a great point.

it's more like the last 10%

it's all about finding a system that blows "you" away - I know what you're getting at toocool4 - I think we both read from the same song sheet

But I think a 1000 pound system would be fantastic to most people (in the most NON condescending way possible) - If people think that they "wouldn't" hear a difference at that price point I say - think again

but it's all to do with your listening space as much as your granite plinthed, gimbal armed billet plattered platter

A technics 1200 with Rega 250 and a Denon 110 partered with a decent 300 quid amp and some nice kef/polk speakers would be sufficient to raise the most modest persons eyebrow - increase listening pleasure - and save their 1000's and buy MORE MUSIC


xx

Hi-fi, is like a rainbow, there`s no end to it. I got so carried away, in the 80`s, i nearly blew every penny i had on it.

must repeat that the Stanton is a woeful cart - and you'd be better off using a lump of Wenslydale

I don’t think I agree that after £3000 - £4000 you only have 10% more quality to go, I think quite a bit more.

You wouldn't though would you bred?

3-4000$ 2nd hand, perhaps it's 10k, you've got almost the best.

let's say an emt 950, ok needs a good arm and amp. yes, prefer the table of a 950 more than a 27/30.

studer 727, better d730

studer 169/961

bryston 7b 2x

jbl 4345,pioneer exclusive 2402

or active geithain r901... saves the bryston's

that would be my perfect setup

only a mbl 101 setup would perhaps change my mind..

Thanks, I look forward for your comments when you can test your friend's SL1200 ;-)

I completeyl agree. the last 15-20% is by far the most expensive. It's the same history with lenses in photography... luminosity and quality are in the same league...

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to test other cartridges.

It would be useful, however, if you try to use common expressions, because I have absolutely no idea of what it is a "lump of Wenslydale". Remember that many people here speaks ofther languajes than english and have more or less difficulties with uncommon words...

wensleydale is cheese

the stanton is very muddy in sound - not clear at all

the Shure M44-7 is almost HIFI in comparison

remember out of all the components on the deck the needle is one of the MOST important

everything else is just a motor and noise isloation

I am not sure I agree with you that on a deck, the cartridge is one of the most important thing.  Everything is equally as important, remember the saying a chain is only as strong as its weakest link?

If you have the best cartridge in the world, but a mediocre turntable and arm the cartridge will not be able to do its job.

So to me they all need to be upto the task.

Also having the best turntable / arm / cartridge combo will not sound as good if poorly setup, an average combination well setup will sound far better.

As you have an LP12 you would know about how fussy the LP12 is about setup. One of my friends with LP12 even go as far as marking up the Platter so he can put it back to the same position if he has to remove the outer platter. He has the sweet spot marked up.

isn't the thorens 125 mk2 better than a linn lp12? more body, more music?

source first

and the cart is right at the business end of the source

LP12 with no body?

i'm not a fanboy - so i'll swim past that

After some research, I found some cartirdges that are more or less affordable and I maybe buy one of them to have a good one on my TT.

I looked at the:

-Denon 110

- Denon DL-160

- Audio Technica 440MLa

- Ortofon 2M Red

- Ortofon 2M Blue

As I don't have a MC preamp (just MM), I'm more towards the Ortofon or the Audio-Technica, that has very good reviews. What do you guys think of them?

you can run a 110 on MM - as it's HIGH output

Don't understand 70% of what you guys are talking about, might as well be a foreign language since i don't know much about TT's . This is my favorite TT! My Dad's minty Dual 704 that he recently gave me. This is the one I used to record tapes from for my sanyo m9975 back in 1980.

Does that mean that has the same output of a MM, or still much less even if it's high?

Hi Walkman Archive check this link out http://www.positive-feedback.c...sue15/denondl110.htm