Description

"1st year anniversary system. I was drawn into the audio world around August 2010 and after a year of reading and listening this is where I ended up. The goal is not, as the title suggests, to have SOTA sound but rather to assemble a decent system for a decent price.

No plans for changes but different more efficient speakers might be on the horizon."

I wrote that in 2011. The goal remains the same in 2014, but since I can no longer be said to be 'getting started' I've moved the page to 'budget minded'(which I certainly am). The move is also precipitated by a shift in emphasis: am looking to capture the full dynamic swings of classical music as well as the rhythmic swings of jazz--my two primary genres. Therefore, the move to a bigger amp (soon) feeding a power hungry speaker.
Read more...

Room Details

Dimensions: 23’ × 16’  Large
Ceiling: 12’


Components Toggle details

    • JVC TT 101
    direct drive; double bi-directional servo; electronic pitch control: awesome tt
    • Victor tt 801
    Direct drive turntable, the final iteration of the tt series. Far less complex circuit boards but comes with the same functionality as the spectacularly complex tt 101 plus the option of vacuum suction.
    • Eminent Technology ET-2
    air bearing arm with carbon fiber arm wand; w/custom Discovery Cable wire loom. Mounted on stainless pod.
    • Eminent Technology ET-2.5
    w/ heavy magnesium arm wand and standard pressure manifold designed for Takatsuki pump at 3.6psi
    • Beveridge Audio RM-1/2
    12 tube pre-amp with separate power supply (rm-2). 6dj8 circuit designed by Roger Modjesky. Has neat features such as phase inversion, stereo to mono blending, and a tuoch sensitive mute function.
    • Music Reference RM-9
    with mk2 choke and cap mod. siemens el 34's and RAM kt 88's; gild lion reissue 6922 in v1 position
    • B&W Matrix 801 s3
    the tombstones; aka, the bane of my wife's existence
    • Technics epa 100 mk2 *sold*
    boron arm with very low friction ruby bearings and VTA on the fly. Near universal arm.
    • Denon DA-305
    broadcast arm holding my denon 103 cart.
    • Technics SP-10 mkII *SOLD*
    'Nuded' direct drive sitting on custom machined footers.
    • empire 4000diii
    MM cart
    • azden ym p50vl
    a great cart mounted in an Orsonic headshell
    • Astatic MF 200
    MM. Brilliant with very real, embodied presentation. Oyaide 5n silver leads and technics boron headshell
    • audio technica 20ss
    Hybrid: AT 20ss stylus housed in a AT 15sla cart and mounted in an AT ls12 headshell. Ikeda silver leads.
    • audio technica at155lc
    Hybrid: AT stylus housed in a signet 5ea cartridge and mounted in the original boron headshell for the epa arm.
    • shure n140he
    the snow plow cart. Sounds better with the plow up. Mounted in an Audio Technica headshell.
    • azden ym p20e
    mm cart.
    • Denon 103
    the classic MC cart. my first vinyl cartridge mounted in a LP Gear zupreme headshell.
    • Lightspeed Attenuator LDR volume control
    Passive pre. One input. Incredible sound. If you believe a passive can't be dynamic, audition this one.
    • Music Reference RM-10 *SOLD*
    mk2. Roger Modjeski's masterpiece. Using NOS GE el84 tubes
    • Grover Huffman zx phono cables
    rca-rca for epa arm. Great sounding and deep dark quiet. A bargain.
    • Audio Technica 616 footer
    Great, but expensive and rare, pneumatic footers.
    • Mirko custom tonearm pod
    Custom machined to house technics epa 100 arm. Weighs 16lbs and sits on spikes which screw in/out for leveling. Because of tonearm design, mounting screws are drilled from bottom up.
    • Mint Lp protractor protractor
    Good protractor; easy to use.
    • Audio Technica AT 605 footers
    3 footers supporting Music Reference amp
    • ikeda and kondo headshell leads
    silver leads constructed by the most excellent Audio Origami; very pliable and easy to work with--but delicate.
    • Herbie's Tenderfoots
    good for light duty, although its effects are rather subtle depending on context
    • custom footers
    Four 4" stainless steel footers underneath sp10, courtesy a'gon member Ct0517.
    • EAR ISODAMP SD sd125
    Self-adhesive semi-rigid damping sheets used to dampen the metal motor cover of tt. Cut into strips and applied wherever there isn't venting holes.
    • Jasmine LP2.5DU MM/MC Phono
    solid state, unique in that it can take two mm arms or two mc arms or one of each; gain for mm is high
    • Surgex sx 1115
    8 outlet no MOV surge protector; makes no difference in sound that I can detect
    • Oyaide hsr-ag 5n silver headshell leads
    surprising how much of a difference these make; stiff and a bit hard to work with
    • Victor x-1/ii mm cartridge
    TOTL Victor MM cartridge: aluminum cantilever, shibata tip(Jico). On a victor/jvc ph-8 headshell w/kondo silver tags. I owned the original stylus (beryllium cantilver) but stupidly broke it.
    • oyaide tunami
    power cord. the connector barely fits on the rm10. benefits: perhaps a lower sound floor but nothing startling. first tried on phono stage and noted no difference.
    • analysis plus solo crystal and silver oval-in
    between baf and preamp, and preamp and amp.
    • Teradak U9VA Linear Low noise Power Supply
    to power the Lightspeed Attenuator. sitting on ebony cones courtesy of A&B Systems HK
    • JVC ph-8 headshell
    10g hs
    • Signet sk305
    electronic stylus cleaner
    • 47 Laboratory Deerskin Platter Mat
    very thin and incredibly supple
    • audio technica at 636
    pneumatic insulators: 6-36kg load; useful and relatively easy to acquire, unlike its brother, the 616.
    • Discovery tonearm wire
    custom made by Discovery Cable, 45
    • victor pigskin platter mat
    NOS. Was an optional accessory for the tt101. Two sided: pic is of the sueded side; the other side is completely smooth, almost like rubber. Never seen anything like it.
    • victor pigskin platter mat
    smooth side
    • astatic mf 2501 w/ mf300 stylus
    NOS moving flux, titanium bonded elliptical stylus;
    • Maughan Box Listen Up
    Bass alignment filter for B&W 801's: flat to 20hz; cuts off somewhere? below that to prevent woofer pumping due to record warps. Definitely works to do the latter.
    • fabreeka iso 24A
    pneumatic isolation platform
    • timeter pcs 414
    w/ wob-l motor; for the et2 arm
    • makeshift aligment jig
    for et2 arm, inscribed on the back of a mint lp protractor
    • parker 14e mini filter/regulator
    for et2 arm; marshall 0-15psi gauge
    • victor/jvc dt x1ii stylus
    'natural diamond'; beryllium cantilever and tension wire
    • acutex M420str
    tri-radial diamond, MM
    • victor/jvc z1s
    z1s with rare shibata z1s stylus designed to 4 channel systems
    • neotech nei 3001
    custom made by the guys at sonic craft using furutech fp 120 rca's, used to connect stage with baf.
    • TTM Oil damped Stabilizer
    record weight, 770g.
    • tt 101 bearing grooves victor
    grooves caused by friction at contact point?
    • Sony TA-E88
    w.phonostage, equipped with very flexible MM loading options: 10k-100kohm (in 10k increments_ and 100-500 pF (in 100pF increments)
    • JVC /Victor tt 101 bearing well
    w/new /SiNi bearing ball
    • zyx silver wire loom custom
    tonearm wire loom, 1877 rhodium clips, zyx silver wire and xhadow rca's. wire is incredibly flexible, perfect imo for use with the et2 tonearm.
    • TTM Mat 2
    3kg and 6mm high stainless steel mat with 'tuning' holes; designed to be paired with TTM's oil damped weight
    • Timeter aridyne 2000
    provides 50psi of dry air through each of 3 on demand outlets. Used to run et 2 arm and fabreeka pneumatic platform
    • JVC Victor Laboratory eq 7070
    phono pre that can accommodate 3 arms; variable loading for MM carts
    • Victor GTT 3000B
    glass platter mat to be used in conjunction with victor pigskin sheet

Comments 135

Owner
Well, I couldn't leave well alone. The x-1 cart was sounding pretty glorious (I mean, top of the bunch kind of glorious), but I had some unquenchable and inexplicable desire to try out the Jico stylus. In taking out the old one I clumsily broke its plug. Luckily I managed to pull the entire stylus assembly out, so the cartridge itself is fine. It wasn't an original stylus anyways and the diamond was pretty worn down I think--but why did it sound so damned good?--so no terrible loss. Unless, of course, the Jico sounds worse...in which case I'll be having dream altering regrets.

banquo363

Owner
Thanks, Acman. I'll post on the MM thread. The tt101 was an ordeal. It didn't work when I bought it, and it took me a year to find someone competent to fix it. In the end, it was worth it.

Raul would say (I know because I have a PhD in Raulogogy) that I'm 'sticky' with my analog and that I love its distortions--and that some day I'll grow up and buy digital :). Perhaps he's right. But what I enjoy is the entire culture surrounding vinyl and not just the sound: that's irreplaceable.

Regarding the Jasmine, yes, I'm quite happy. It allows me to plug in two MM carts at the same time; it's quiet; it's dynamic. I wished it had loading and capacitance control for MM carts though. That would be the ultimate.

banquo363

Very strong system Banquo, Be sure and post your findings on the Victor cart. How awesome to find the Victor 101. Sweet!

No digital? What would our old friend Raul say? ;>)

Are you happy with the Jasmine 2.5?

acman3

Owner
System edited: Added some new toys. TeraDak power supply for the awesome Lightspeed volume control. Previously used a wall wart to power the led's in the LSA. Sounded great to me. But the TeraDak makes it even greater: less distortion, more transparent and greater inner dynamics. How is this possible when all it does it power some led's? I have no idea, but I've tested it to my satisfaction and the TeraDak stays. Second toy just arrived from Japan: a victor x-1/mk2 mm cartridge. This is the TOTL effort from Victor, the maker of my terrific turntable. I have very high expectations of this cartridge. I'm unsure whether it came with the original stylus. Bought a Jico shibata replacement just in case the present stylus goes kaput. But in the meanwhile I can't bear to take off the Astatic mf200: great, great cartridge. Rich, full-bodied and detailed in a way the AT 20ss, which I like alot, just isn't. Unfortunately, replacement stylus is unobtainium. Why must good things be so rare?

banquo363

Owner
System edited: Impressed by the Oyaide leads I recently purchased, I had Audio Origami in the UK construct some leads out of silver Ikeda and Kondo wire. He did an excellent job and the wires are very thin which makes them easy to fit between cartridge and headshell. That's a big plus. Have had a chance to try only the Ikeda. Significantly different from the Oyaide. More transparent in the bass frequencies (the Oyaide is quite exuberant in the bass in my system) and makes for a more balanced presentation. Seems very mellow and delicate; emotional, if you will. By contrast, the Oyaide is more forward and alive, especially with voice and is more convoluted with orchestral music. One other difference is that the Ikeda wire somehow magically cuts down by a lot surface record noise. Can anyone explain this to me? Both were tested on the hybrid AT 15sa/20ss cartridge/stylus combo. The differences the leads make are so significant that it's hard to see how one is supposed to articulate the sound of the cartridge 'in-itself'. I'll leave that for higher and more experienced minds to investigate. I'll be trying out the kondo wire on a special mm cart I managed to score from Japan. If it would only arrive...

banquo363

Owner
System edited: Been eyeing analysis plus cables for some time now and decided to pull the trigger on 2 pairs of solo crystal ic's. Preliminary results are very promising. Definitely a cable believer now.

banquo363

Owner
Thanks, Vegasears. The match is due to trelja who praised it in no uncertain terms. I've light loaded the rm10 so I have 'only' 28 watts feeding the Vandersteens. I can get to 90dB even with my passive pre, but this is definitely not a 'rock out' pairing. I believe it's on the warm side of neutral and gives me enough detail to keep me happy. To be honest, I've spent most of my time honing my tt set up, but the amp/speaker pairing is sensitive enough to register the myriad tweaks I've made to the tt.

banquo363

Banquo, very impressive system. I particularly like the Music Reference RM-10 and the Vandersteen match up. I can only imagine but my guess is, it's very warm, intimate and detailed.

vegasears

Owner
The journey, Ct0517, would have been considerably more difficult and a lot less satisfying were it not for your guidance and companionship.

My canine audiophile is misdescribed because she actually despises my music--she rushes into my wife's office once the system is turned on and rushes back in once she hears the off click on the rm10 (that's not a joke). In the pic she is growling at the mailman.

banquo363

Thanks for sharing the journey banquo.
Love the shot of your canine audiophile. He appears in a trance from your music. :)
Brings me memories of my old black lab buddy.
Cheers.

ct0517

Owner
System edited: 3 years in on this fascinating hobby. Things have settled down but am still surprised by how little things can make a significant difference. Case in point: silver headshell leads. I had played around with various cheaper copper leads but not until the Oyaide did I experience a dramatic difference. Greater transparency and better stage and surprisingly much fuller and articulate bass on the AT 20ss. Well worth the money, even for a cheapie like me. Also added a SurgeX surge protector. Built like a tank and, mercifully, does not change the sound of connected equipment. Get them relatively cheap on the bay.

banquo363

Owner
System edited: Added ten foot wide and five foot high Ikea 'expedit'
bookshelves behind speakers. Wonderful positive addition. Room treatments
are the cheapest way to improve one's rig, imo. I've been fretting over IC's and
power cables, but these bookshelves make an immediate and uncontroversial
impact on sound. Makes the room look better to boot.

banquo363

Owner
Oooops: spoke too soon. I checked the vtf on my cart and for some reason it was way higher than it should have been. Bass is now controlled and not tubby as it had been. More importantly, the tone is much much better. Could have a winner in the Jasmine.

banquo363

Owner
System edited: Sold the allnic stage and replaced it with the new Jasmine. I wanted a more dynamic stage with more gain for mm carts. I got that, but the tone of instruments is completely different--and not in a good way. I'm temporarily using a different phono cable so hopefully that's it.

banquo363

Owner
System edited: Applied EAR damping sheets to bottom cover of victor and also
to motor cover area beneath platter. Put Texas Instruments shield over motor
cover for good measure (tried first directly under Boston audio mat but that
sounded terrible because the mat wasn't heavy enough to flatten the copper
shield). Can't say definitely whether these tweaks made much difference but
they certainly didn't hurt as the victor is sounding fantastic. Lastly, I bought
some sueded pigskin (it is said the the original came with a pigskin mat). After
going back and forth for weeks, I've decided to leave it covering my boston
audio mat 2. It's tonally richer and more accurate, but seems to attenuate the
frequency extremes and slow the sound down a touch.

banquo363

Sweet looking setup ...enjoy the tunes Banquo....

ct0517

Congratulations Banquo,
The set-up looks gorgeous...and the Victor appears in nice nick?
After you have some fun time listening........I do hope you will post some further impressions?
Meanwhile.....enjoy :-)

halcro

Owner
System edited: After a nearly year long debacle, I got my wish: a functioning victor tt 101 motor. Thanks Halcro for the inspiration. It is supported on 3 stainless steel footers. Thanks, Ct0157! I'll keep it short: it was worth the wait.

banquo363

Owner
Aramirez626:

I just looked back and I see that I did make a remark about the rm10 and my vinyl rig at the time. To be honest, I don't have the faintest idea why I said that at the time. I've gone through a lot of cartridges and perhaps one of those was to blame--or it could be one of a 100 other things. That's the thing with vinyl.

At any rate, I can say now that there are no issues that I can detect with the rm10 and vinyl. Even with the cheapie linear drive that I'm currently forced to use, it kills my (admittedly cheapie) cd player. I have a fairly large room and I can get to around 86db at 3 o'clock on the Lightspeed using the 4ohm tap of the rm10. Not bad at all for a 28 or so watt amp paired with a passive pre. The 8ohm tap will give more volume but I've found inferior sound. I know I've said otherwise but this is after very frequent comparisons. YMMV. The GE el84's are the best of the 3 types I've tried. I currently use psvane 12ax7-T's.

If dynamics is your first sonic priority then you might be disappointed. It's not that it's lacking but the pairing doesn't lend itself to that as a first priority. Maybe things would be different with an active pre? Better isolation of table? Who knows.

banquo363

Hi, I was actually looking at the Rm 10. I have Vandersteen 2cs and also play alot of vinyl. Noticed a while back that you were diappointed with the vinyl with the RM 10. Have you made any adjustments that have improved your vinyl sound?

aramirez626

Owner
Mab33:

The pod is 15lbs of stainless machined out of a round bar. I'm not sure what kind of ss he bought but you can buy rods here: http://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?id=5&step=2&top_cat=1

The finished pod is 4" in diameter and 4" high. I wanted maximal weight given pivot to spindle distance and height of my turntable, so that explains the dimensions. The diameter is a good fit for the wide mk2 VTA base; a bit smaller would work as well. The pod has two main machined holes: one into which the rca base of the arm fits and one to accommodate the outgoing rca wires and ground wire. You can see the latter hole in one of the pics above.

The mk2 mounting screws are underneath the arm so we had to put 3 screw holes from bottom up to properly secure the arm. In addition, there are 3 small screw holes at the bottom so we could put spikes for leveling.

Mirko is a first rate machinist if you live in the so cal area.

Looking back, I'm not sure weight is that crucial, as I have a smaller pod for another arm and it works fine. Material is probably more important. If I were to do another pod, I'd try bronze just to compare.

banquo363

Could you share more info about the arm pod design for the epa100 mk2? I am wanting to do something similar for my Mk2 and am curious what material, dimensions etc. Thanks!

mab33

Nice job on the sandbox Banquo. I just saw your system pic.
For me - Improvements in sound based on DIY bring alot of satisfaction. The knowledge gained along the way is priceless. I also feel vinyl people would trade in their analog rigs for other rigs less frequently, if they would just get structure feedback under control.

Cheers

ct0517

Owner
Fabricated sandboxes for turntable and phonostage. The former really helped to lower the sound floor and reveal bass. Platform (mdf) is cross-braced underneath with some scraps of metal I had laying about and some L-braces I got for a couple of bucks. Entire set up sits on 4 AT 616 footers. Great tweak for pennies. Might try aluminum for platform next.

The sandbox for stage didn't do much of anything as far as I can tell.

Played with Astatic mf 200 cartridge. Might be my best cartridge yet.

banquo363


Nice system, Banquo363 :-)
Congrats!

AudiogoN may be down, but forums are still up ;-)

Best regards,

Sam

c1ferrari

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