Hello,

syntax July 10, 2023 11:40

Hi,

syntax October 16, 2022 17:47

Hi,

syntax September 17, 2022 15:28

Cartridge Comparison started ….

syntax May 26, 2022 05:39

Advanced101, i don’t have that problem with my Arche HS. Did you use some force to tighten?

syntax July 29, 2021 16:17

The dogs you can find sometimes at ebay search RCA Nipper Dog…i don’t use the microscope always, i have a Protractor from Acoustical Systems made for my Arms, pretty good …but thanks for the question…i have to try it again

syntax July 29, 2021 15:16

Found in my drawer an old cartridge I forgot to use for a lot of years

syntax June 06, 2021 16:27

Hello, the speakers are decoupled internally. I thought some time to put them onto Vibraplanes… but I was too lazy to move :-)

syntax May 30, 2021 08:53

I did it.

syntax April 03, 2021 15:11

Interesting. With such a speaker will a 300B work very well. Listened to a similar combo years ago. Very, very good. The ML2.1 is different from tone and weight,I would say ... complete.

syntax March 31, 2021 20:30

Really?

syntax March 31, 2021 05:23

After 15 years ownership, time to look back ...

syntax March 29, 2021 18:09

Superior analog reproduction is a chain of details done right. there are a few "religions" out there, I listened to various designs and finally, each audiophile can choose which way he wants to go....

syntax March 21, 2021 08:10

Unfortunately I never saw a manual for it, but I can imagine, the former US Distributor knows more. It is very similar to a Keith Monks RCM ....

syntax March 14, 2021 13:58

Got a real jewel in female voices

syntax February 20, 2021 11:39

Probably I can give a better description when you tell me something about you

syntax February 18, 2021 16:08

Hello Flame,

syntax February 17, 2021 05:45

Really?

syntax January 29, 2021 06:06

Listening right now to a great record from 2008, 

syntax May 02, 2020 13:33

Yes, at the moment it is not on my priority list. Right now I am going back to units which amazed me long time ago....at the moment Fr-66s & Ikeda cantileverless Oldie ... this physical force in the sonic picture still is a class on its own...even after all the years

syntax May 02, 2020 05:35

Huh, now we have tough time based on the corona virus. Staying in house...ok, that is fine with good records...but now my Apolyt turntable is ready to go...and the installation can't be done ...I'm born to suffer ...

syntax March 31, 2020 18:59

Hi Gallus,

syntax November 18, 2019 17:47

Hello Dan,

syntax November 17, 2019 20:49

I made the comparisons, yes. Both FR Arms are from sonics still miles ahead from anything else today. Except Axiom. That one is from sonics in their area but a bit different. The Axiom has excellent adjustments and no sonic coration or fingerprint. The 66s for example shows with Original Records from the late 50' up a kind of living presence which has to be heard to believe. And with most demanding carts, Old Ikeda Systems without cantilver (a desaster for Graham Arms, SME 3012R and others) you get a sonic pureness and speed in a holographic picture which is unique. I think,it depends on turntable, there are only a few today where you can use a FR Arm, for me it is the King of Arms. I still like some of the older carts, those I have a superior to any modern ones and the match with 64s / 66s was superior in the past and still is. Axiom is a bit different but the best of modern ones today. It can create a huge mesmerizing soundstage, too. Unfortunately I have no experience with Aquila. I closed the Tonearm chapter.

syntax August 08, 2019 15:33

Dear Gallus,

syntax July 13, 2019 07:26

It is very good. The improvements will depend on the turntable you use, normally a way better focus, more details, more 3 dimensional bass ... I am not up to date with your rig, the arm base needs to be lifted to the same height. I think, AS can do that.

syntax December 27, 2018 00:20

Hi,

syntax October 07, 2018 16:55

Hi Dan,

syntax October 06, 2018 08:34

Hello advanced101,

syntax October 06, 2018 08:30

New in System

syntax June 26, 2018 00:38

Hi,

syntax June 20, 2018 20:03

Woah, FR-64s with Koetsu Blue Lace .... I think, I know what you mean. A super match!!

syntax June 13, 2018 18:26

Well, made a break with Forum but I'll try to be a helpful member.

syntax May 18, 2018 19:27

The Ikeda 407 is a good Arm, most think, it is better than 64s because it was made later but this is wrong. It is made much cheaper, it does not have the amount of technical details which made the FR Arms superior to anything else ( not dynamically balanced, cheaper bearing, armtube, azimuth reduction, and so on...)

syntax January 01, 2018 17:14

Thank you!

syntax October 24, 2017 06:54

I always was a Lyra user. They had some very remarkable cartridges (Parnassus, Helikon - Price/Performance was top -, Titan i, Olympos) but now I think, their actual ones are a few steps back. Not only one ... at least for me. Nothing special, same like 10 other brands offer right now. Detailed but dead and boring. Had them all and was not able to listen to them for more than 1h,

syntax October 07, 2017 05:49

Hello

syntax October 06, 2017 17:29

Oh cool, another Seiki owner. Yes, I think you did it right. With some mods they can reach a sonic level, which puts the majority of "modern Turntables" to shame. 

syntax May 31, 2017 17:34

Found a new Demo Record which has no Limits, the better your System is, the more lifelike Sound it will offer.

syntax March 26, 2017 11:36

The Vitus SCD-025 MkII Player arrived and it is a very good sounding unit. The technical parts are a class of its own. Very detailed and lifelike sounding. Among the very best digital units I listened to in the last 15 years ...

syntax March 05, 2016 15:22

The Koetsu Gang

Koetsu Blue Lace Mono

From left to right

Koetsu Blue Lace Stereo - Koetsu Blue Lace Mono - Koetsu Coralstone Diamond Cantilever Stereo

syntax October 09, 2015 11:23

I think, the Koetsu Coralstone with diamond Cantilever is among the very best cartridges out there. The depth of the Soundstage linked with lifelike reproduction is quite remarkable. Also the high frequency area is easily on par with any other high priced cartridge out there. There is more space between instruments and voices compared to Lyra Atlas for example and I also think, the overall tonal balance from low to high is much more natural (real).
The Koetsu Jade with DC is very similar, it is also a super cartridge and the tonal differences are not big, maybe it is a bit thinner in tone but this is not negative. Like Lyra Atlas in Detail but linked with a more believable overall picture.

syntax October 08, 2015 13:56

A big Picture from

Koetsu Coralstone Diamond Cantilever

syntax July 30, 2015 14:14

... in the meantime a few Pics from a cartridge which is very rare to see

Koetsu Jade Platinum Diamond Cantilever Out of Box

Koetsu Jade Platinum Diamond Cantilever Front

Koetsu Jade Platinum Diamond Cantilever Preparation for Installation

Koetsu Jade Platinum Diamond Cantilever in action :-)

syntax June 19, 2015 14:05

Wavacs... Wow,I thought you were set forever....

Horrible. Absolutely horrible....being at the end of the road. What should I do now? Listening to my records? Moving my cables from the left side to the right? Hm, one way out... will sell my CD Player and look for another one...this is an endless task....:-)

... wish I have the opportunity to listen to blue lace . My axiom is matched with koetsu coral stone- sounded great

Next time probably. No reason for sleepless nights, some with a stiff upper lip would probably say "Not Bad" :-)

syntax June 02, 2015 15:18

Have not made final comparisons but some visitors told me, the Wavac is GREAT :-)

syntax June 01, 2015 13:15

My pleasure to meet you

Some more pics

Koetsu Blue Lace with Axiom Tonearm

Vibraplane for Wavac 833

Wavac 833

syntax May 30, 2015 11:19

Hi,
haven't made real comparisons, more or less only quick impressions...Summer is coming and my System isn't used so often now. But the FR-7fc is still in its own class, same with the Ikeda 9, right now most time of use is Koetsu Blue Lace with Fr-64s. Stunning.

syntax May 01, 2015 16:08

Hi,

what a surprise. Yes, yesterday it found a new owner. Right now I try to get more information about the Diamonds. Most Mono carts have the same Diamond like their Stereo versions (I think, but I am not sure about that but it makes sense because the current Mono Reissues are cut with a Stereo Head ... but older monos are still different). All I can say, my Lyra did a very good job with my late 50's Mono Records but it had a different diamond and I lost my files which one it was....Now I can start again from scratch *sigh*
I also found information that a "real" mono also has a different diamond but until today I found not one report from a user who did a comparison with those "different" Types. All I found are "Statements" from Denon or SPU Users, but none of them wrote about the differences.
Indeed, my thinking is for Coralstone Mono but I try to collect more information. So, when you or other readers can give some information, will be glad to read it.

syntax March 31, 2015 17:55

02-08-15: Ddriveman
Syntax,

Surely your journey cannot end now....

Yes, you are right. A real Audiophile never gives up :-)

When I remember my long journey for a summary, I can say, there are only a few items which are so remarkable, that they pass the test of time forever and I learned a lot.
- Basis turntable
(the brain behind the construction and the solutions for superior performance)
- FR-64s and 66s
(they don't stop to amaze me in their sonic superiority to anything else I listened to)
- Koetsu Coralstone
(from the current ones, it is in a different sonic league, the other ones in my Systems are also remarkable but very hard to find)
- Cartridge Alignment UNI-DIN
(this new calculation is probably a revolution in analog playback)

02-08-15: Peterayer
It must be nice to be done with your journey....

Yes, I did compare most in my own System, when not possible, then in Systems I know very well. With the right records you are able to check the reproduction quality of turntables, Arms or cartridges, the majority hide a lot of possible details, some of these records are listed in my System description. I did test and own Graham Arms since 2.2 until Supreme II and I knew its sonic steps which are a result of the chosen material and weigh (construction)t. The Elite is imo just another step how to increase the performance from a Unipivot Design (weight and energy transfer, just a new inner cable does not bite the bullet...) My last comparison with FR-64s and Graham Supreme II was so huge in musical details, even my listeners were shocked (and since his wrong 10" and 12" Arm Tubes - Arch angle and wrong drills for his alignment flip - I lost interest anyway) Maybe the current Design will be better now but for me this chapter is closed.

02-18-15: Dnath
Hi syntax.

Curious why you don't like the Seiki's with vacuum?...

Let's change the word "like" to "result"...(who cares what I like?) To like something is like rolling a dice and completely useless (I don't like McDonalds for example but for others it is great...). I wrote something about your question a few pages earlier, I think you'll find the answer there :-)
TechDas
I know AF One and Two pretty well, but more the One. They stretched the Seiki concept to a modern level and made some improvements which are necessary for a model to pass the others (Platter and motor) and they increased the price based on the other - inferior - toys to place it in the serious area. That's ok, but I never heard something which I did not hear before. Anyway, it is definitely much more serious than the other "modern" units and when someone can afford it, he does not burn his money in the hope to get a well designed solution :-)

You are right and I agree but when I am really honest, my hope in the last years was, based on the information availavble in the internet community, that series solution for acceptable pricing would pop up....but after all those years, I think, it is too late. Average (or better said, cheap average) rules.
But WE will not give up. Or? :-)

syntax February 26, 2015 12:47

„The Real Thing“ Sound
(Perfect reproduction of the sound of real music performed in a real space)

Tonearms

In the last 15 years I had the chance to listen to nearly all Arms out there… Continuum, SME’s, all Graham, Triplanar VIIi, Goldmund T3F, Wood Arms (yuk), Thales, TW, Clearaudio, Micro, SAEC, Ikeda, Rega, Vertere, Kuzma Airline, Kuzma 4P, Air Tangent, Simon Yorke and so on and on

The Kings

Fidelity Research FR-66s Silver Arm Wire

Fidelity Research FR-64s Silver Arm Wire

Best from the ones today

Graham Phantom Supreme II

Cartridges

I listened to most Benz, some Zyx, the Coldfinger, various Koetsu, Transfigurations, Ortofons & MC90, Lyras, Air Tights, Shelters, Denon 103R, Kondo IO, Ikeda Kai, Allaerts, Takeda, EMT and probably 10 more I forgot … those below are the ones which survived every comparison

Here is the real thing

Fidelity Research FR-7 FR-7fc FR-7fz

Ikeda 9 Kiwame

Koetsu Blue Lace

Koetsu Coralstone

Lyra Olympos

Fidelity Research FR-1 mk3F
(refurbished from a Japanese Master + best Diamond ever made)

Koetsu Blue Lace & Koetsu Coralstone

Takeda Miyabi

Well, my journey came to end and I agree with Gordon Holt (founder of Stereophile) who said in an interview 2007:

Do you still feel the high-end audio industry has lost its way in the manner you described 15 years ago?

„Not in the same manner; there's no hope now. Audio actually used to have a goal: perfect reproduction of the sound of real music performed in a real space. That was found difficult to achieve, and it was abandoned when most music lovers, who almost never heard anything except amplified music anyway, forgot what "the real thing" had sounded like. Today, "good" sound is whatever one likes.“

syntax February 06, 2015 12:12

Hi Baranyi,
I had no idea about these Speakers, too, or the System in general when I got the invitation to listen to it. It is now some years ago, but it was the biggest shock in my audiophile life to date. Why? Here I heard the life performance, That, what all talk about but never have.... Ella Fitzgerald was really in front of me (without downing a bottle of wine), with a lifelike Presence I never heard before. Same with Louis Armstrong...no joke. Here I heard the first time what "High End" is all about. Then I asked to play one of my records, LSC-2500 and I "saw" the musicians in front of me. I was able to count the rows. Here I also saw the very first time a FR-Tonearm and it served a presentation I never heard before. All that gave me a new kind of view about "Audiophilia" :-)

syntax January 30, 2015 17:36

After 15 years of traveling to listen to countless Systems (mainly expensive ones or sometimes interesting ones from the Set Up) it is coming to the end …

„The Real Thing“ Sound
(Perfect reproduction of the sound of real music performed in a real space)

From some Systems I have Pics, some big, some small, some from pre Digital or Names only....

I will start with Systems followed from Turntables, Tonearms, Cartridges and Amplification

Systems

A System from the 90’s

Apolyt Turntable, Calyx Phono Preamp and Martion Orgon Speakers

A new System

Gryphon Speakers, Vitus Preamp, Power Amps, Phonostage, Turntable AFO

Another early System but forgot the Camera
Jeff Rowland Consummate Preamp, matching Consummate Phonostage, Rowland Model 9, Martin Logans, Oracle Turntable

sorry, that's it for me

Turntables
I listened to endless Tables, be it Rockport Sirius, Goldmund Reference, Garrards, EMT’s, Kuzma, Clearaudio Statement, Master Reference, Brinkmann, SME 10, 20,30, Kondo Ginga, TW, Linn, DaVinci, Well Tempered and so on and on

These below smoke them all

TechDas Airforce One

TechDas Airforce Two

Basis Debut vac.

Brakemeier Apolyt

Micro Seiki 5000 (reg. no vacuum!!)

Micro Seiki 8000 (Vers. I, no vacuum !!)

… to be continued

syntax January 28, 2015 13:13

I bought the PR99 Mk III from a Recording Studio, it was their spare and new. They also had some boxes of their best tapes (BASF) for me, that quality did not smear the Heads when the Tapes run over it. It was a very good machine but when BASF stopped production of the Tapes I had to buy what was available and that was simply inferior. I also bought pre-recorded Tapes but the Magnetization showed its loss over the years and I stopped that, too. There were some audiophile Tapes made, new recordings but completely uninteresting from the historical background and I decided to sell the unit. It has balanced in- /outputs, no problem to use it with a balanced Preamp. And when I am honest, when I had a time frame to listen to my System, I rarely used it. Phono direct always served me more satisfaction.

syntax December 17, 2014 07:45

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

In that room we did listen to Focal Grand Utopia with a complete line of Goldmund electronics. Amps are the big Model Telos 3500, their matching digital Preamp with Goldmund Phonostage. Analog Turntable is a Clearaudio with Souther Arm and Goldfinger cartridge ....

Audiophile Visit 06 / 01

Audiophile Visit 06 / 02

Audiophile Visit 06 / 03

Audiophile Visit 06 / 04

Audiophile Visit 06 / 05

Audiophile Visit 06 / 06

syntax December 12, 2014 06:57

Good question for discussions...When I "test" a cartridge, I always go first with FR-64s to hear how it performs. When it does not pass the 64s Test, it is done for me anyway. The 66s is the next step, I do that a bit later when I am used to the Performance of the cartridge...normally it is a step above then. I wrote Top Performance with FR-64s..." because that Arm survived all others I had - or did try - in the last 10 years... I read everywhere, how owners praise their Koetsu in nearly every available Arm and a lot are a cruel mismatch (from sonics)...of course it "works"..but there are - huge - differences.
For VTF I am someone who goes always to the lower side, when there are no distortions there is for me no reason to go higher and to stress the cantilever in a way which is not useful for me. I believe that in some Arms it needs a higher VTF based on their Design, but not with FR, they are dynamically balanced and have a superior tracking even at lower VTF. Aggelos are silver leads which are available from Acoustical Systems, their main advantage is their flexibility compared to other silver leads like Ikeda, Furutech and so on. They are also good but sometimes a pain to fit because they are stiff and the Contact Pins in various Headshells have no Standard, some are thicker, some thin and the fumbling can destroy the leads (they break at the solder points) and you can start to do it all over with a new set of leads...next problem is, the slots in the Headshells - or the whole length of it - is also different, when you use a longer cartridge with an Ikeda RS for example, it is really tough to slide it back and forth with stiff leads, with Orsonic 101 for example it is no problem....anyway, that's the way to go when you buy new, imo of course. Next is, Aggelos are soldered with maximum percentage of silver, most other silver leads are soldered with something inferior which ruins the signal transfer significantly or the pins under the acting are not good ("good" based on MY Standard).. I did mount the Coralstone first in the Orsonic RS, technically it was ok, sonics, too but later I removed it to an Arche and that's it for me.

syntax December 11, 2014 16:04

That room was very remarkable...very tasteful Room Tuning...the owner had electrically illuminated Wavebreakers...very, very efficient from sonics and gets my vote for the "Done Right Award"

The owner uses a Dynavector XV-1s (I think, forgot to look a bit closer) and it was aligned with Mint Protractor...he just asked to change nothing except the Alignment to UNI-DIN...we listened to some records before changing and when it was done and the lights were switched off, that was a real sonic revelation...the soundstage got so much bigger, so much more real in tonality...Pysical Presence to grab...I could not believe it in the first seconds...a complete transformation to the better at no extra charge....
and we did not go back :-)

TW Hardware, an Preamp which is new for me, never saw it before, Pass XA Amps, Eggleston Speakers with cables created by owner.....coool

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

Audiophile Visit 05 / 01

Audiophile Visit 05 / 02

Audiophile Visit 05 / 03

Audiophile Visit 05 / 04

Audiophile Visit 05 / 05

Audiophile Visit 05 / 06

Audiophile Visit 05 / 07

----> more to come

syntax December 08, 2014 15:57

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

Audiophile Visit 04 / 01

Audiophile Visit 04 / 02

Audiophile Visit 04 / 03

Audiophile Visit 04 / 04

Audiophile Visit 04 / 05

Audiophile Visit 04 / 06

Audiophile Visit 04 / 07

Audiophile Visit 04 / 08

...---> :-)

syntax December 05, 2014 21:12

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

Audiophile Visit 03 / 01

Audiophile Visit 03 / 02

Audiophile Visit 03 / 03

Audiophile Visit 03 / 04

Audiophile Visit 03 / 05

Audiophile Visit 03 / 06

Audiophile Visit 03 / 07

syntax December 05, 2014 15:58

MIDNIGHT IN MALAYSIA

Audiophile Visit 02 / 01

Audiophile Visit 02 / 02

Audiophile Visit 02 / 03

Audiophile Visit 02 / 04

Audiophile Visit 02 / 05

Audiophile Visit 02 / 06

Audiophile Visit 02 / 07

Audiophile Visit 02 / 08

Audiophile Visit 02 / 09

Audiophile Visit 02 / 10

syntax December 04, 2014 15:41

Hi :-)

yes, same sessions were real eye opening (or ear opening). It was indeed fascinating - even for me - when the change with a XV-1s cartridge with the Mint alignment was done to DIN without changing any other parameters. The difference was so huge that I thought in the first second," whoa, with what did we hear in the last years....?" Done right can be cheap also :-)

syntax December 04, 2014 11:55

Hello Audioblazer,
I never had any problems with such long RCA cables, the AQ Sky is dead silent, my former XLO Signature also (I had 7m RCA and XLR, both silent and immune to any influences), also cheaper cables did not show any problems.
I use my System that way for a very long time, I prefer that way from optics/sonics to a placement between the speakers. Preamps should be able to run such a length without problems but I can imagine that some Preamp Designs are sensible to that. Try it first with a cheap cable, a good quality is available from SignalCable.

syntax December 03, 2014 12:31

Impressions from my Visits in Asia 2014

Audiophile Visit 01 / 01

Audiophile Visit 01 / 02

Audiophile Visit 01 / 03

Audiophile Visit 01 / 04

Audiophile Visit 01 / 05

Audiophile Visit 01 / 06

Audiophile Visit 01 / 07

Audiophile Visit 01 / 08

Audiophile Visit 01 / 09

syntax December 02, 2014 18:28

Any RCM which uses a part from a Vacuum cleaner or Hair Dryer (Slot Cleaners) can't be used while listening to music. The Klaudio is no exception. The only unit which is silent enough is my Odyssey ( an improved Monks) or a Keith Monks. They work different and the motors are pretty silent. For me it is not a problem, the cleaning is done in a separate room anyway.
But there isn't so much water on the record when I remove it wet...that is no problem is reality.

The very edge of the records doesn't get thoroughly dry on the Monks- i can get the lead-in grooves dry by wiggling the nozzle around a few times at the end of a drying cycle, but the rim is slightly wet. Perhaps still using too much fluid.

Yes, when the cleaning brush is dry you need for the first record more fluid and based on the rotation is moves to the outside. Soaking the brush needs the most fluid in the first run...But you need much less fluid for the following records, sooner or later you have the the experience for it.
It is possible that Hannl made the concentration for shipping to avoid shipping water around the globe. I did not try it, but I read it should be similar to the V3 C cleaning fluid.
In a way you can compare it with an expensive DSLR Camera, you can activate the "P" Programm and all is done automatically (Shutter, Time ...) or when you think you can do it better manually, you activate a different Programm in that camera...the same options you have with these two designs. It is not necessary to own both, but when you want the best possible result, that's the way to go.

syntax September 17, 2014 13:04

Well, after "mocking" you will hear a digital silence in the deeper soundstage :-)
More of the "nothing" around the note.
The grooves are fully dry without any static issues. The first clean I do always with the point nozzle, the Klaudio is the next step.
Sometimes I do not use the dryer from the Klaudio, I do only the us-cleaning and put the record onto the Odyssey (or Monks) for the point nozzle removal.
Keep me updated with your findings...

syntax September 10, 2014 20:45

One Foot In the Gutter

or

some thoughts about record cleaning ...

At the moment I use 2 cleaning machines, a German improved Keith Monks unit (Source Odyssey), a point nozzle design and a Klaudio Ultrasonic machine.
As usual, we find raves about every new product and also for the Klaudio unit. Good as it is, it is worth to think about details...

I still think that the removal of dirt is the most important step (others think, the kind of fluid is the solution but I do not share this view) and here is generally a point nozzle design still the way to go, specially when you collect older records, you won't believe how much dirt such a design can remove.

I always did avoid to go for a Glaess machine, even when the Distributor is not far away from me. One of my most important priorities is reliability and here it showed too much problems for me. And I simply do not trust its Filtering and rollers. And in a way I hate this expensive "record cleaning fluid policy". Anyway, I refused to sign the check. When Klaudio became available, it got my attention based on 2 design features:No expensive cleaning fluid necessary (only cheap, distilled water) and the kind of making (no nonsense, robust and no flimsy parts which will break sooner or later).

In combination with a pre-clean with my Odyssey first (older records from the later 50's) the cleaning result is superior. Huge soundstage with an unheard silence "between the notes".

Klaudio RCM

But sometimes there is still some noise....

Clicks and pops can have 3 reasons
a, dirt
b, pressing material from the process in the groove (reissues have that normally)
and
c, damage at the side walls from the grooves based on wrong cartridge adjustment, wrong VTF and some more reasons.

a, this can be solved with machines for 100%,
b, mainly no big hope, here nothing will really help, such a record will get clean sometimes but it is normally a minority
c, no hope. except a "primitive" cartridge with a round diamond (it can hide it)

Generally we can say, any cleaning can be done good/better/best when the record WAS perfect and later came dirt, smoke, coke, fat finger tips etc. into the grooves. That can be removed for 100%. But something from a melting process or defect carts ... here will the story of cleaning find an end. A lot of reissues are made with very soft vinyl, they are super sensitive to everything, records from the 80's for example are best of best, even with 60 or 80gr. Noise can also grow when someone used alcohol for cleaning, this can make the grooves dry and the noise will be endless.
The best results (and also most reliable from the technical view) you will get the way you did describe. The mold should be removed with a machine which is able to do a good job, best is a point nozzle design. Then you can do a final Ultra Sonic clean. When I do it that way, the main gunk is in my Monks and when I do an additional run of that "pre-cleaned" Record in the Klaudio there is no more dirt in the reservoir.

But even when you are lazy and use the Klaudio only, deskilled water is cheap, a change of the fluid is easy. Btw. Fingerprints are uninteresting, that is a visual disturb only. The diamond of the cartridge tracks the inside the grooves, not their top. Of course, the ADS has advantages, but the time showed, it made too much problems and some did choose the Klaudio because they want something reliable. I am one of those. And the combination of a point nozzle + Klaudio is simply the best when you are serious in records.

From time to time we will read what the best record cleaning fluid is and I think it is helpful to read a little bit between the lines, for example AIVS is a multistep cleaning solution, that means, any owner who spends 30 minutes per record expects to hear terrific improvements. And the more fluids he can use, the better.
I am sure, when any of the other users clean their record 3x with L'Art Du Son or whatever, they will get the same - or a comparable - result. I used AIVS, too and it didn't bite the bullet for me. Probably I have a superior cleaning machine, who knows...and not one record I cleaned with the Enzyme fluid gave me an improvement to the fluid I used before with it.

Some pics from records which will show you remarkable sonics

London CS 6208

RCA LSC 2471

London CS 6252

RCA LSC 2292

When you want ONE record to check out why Mono's are really special

Mercury MG 50167

Happy Listening

syntax August 15, 2014 10:46

Hi Ddriveman,

when I did that, Audioquest offered "Y" connectors (splitter) as an option with their DBS packs. So it was quite simple, this "Y" connector plus 2x72V DBS and it was done. I am not really up to date with Audioquest now, but I think, this "Y" connector is no longer available. Self made "competition" for their higher priced cables I think...
But, when you want to go that way too, look for "older" AQ cables which are fitted with 2x round DBS packs and replace them. They have this splitter. Cheetah or Sky was available with 2x24V or 2x36V for example, I bought some and I also got some for Leopard Tonearm cable that way.
I think, the biggest jump is from lower voltage up to 72V. The 2x72V is like the icing on the cake, you don't need it, but when you try it and you like it, ..well, no way back. The result is a kind of deep silence between the notes, hard to describe because every description is already used even for mediocre sound results, but the reproduction becomes a clean honesty, no artifacts, no sonic fingerprint, details have more own different volume, the tiny details are more present, just a wire with gain...

syntax August 01, 2014 07:37

04-10-14: Drajreynolds
.....it might be best if I simply say that the Archon combines the best attributes of the Lyra Olympos and Takeda Miyabi Alnico in one relatively affordable modern cartridge...

That is a remarkable message. Both named cartridges are still the sonic benchmark, independently from price but are not longer available. In the last year I never met a cartridge (from the modern ones) which was even able to scratch their overall performance.
The Miyabi was a top performer with any given Tonearm (very hard to find today), the Olympos needs a serious Arm design to show the full performance (awful with any carbon Arm, super with Fr-64s or some older Japanese Warhorses).
Archos seems to be a performer which created - to those who listened to it - a positive reaction. Seems, there is worse out there :-)

syntax April 11, 2014 09:22

Hi Peterayer,
the Datas:
Output: 0.5 mV
Silver coils
Ultra-rigid special dampened titanium
VTF: 1.60 -2.00
Impedance: 8 Ω
Compliance: 17 -19 mm/N
Weight: 11.5 gr
Price USD 2800,--

syntax April 08, 2014 16:04

Hi,

my Phono reproduction is tuned for cartridges below 0.20mV and to be fair, it is very difficult to compare such carts with such 0.5mV units. But of course, I have matching Phono gain for that, too.
Normally I am not so mad for those higher output MC's, they don't have the finesse from the low output units. But there are also differences among those, some have an interesting internal amplification which make them sound more powerful than their low output rating, the Miyabi was such a remarkable unit (0.25mV) and some need even with 0.30mV Phono Gain in the area of 68dB ++

The Archon is in multiple ways interesting
- it is useable without any problem with a gain from 56DB to max. 64dB
- it is strong in the high frequency reproduction without missing subtle, different tonal differences, all details have the air we are looking for
- low frequency response really goes down to the area which start to vibrate the windows in the listening room (not many are able to do that, regardless of price)
- with classical records you can hear the "ambience" of the room, how the music flows and floods to the side walls, in a way a believable picture from the session and what I really like, it is a done right cart from the brain and musical understanding from the designer without the usual price tag of $8k - 20K which is so modern today to show the "seriousness" of a product. It is simply a good one from the musical result and a lot of discriminated audiophiles with a regular budges can get now something which isn't following the usual marketing idea (we have one for 1.5k but our next for 3k is better and of course the one above for 7k is really special and the 14k cart from us is the holy grail...)
It needs no long break in time (that is my opinion at the moment), maybe after 4 hours you really know the sonic direction and after a day the soundstage details are more coherent and you can enjoy your records (not the usual "at the beginning it was slow and dull but after 80h the sonic curtain was removed. and now I can hear the 10k I spent for...")

To repeat myself, I prefer units done right, some are expensive but not all the time. Some want to pay big bucks and some can't do it but they try to find something serious. I think, that is such a product.

When you do the first listen you will hear the powerful reproduction BUT (and that is important), the details have all a unique kind of amplification. Most high output carts amplify everything more or less equal, ignoring the subtle tonal details.
I am interesting in your opinion when you will get it.

syntax April 07, 2014 08:26

Acoustical Systems Axiom Moving Coil Cartridge

syntax April 05, 2014 17:17

Some guys here are questioning the superiority of the FR64s, especially the ( mis) match with newer cartridges due to the FR high mass. But I can not see any significantly more interesting arms..

I am not among those. When I got it, I had all the cartridges listed in my System and probably a few more. And it was always the same result: each one delivered more information with the 64s than in any other Arm. It is THE Arm for lush Koetsus or Lyras which are made for energy transfer via their body into the Arm.

I can't say anything about the Vector Arm, but the Graham Phantom supreme is among the very best from the modern Arms. I had contact to a Vector owner some time ago, he compared it with Phantom supreme and sold Vector...You can change the Arm tubes when you would like to use a Mono cart and the perfect cartridge adjustment is no big deal for anyone based on the Graham alignment.

I agree with your point of view, other Arms are uninteresting, I listened to a lot of them in the last 10 years and most are *censored* :-). Times changed, you can spend a lot of money in Audiophilia but there is no proof to get a superior product. Marketing and proud ownership replaced that...It is the way it is...The only exception is one from Acoustical Systems, the Axiom, it has very clever and well done solutions and is sonically way superior to all I know (with exception of the FR Arms). It can be mounted like a 9" Arm and I think, it has a very simple onboard drill. But it is very expensive. When you can afford it, think seriously about it. That is a no nonsense design and there is no cheating. It is very expensive in the production based on very high material/ tooling costs. But the sonic result is stunning. Here is real brain behind it.

syntax April 04, 2014 13:58

Syntax.
When are we goofing to see pics of the new turntable!?!?

hi, you mean The Apolyt I think...
Well I hope, soon now. When I bought it I wanted to raise it to a more modern Standard without knowing how much problems needed to be solved ...
Air Bearing for the 50 kg Platter
That was a outstanding expensive investment because I wanted a very small dentist lab compressor and the bearing was only possible from a very advanced high Tech company in Germany from the specs (when you ask for the price...you know this sentence...)
Additional Inertia unit (comparable to the Seiki HS-80 Design)
New drills, another motor and a complete new motor management was necessary but I should be in the final move now...

Audiophiles are born to suffer .....

syntax April 02, 2014 17:18

Hi Geddyen,

you did read THAT thread...my respect. It was interesting I think. When I first used the 64s it was my personal wake up call to rethink analog Manufacturer "knowledge"...
My Basis Debut had replaceable Armboards so it was no problem to mount the 63s. I guess you own the newer model without the Armboard, with the drill onto the top plate? Is there enough room below the top board for the lower part of the 64s? May I ask what is your Arm now? Vector?
I agree, not an easy decision :-)
231,5mm is the best...but it depends a bit on the records you want to listen to. When you want to go for old Londons, Deccas, Mercuries, that's the way to go. Superior tracking, no noise, no compression, deep soundstage and a believable "Picture" from the Session with better tonal colors of the instruments.
The B60 is the icing on the cake, it makes sense with those records because the all have different cuts (---> VTA) but of course you can use the Arm without it.... :-)

Here is a Pic from it (without B60 but with a spacer to level the Arm to the Platter)

Basis Debut FR-64s

syntax March 27, 2014 19:34

I owned a Kuzma Airline Arm first and was looking for a chance to mount it onto the Basis...but I run into problems to get a proper Armboard for it (Conti wanted to sell me an Armboard with his Vector Arm and I refused to do that) and to make that story short, I bought that Kuzma Reference table for it.
Honestly, that Combination was ok but no competition for the Basis. It is better than a lot out there but the Soundstage (depth and width) + the weight behind every note, the holographic "Picture" was way better with the Basis. It has simply more the "real thing sound".
I tried a lot to improve it, but at the end of day it was useless.
But that is - or was - a decision based on MY Standard for High End reproduction.

syntax February 25, 2014 16:05

Hello Geddyen,

I would choose the Basis Debut with vacuum for several reasons.
there are a lot of - more or less - warped records out there and this up and down from the cantilever changes always the VTF. The better your System is, the more you can hear it. Specially with low VTF cartridges (1.60-1.75gr) and Arms which are not dynamically balanced (none of the modern ones is).
Next is, compared to other vacuum tables, the Basis does not degrade the sound, the platter is sonically neutral and Basis works with very low pressure. All other tables I did listen to have a sonic coloration (depending on their platter) or have a interaction with the bearing (sonic fingerprint, coloration).
When you listen to demanding records ( classical from the late 50's to mid of 60's) you can hear the difference easily. In a way it is a tool for the vinyl collector and music lover who demands a 1:1 reproduction.
But today, I would insist on 2 changes:
I would insist on the "old" black platter with the inserts inside
and
I would demand a drill for a Graham Phantom supreme Standard length.
Some years ago Basis offered the black platter and had changeable arm boards, I think, he stopped it to lower production costs :-).
This combination was superior from frequency reproduction range to anything else on market and I think, it did not change.

syntax February 21, 2014 16:29

Hello Geddyen,

thank you. Unfortunately I never had the chance to listen to the C-27 Phono. It is very rare. I read the specs when introduced and thought, that is an interesting unit. Accuphase has an extremely good quality control but in the end, a personal test is still recommended. But when you can listen to it, please share your impressions.

syntax February 19, 2014 11:30

The last visit was some weeks ago and we met us again, mainly to compare Phonostages with the identical cartridges and to check some settings.
I brought my own Lyra Titan i - mounted in the Arche Headshell - and my 71dB Lamm LP2 to compare the sonic impressions with Tables, Arms and Transistor Phonos (2xKlyne 7)...
Quite a task...

The Phonostages

Now 2 x Lyra Titan i

After a while we discussed about Phonostage Design, most we know well having a top System went all away from active High Gain Phono Preamps to Tube Designs with high quality SUT‘s. So we left the Klyne amps and concentrated the the comparison to the Lamm LP2‘s, specially the high gain unit from me showed after a short time its superiority and we stayed with that one. We think, they don‘t damage the Signal so much and you can hear a more lifelike reproduction with extreme finesse and colourful sound and Voices are reproduced with full emotional impact, the Bass is in a way stunning and can fill the room with the lowest registers. The preamps excel in layering the sound so that each voice or instrument can be easily picked out and followed. Yet everything played together well integrated.

The Axiom with Etna

In conventional - active - phono preamplifiers, damping is provided by load resistors. As a result, a significant amount of signal energy is wasted when converted to heat within the loading resistors. Conversely, when input transformer has been carefully engineered to effectively damp resonant energy occurring at high frequencies while transferring the maximum amount of useful lower frequency energy to the active input stage. This results in significant increases in dynamic range with no penalties of increasing noise.
Traditional step-up transformers fall short in many performance areas such as frequency response, phase linearity (group delay), distortion, susceptibility to external hum fields, and poor common mode noise rejection. This is largely due to design and manufacturing limitations of the past as well as the need for high step-up voltage ratios to meet the requirements of a high input impedance (47K ohms) input stage. Well, there are differences ....

I tried to make my first Video ever :-)
The first one I made in the evening, the Laser was seen very good but it was too dull overall, so I started a new one in daylight.The file is compressed from optical quality but I think it is ok. The Laser is seen in reality below 2 letters (the "CK") in the name Fruhbeck. I stopped after 2 minutes, I wanted to avoid the make the file too huge but the Laser was still below these 2 letters after 5 minutes. That's ok I think :-)
The most other turntables I checked with that unit were out of specs after 5 seconds....no matter 1, 2 or 3 motors, expensive motor-controllers, no matter how expensive....here you see clearly that marketing replaced engineered solutions...It measures the REAL speed when the diamond is in the groove. The force (VTF) is remarkable.
The majority of turntables run quite well when the Diamond is Not in the groove, but honestly, who is interested in THAT????
Performance is with tone, not without.
When I did the tests with adjustable motors while playing, they run out of specs (drift) and then I made the corrections, the difference in sonics is easy to hear. Deeper soundstage, no smeared dynamics and much better modulated details.
Today we have two "opinions":
The unit "does something", Product A has better bass, Product B is analytic and needs this or that cartridge/Arm for compensation or endless "updates" because the designer is unable to do something right, some call it Prat
or
the "Opinion" is based on software reproduction. The emotion is coming from the recording, the purest form of a sonic truth...
"Opinion 1" is"keep the business alive (those owners can‘t hardly wait the time for the next „upgrade“ and to recommend it to the others)
"Opinion 2" is "done right"

Some explanations for that video:
The laser in real life touches 2 letters (or better said, the width is 2 letters), that means, the camera cuts a little bit. But it doesn't matter because the red dot (reduced to a dot sometimes) is always in the same area. In the movie it "moves" a little bit from one letter to the other, but after a few spins it is below the 2 letters again...
I compared it with another video I made in the evening, there the red line is of course much better to be seen BUT it is also not in the length it has in reality. But here is doesn't matter also because the red sign is always in the same position, too.
I guess, with a good video camera is would be seen better, I used a normal pocket camera, IXUS from Canon.
But what is also interesting, I selected one of the most dynamic recordings ever made, that means, the groove modulation is huge!
And based on that, the result is outstanding good, normally such tests are done with a linear frequency sweep or low dynamic range. This makes it easier because the Diamond has much less works and the VTF is more stable in those limited grooves.
You will never find a comparison with such a dynamic recording, now you know the reason (smile). Yes, the Seiki construction is able to hold the right speed even when the groove distance has some lower peaks, it needs probably 1 or 2 rotations and then the dot is back in the former position. Not bad for a 25 year old Design :-)

Micro Seiki RX 5000 & Sutherland Timeline

Now, some may think, going back to old DD is the solution...well, they have a proper motor management but they are not able from construction to be named as "High End". Let's say, they work, they accelerate and that's it. You can compensate their weeks with colored cartridges but they are the way they are...endless vibrations into the platter ....
Their electronic corrects the speed permanently, "...accelerate--reduce---hold---accelerate--reduce---accelerate---ans do on and on" based on that, listening Piano with it is a pain for me. There was a demonstration about that in the Munich High End Show 2013. All visitors rated the DD negative compared to a regular running belt Turntable...but that is only one technical point, there are much more for a good reproduction.

syntax January 11, 2014 13:12

Hi Richard,
the main advantage from the B-60 unit is the ability to change the VTA very quick and precise. It is a very useful addition and I wouldn't be without it.
I have no experience with the replicas, don't know what material is used, but I would try it. I read some time ago the description from someone who made them at Hawaii, it sounded interesting. The original B-60 is very rare, more or less impossible to find.

syntax November 17, 2013 13:34

Hello Peter,
I share your impression but I am still curious, means I enjoy visiting Demos or getting in touch with owners. Audio is simple business, I mean, it was always business but the real clever Designers have a serious job, High End does not feed them good enough. It was better in the 80's and 90's, Marketing replaced that completely, with some very, very few exceptions (of course, every Audiophile has exactly that exception :-)).
But generally from my experience I would say, in the last 2 years there is a HUGE price increase for everything, most argue costs, precision and so on. That is a simple lie, there are customers out there who WANT to spend big bucks. They want the ODIN cable, the Clearaudio Statement Turntable...not because it is so good, no one is interested in that, no one cares, the reason is simply to have it, to buy something nice for themselves. Something the other one can't afford and based on that to move into a position to tell everyone how great that gear is. A toy store for adults :-).
Some time ago I was visiting an owner with endless units, and I asked him to tell me in a few sentences the sonic difference between his Lyra Titan i and the Olympos, both were mounted, he told me endless hours how great they are (because I didn't have them at that time and I was interested in those...) then he nodded and went to his mags to look what the reviewers wrote about those. I said, "no, please, use your own words, tell me the record and describe it..." I waited days and days... never got an answer.
That's the way it is, quantity of gear is rising all the time but the percentage of units which push the curtain doesn't. I listened to Ypsilon Phono Stage, Allnic, Burmester, Boulder 2008, the one from Vitus...and never wasted a second when I left.
But for others it's the holy grail. I respect that.
Well, the VP, that is something serious :-), it wasn't designed from a High End Audio Designer ( then it would cost 15k and would not work properly), that's a technical design with engineering knowledge behind.

syntax November 13, 2013 14:56

Well, to be very honest, I never had any problem with my wife. She never asked about the cost, too.
Well, just a little view back into History, let's start with the Aesthetix Callsisto Sign. as an example. Bought it based on ultra positive reviews from Audiogon owners. It was indeed a good unit. I wanted the IO Phonostage, too but I read from an experienced Audiophile, that the Rhea is more than 80% close to it for much less. I got it and it was a huge disappointment. To be honest, from my experience with other Phonos, I would rate it as a bad one. Sold it very fast.
After a while I read some stories about Lamm units, I was curious and bought a LL2 Preamp. I will never forget my reaction when I used it the first time. It was so much better from Tone than my super modified Aesthetix, I had problems to believe it. It was much cheaper and MUCH more sounding like the real thing. I tried to deny it. But the more I used it, the more I lost interest in that expensive Aesthetix. Some time later I bought Lamm ML2.1 and it was a sonic revelation with my high sensitive Speakers, I had at that time Pass Aleph monos, and they were really good (butter than any Pass amp I ever listened to). Ok, the System then way Lamm Pre and Amp.
And then I made the typical master mistake of all Audiophiles: I thought, when I will spend more money I will get a better result automatically, so I ordered Lamm L2R. Good as it is, but in combination with the LP2 Phono it was lifeless, slow, no bite, no speed, just ok. I discovered that LP2 has not a real strong output signal, the LL2 can handle it via its Tube output and it also has a strong output signal itself, the L2R simply doesn't have it and is also not the best possible match for the ML2.1 for similar reasons)....so I learned my lesson ... did I got wise? Well not really, I made the same mistake later with Lyra Delos and Kleos...but that wasn't so expensive....after all these years I think it is done now. I had a lot of gear and was able to compare it. It is the brain we buy (or what I buy), not the nice box outside....I stopped buying anything just based on enthusiastic "recommendations" from others in Forums, from my experience a few - are VERY few - are ok, but the majority has an relationship with the Distributor, Dealer or do someone a favor because they got something for a good price. I never was interested in that. I wanted a product which was done right, a product which really pushes the sonic curtain.
It is not that easy, the friends don't grow when I don't support Hype, some argue then, I have a Problem with a "Manufacturer" or something similar...I never was interested in such...the majority of Manufacturers where I think they are outstanding good/clever...don't even know my name (for example Basis Audio, Graham, Takeda, Lamm....)
But don't get me wrong, I am still very interested in Audio, I visit Demos .. but my demand about the Real Thing is probably a little bit different :-)

syntax November 12, 2013 15:29

The Vendetta Picture showed in the System is not an actual one. The Pic I have made from my Vendetta is simply too bad from quality.
Here is the Pic from it, sorry for the quality

Vendetta Research SCP-2T

syntax November 01, 2013 11:24

Well, like I wrote before, that Table is seriously modified and it is definitely much better than stock. The Axiom Arm can't be compared to other Designs, it has some really interesting solutions, for example VTF can be changed while playing and that is really interesting from the results, the Arm can be leveled independently from Armboard "specs" :-) I am not really up to date with it, I think it can be mounted with a regular 9" distance...We listened to that Arm quite a while, I can't say how good it is finally, except 2 sentences: There is definitely much worse out there from sonics and I heard in that System a soundstage - counting rows from the musicians - with a holographic power I never heard before with that System. We used RCA Living Stereo with Male/Female Singers, Decca SXL with Classical Music and Blues (Singer+Guitar unplugged). These Speakers are remarkable.
Found some more pics

Axiom Tonarm Miyabi Cartridge

Some more Arms ...

Continuum Graham

syntax October 28, 2013 15:28

Your sharp eye got it fast. Yes, you are right. The owner never used his Raven much, he preferred his Kuzma Reference table. Based on some influence :-) he modified the Raven table seriously. He replaced all motors with better ones, wrote a new motor controller program, got a Vibraplane and an additional platter for vibration reduction with better arm raisers (same I have on my Micro).

Front End

The table is now in a total different sonic league, from optics it is a Raven AC but from internal know how it isn't. The owner is very pleased now with the results and we had a very good time together. I was interested mainly to hear his Verity Speakers, he is one of the very, very rare owners who used f-o-u-r Nagra 845 Amps and it was also my first chance to listen to that new Axiom Tonearm.
There are also 2 Kuzma Airlines which are on different tables, that was also interesting. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my own Titan i to that place….so we have to meet again in future :-) We also listened to an

Ortofon Cartridge

but not so much :-)….mainly

Kuzma Airline & Lyra Titan i

and

AS Axiom & Arche & Takeda Miyabi

There is also Wadia Digital available but in a way we missed to activate it…maybe the next time

syntax October 26, 2013 07:55

Did listen to an interesting System Visit , will post some pics

- Preamp Nagra PLL & external PS
- Amps 4x Nagra VPA tube monoblocs with standard 845 tubes
- Speakers Verity Audio Amadis
- Turntable Kuzma Ref. & Kuzma Airline & Lyra Titan i
- Turntable ultra modified (new motors, new controllers, new platter, better suspension ….) TW Raven AC & Acoustical Systems Axiom Arm & Arche Headshell & Takeda Miyabi Cartridge + another Kuzma Airline & Ortofon MC 30
- Phono Lamm LP2 & 2 x Klyne 7

syntax October 25, 2013 18:22

Record cleaning

When I started with Analog there were only a few record Cleaning Machines available, I bought a VPI 16.5 with my first turntable.
Now, with the analog revival the last 10 years much more units are available now.

Some general info about Record Machines:
Most think that speed/comfort is identical to superior cleaning. That is not true.
You can't have it all.
Some swear on various cleaning fluids and others think that their removal is the key.

Type: The fast ones

For example VPI, Nitty Gritty, Clearaudio and all which are based on that design (a vacuum slot with 1 soft lip in front of it and another one behind).
The user can choose any fluid he prefers, can scrub the record or not, can choose the time the fluid will stay onto the surface before starting to remove it. This Design is technically very simple and you will find a unit which fits best to your wallet. They all do their job (more or less loud, with some ear plugs are recommended) but after a while they reach their cleaning limit and it is done (Physics: sucking power with a wide slot can‘t serve the same power compared to a point nozzle design). When the lips are wet (specially the one behind the vacuum slot after a few Records, the drying process is not able to clean the record in a way that it will be without noise finally. You have to clean it again later.

Type: The comfortable ones

For example Audio Desk, a Ultrasonic cleaner and a new Manufacturer, KLaudio.
The AD uses the same fluid again and again, through filters, but from the technical view it is not a final solution. The filters can‘t hold back everything, the user can‘t use all cleaning fluids, it is a comfortable Machine with a lot of technical parts which can create problems after some time.Sooner or later most AD run into Problems, based on its technical Design.

Type: The best ones

For example Keith Monks, Odyssey, Loricraft. There was only one Design which solved all problems, that was the Keith Monks Design. A point nozzle design which removes the fluid groove by groove, nothing will stay onto the record. It is technically much more advanced than most think, because you need some motors for the Arm, the platter speed and the string which is responsible for a good move of the Arm across the record. I was shocked when I got my Keith Monks RCM (an old, used one I bought based on the technical solutions) and compared it to a pre cleaned record with a VPI (and I did not need ear plugs, it was more or less silent). The User can try all kinds of fluid, all he need is something which is able to move into the grooves. The removal is done with a point nozzle and high vacuuming power (it is simple Physics, sucking power per diameter) and the record is cleaned groove by groove and at the end it is always dry and clean (except the user flooded the record with so much fluid that it is too much for the nozzle, then he does it a 2. Time and it is done).
But it is logic, that this kind of cleaning needs time. It was made for professionals who cleaned records all day long and needed the same superior result from the first record to the last (in those days Libraries and professional record dealers, Studios...).
Keith Monks passed away and Loricraft offered a cheaper copy (more or less, they start cheap and when you want better parts they will charge you for that) from this Design. The Keith Monks was always a final solution. Pay and forget. There is also another one available in Germany, the Odyssey, it is from the former Monks Importer, same Design with a few improvements, but with superior technical parts (very reliable).
In audiophile discussions there are a few directions (speed, price, cleaning solutions...) and of course, being owner of "the best".
The definition of the word „best“ is like a car discussion. I think, it is more helpful to show, what is responsible for what and based on that knowledge, every reader can choose the unit which matches his ideas or Philosophy best.. I hope that my few lines will give some useful information about those units.
Each unit is better than doing nothing or using a wet towel.

The Records

This is also important imo, some have problems from the pressing plant (modern Reissues for example), you can clean them 15x and you will still hear an improvement, but they will never run really silent. Based on that we have the endless discussions about cleaning fluids, the cleaning time, enzymes and so on. I found the solution for myself: I trash them.
Older records can have groove damage, based on wrong VTF or defect diamond or bad Arm geometry.... then it is done, no way to improve them. Some have pops like mad, that can be based on blisters in vinyl or the owner before used alcohol and that one removed the elastic material in the groove walls. Then they are more or less defect too.
When you want to experiment, go for a normal, cheap, record, 80/90/100gr, made in the 70/80's, when they were sold in millions, the suprise is, they run always quiet, they have a lot of dynamics and when they are dirty, you can use the cheapest fluid and after one run they sound like new again. Music pleasure done right.

syntax September 18, 2013 16:40

Hi,

well, I listened to a modified RX-5000 (Platter) and a SX-8000 (Air bearing) with the same modification. Same Arm, cartridge, Phonostage....
I heard no differences. Do you have the chance to go for a SX-5000?
They are very rare I think.

syntax September 14, 2013 06:42

Audiophile + Amplifier = Problem ?

Here is the Solution. The one with his hand on the volume knob wins.

Always.

Tannoy Westminster 1

Tannoy Westminster 2

Tannoy Westminster 3

syntax May 19, 2013 16:02

title
Next Part of Munich High End Show 2013

Here are some Pics from pretty expensive System (I think, it passes easily half million $):

Kondo Japan Hardware with Living Voice Vox Olympian

Vox Olympian 1

Vox Olympian 2

Vox Olympian 3

Vox Olympian 4

Vox Olympian 5

That was an interesting experience for me. I listened to such Kondo units some time ago in a different System and was curious now how they perform with these speakers.
The idea behind High End is that all we are trying to do is to make equipment that gives the listener some sort of magical emotional response to a mystical experience called 'music'. That is all well and good, but it isn't what High End is all about. In fact, high fidelity was originally a reaction to the gorgeously rich-sounding console 'boom boxes' that dominated the home-music market during the 1940s! Such a System from Western Electric was not far away from that System...
Well, not matter what kind of music was playing, voices were very thin, notes had no weight or body and the singers or instruments had no "Gestalt". No matter how long I sat there I always had the same impression: "Great for background music while reading a newspaper..."
I thought, based on the enormous pricing those speakers will sound better but that kind of sound I heard in 30 different rooms, too, for much less money and when I listened to my inner voice, I heard a System for 20k$ which made a better job . But, the wood work is outstanding, the finish is really to die for.

syntax May 18, 2013 10:14

Well, an advantage in theory is only an advantage in reality, when something is done right. A perfect calculated 9.5" Arm is better than a mediocre or wrong 10-12" Arm. A customer mainly wants something serious for his money, so he believes what the manufacturer says. When that one thinks, "this" or "that" is not so important and the customer is "picky and ruins the day" (...--> 100 happy customers and you are the only one ...)...well, you know these kind of discussions.
Don't ask me what a reviewer thinks :-)
In a way they also believe that something is done right, it is not their task to control any geometric calculation or to rethink a design in general.
When you read the forums, you see that mainly customers have good advices, knowledge which helps one or the other to move on. Spending money is not the guarantee for superior results. Going back to yesteryear design also not...But shooting the messenger is quite common, too :-)
I am not up to date with Elite Arm. I use Graham Arms for 10 years and they are very good, but when I got the 10" /12" with the wrong alignments I decided to stop. I still think the Standard length Phantom supreme is a super Arm among what is available, but only that one.
The 12" with external alignment system sounds also very good, but here you have to know what to do but the position of the cartridge always disturbed me. I never used a expensive cartridge with it, the side force is not healthy for sensitive cantilevers. I have Arms which are done right, so I sold those Arm tubes. But I said the buyer what he has to do (I am a fair seller). Well, the improvement of cable...I don't believe it, silver has the highest rating for information transfer, there is no good or better silver, the AES Standard for all technical silver is 106 (Copper is 100, Gold is 91%), maybe he used silver lot or better Headshell clips..who knows but Marketing has its own rules :-)

syntax May 14, 2013 14:34

For him not to change the offset angle with the 12" arm is very strange ..

Most will never notice it and it saves money...but you can see the same with the 12" Triplanar :-)

effects anti-skate, tracking, null points etc.

You are right

I had read that the Elite is a whole new design with far superior sonics to the 12" Phantom.

:-)

The silver finish also looks primitive and like a prototype, not a finished production model standard

Is the Photo that good (I made it with an iPhone), you have remarkable sharp eyes.. or did you see it somewhere else?
I agree. I was very disappointed when I saw it. Very cheap finish. My impression was at that moment that the silver color was done with a spray can.

syntax May 13, 2013 19:24

Hello Peter,
well, in a way nothing compares to those large Cinema Horns. They were made to amplify any signal for thousands of people. they can't be compared to our listening standard but these old drivers have a remarkable clean tone. Really interesting. I talked a little bit with the Korean people and it was indeed interesting. They have good knowledge and simply a different approach. They offer rebuilds but I think, they are mainly focussed to Asia in sales.
When you look at the Graham 12" you will see he didn't change the arch angle. When the regular 9" Graham alignment is used the cartridge screws are parallel but when I used a 12" alignment...it was wrong...so you can do your own thinking about that :-)
When I had it my cart screws were not parallel when I did it...he simply made the arm tube a bit longer. ..

syntax May 13, 2013 06:01

Impressions from Much High End 2013 / Germany

Graham Phantom Elite in 12"

Available without TechDas AirForne One

Demonstation with Western Electric Cinema Horns

When I understood it right (my Korean/ English is basic) those were one out of three existing Horns, made 1935 and one (mono) was done for 3500 Listeners, so these two of them are of for 7000. they don't need more than 8W, Demo was made with 300B, maybe 2W, enough to produce endless jaw dropping from the visitors. We need in our modern world a new definition of speed and lifelike reproduction I think.
The Korean Company offers rebuilds or copies with refurbished Drivers, their smallest model start at $180.000,--
The sound made the Magicos, YG's, NOLA and other extremely speakers at that show more or less totally uninteresting.

One of the better - modern - Demonstrations was
D'Agostino Momentum Mono Amps with Sonus Faber Speakers.
In a 2. Hotel was also a small Demonstration from a few Manufacturers, a good Demo was done from Acapella Speakers....

syntax May 11, 2013 09:24

Well, hard to describe because every word, every attribute is already used even for mediocre Designs. But THAT unit can do the things others write about and when you listen to these units, you discover they can't do anything at all (or maybe one part of it). Pure Fantasy. The modifications are mainly focussed to energy transfer speed, vibration research and micro & macro linearity. The result is a superior low bottom reproduction up the highest frequencies with a lifelike reproduction. I refer to a dense deep and very communicative presentation. This particular communicativeness consists of highlighting the sonic aspects which deliver the emotional charge encoded in a tone.
In terms of layering, transient decay, rhythm and pacing, palpability, and sheer musical involvement it is a class of its own. That unit smoked Goldmund Reference, Continuum Caliburn, Clearaudio Statement, Rockport Sirius III, V.Y.G.E.R. and others in a way that it was really depressing for their owners when they listened to it in my room. They "saw" and heard a holographic Picture they didn't know that something like this does exist. The modifications (Thread drive, Platter construction, Vibraplane, HS-80, Sutherland Timeline) are responsible for that. But I don't talk much about it, when someone is really interested in details he can visit me and listen.

syntax May 04, 2013 15:56

Hello Zayrueda,

I used the M-60 and the ML2.1 with a 99dB Horn speaker System with a very simple X-over, both run very well.
Normally the ML2.1 can drive more speakers than the M-60, but there are so many speaker designs out there, who knows all...
Any Amp will show different results, not based on the sensitivity of the chassis, there is also a brake (more or less) with X-over design. Did you try the different outputs? The ML2.1 shows different reactions with the same connected speaker (independent from their sensitivity) based on their internal design. Probably this will give you a better result...

syntax April 23, 2013 13:27

Some Pictures from an audiophile visit. The owner has the legendary Platine Verdier (1. Generation) from France and we all wanted to now how stable the speed is. And Reproduction Performance of course.
I used the Sutherland Timeline for Speed adjustment and the Cartridge Man gauge for leveling the whole analog System....

Speed adjusted

VTF & speed adjusted

some of our carts ...

Lyra Atlas running ....

Lyra Olympos SL in action ...

Lyra Titan i ...

the Lyra all time classic ...

THE Sytem

well, what can be said? When a designer (Verdier) has the right thinking, finds the right solutions AND is able to offer a unit done right, well then you can hear it at once...the effortless reproduction...the unique musical flow ...time was running...record after record ...

We decided to use the Fr-64s + FR-66s Arms + Vibraplane, and now I know why this turntable has its legendary status (there are made fakes, I listened to some "Verdiers" but that was my very first time with one which we aligned from scratch and where I saw what the Designer has done, and why...Verdier gave ironic advices to the "Pirates" to improve their fakes, but they all failed, the new Verdier Version have only the name, but can't be technically compared to the unit you see in the Pics).

syntax April 21, 2013 10:20

Here is the

view

behind the Speakers :-)

Visitors listening to the Blues

In summer I like barbecuing, sitting outside and trying to analyze the sound of fresh air :-)

syntax April 10, 2013 13:00

Hello Doug,
the Omnigon was a private Order from an engaged group of Audiophiles who simply wanted the very best Phonostage which can be made. Cost was no object (one of the Volume pots is way above 1k$ without shipping...and the story goes on and on).... It isn't a commercial unit. With the usual profit range it would be way above 100k...
But one main goal was also, that it has to be better in a major way to everything out there we know...everyone writes that of course, but this unit can do it ....one visitor once told me..."it is not only listening to music, it is most emotionally compelling System he ever listened to ..."
In a way it is the proof that a serious solution in High End can be done when the right people come together who know what's all about.

From the commercial units my favorite ones are Lamm, they have a kind of lifelike sound which is hard to beat, specially the LL2 / LL2.1.
The others are also among the better ones but I think, when a signal goes through this tube vacuum, something happens which can't be done with Transistor.

syntax February 13, 2013 14:59

Hello Peter,

HRS
Well, I think, they are a nice piece of furniture. They are better than a piece of glass or wood, no doubt, but the price is really high. They guide the resonance into their feet from what I saw, but they are no comparison to some serious solutions like Vibraplane or Minus-K from the sonic result. But you can use them in a rack, that's the main advantage imo. And they look nice.
Minus-K
Sonically, or from the sonic result, they are comparable to VP. A serious Design, no doubt. But I would never use them with a Turntable because they swing all the time when you do something. When the turntable is not really 100% level (and I mean 100%, not 99,5%) it will be always in move. The unit which is placed onto has to be centered ( a real task with multiple Arm units). When you have a turntable with a heavy platter, the speed will always change a little bit (like an Imbalance), a turntable needs a stable platform. Here is the VP MUCH better.
When I would own Minus-K I would use them with Preamp or Amps but never with turntables.
Vibraplane
Beside its heavy weight it is in real life the best solution. Whatever you place on it, it stays stable. THE solution for heavy Turntables. I tried them more or less by accident - after reading the specs and thinking about it - with amps and was really surprised about the gain in soundstage depth, holographic "Gestalt" (body), from all positive simply more. What is made for electron microscopes can't be bad for turntables :-)
I also tried them with Digital Transport / Phonostage ---> a Design done right.

syntax February 12, 2013 15:51

Allnic
The Phonostage has a lot of adjustments and good gain. When I did the first listening I was struck first with a big soundstage but the longer I listened to that unit, a few things disturbed me more and more. The Soundstage is big but after a while I realized with some well knows records that this Soundstage is flat. There is a lot of 'boost' but no real holographic Picture, not really 3- dimensional. I did the test with some different cartridges, but mainly with Lyra Olmpos and here the unit showed something remarkable for me. The Cartridge sounded simply wrong, loud, but dead and the tonal definition was not the way the Olympos was able to deliver. No matter what kind of setting we tried, there was a change of course, different but not better. The height and position of instruments were not really right, or let me say, I heard better presentations which gave me the illusion of 'being there'...After some hours I said "No", the last try was with a very good external SUT into the MM Imput. The change in Performance was so dramatic, that I simply couldn't believe it first. I unplugged it, plugged it again and so on...but using the SUT to avoid the whole internal Phonostage was- for me & other listeners - the way to go. I lost interest in that unit after 3 days and never looked back. But it is better sounding than a Boulder 2008 :-)
My sonic priorities are different, there is a Fangroup for everything, I thought some time about what to write, a enthusiastic recommendation is written much faster...but my way is the I prefer after all those years reading Product Placements, ahem sorry, I mean "reviews" :-)

LAMM
well, some words first for explanation,
I love nothing in High End, I look for units which can do the real thing
and I know a lot of units but not every one :-)
The LP2 is available in 2 versions, with 58.5 dB Gain or a special order unit with 70 dB Gain, I use that one in DeLuxe Version (but I had the regular Version too, also very good but my way went to low MC, 0.20mV and below)
Regarding LP2 and other Lamm products, the best way I can describe them is that they are the closest thing to natural music reproduction in the high end scene. One of the things you'll recognize
with the LP2 (after break-in) is the total lack of any mechanical artifact present in almost every other phono stage that I've tried. A real breakthrough. The back grounds are rich with information
from the recording venue unlike any other phono amps that are either just synthetically black or have some kind of tube or transistor noise. The sound flows with the LP2 unlike anything else that I've heard.
Most chop up the music or affect the balance between instruments.

This is an important factor when listening to music. Quite often High End equipment produce all instruments and voices in the same level, this is something no reviewer writes about.
There is always a delicate Balance between different instruments in an orchestra, even in duo this balance is highly sophisticated and important.
You go to any classical concert, depending on the music, for example a piano and a singer, the beauty and delicacy of the piece has to do with the interplay of the piano and voice, You'll loose everything if they are reproduced by the same level by your electronics. Then there are all the nuances of the voice and the fingering technique of the pianist, if accomplished, add to this delicate situation, Lamm electronics are the only high end products that I know of today that reproduce this sophisticated level of information faithfully without adding their own signature. Of course you'll hear all this if the rest of your system is up to scratch.

All magazines talk about artifacts like deep bass, deep soundstage, low coloration etc. etc. but never discuss how a piece of electronics adds its own signature be reinterpreting the recording.
That's why equipment becomes boring after a while and people take to buying tweaks, like stupidly expensive power cords and cables, footers, roller balls, power conditioners and all kinds of other j**k and when that is done, they'll go to a Sales Platform, change their equipment and start the cycle all over again when the novelty of new is worn out.

Like I say "God is in the details" (ok, it was Mies van der Rohe, a famous Designer)
Weakness? The output of the LP2 will not match to any Preamp out there, when the Preamp has not enough internal Gain of the Input, you will loose some of its abilities. In combination with Lamm LL2 / LL2.1 it is a very remarkable combination, could be the end of the road, Listened to a lot of much more expensive units which bite the dust after seconds...Mine runs with original WE417A tubes, old 6x4 and I replaced the RCA Plugs to better ones (higher signal transfer)

syntax February 11, 2013 19:25

Hello Jfrech,

well, I can write info about them, in a way they are tonally different. May I ask, do you have any sonic priorities, or, do you look for something you did miss before?
The Lamm LP2 is a custom made order with 70 or 71dB gain, Lamm offers this as a special order and it is a remarkable unit from the sonic abilities ...

syntax February 10, 2013 16:59

Pictures from isolation base comparisons - HRS - Minus-K - Benchmate - Vibraplane

Kuzma XL + HRS

Comparison Kuzma XL / Micro Seiki 5000 in same System, both onto HRS Platforms

Kuzma XL / Micro Seiki 5000 + HRS

Micro Seiki 8000 + Minus-K

Micro Seiki 5000 + Benchmate

Micro Seikis + Minus-K

(On the left corner you see a Rockport Sirius III, it has its own isolation System)

Micro Seiki 5000 / HS-80 + Vibraplane

Micro Seiki 5000 / Basis Debut vacuum + Vibraplane

Micro Seiki 8000 stock + Minus-K

Kuzma Reference + Vibraplane

syntax February 10, 2013 13:45

Hi Ofthewal,

I was curious for such a Battery Powered Frontend for a long time. Rowland gear went out of my focus when they introduced the Switch Mode Power Supplies, so I was looking now for a unit from the late 90's. Found one, replaced the Batteries and it works like a Swiss Rolex.
Some months ago before I got it, I had the chance to listen to the latest Spectral gear (Pre 30 & 360 monos) and the Rowland combo (with Model 2 ) is from the musicality so superior, so much more lifelike, no one will believe it unit he can hear it. Indeed, Rowland had some designs which are remarkable (like Model 8 Amp for example). Good Audio Design is timeless.
Btw. yes, Coherence ii.2 + Lamm ML2.1 is really special :-)

syntax November 06, 2012 17:53

Hello Peter,

yes, it is amazing. But on the other side it is simple Physics :-)
Real Knowledge transfer to "High End Units" will give remarkable results.

... I can now close this chapter

Well, the fanatic Audiophile never sleeps but life is much more relaxed now :-)

syntax November 06, 2012 17:41

Part II of Munich High End Show 2012 / Germany

Nice looking speakers

Stahl-Tek Digital Player

Now back to that room which had the most - by far - smiling visitors

Give me more....

Full time job

don't ask... :-)

Price?

Well, like I wrote, most people had this happy smile in their face and it was not the nailed soundstage which fascinated them (not possible with such a design), I think, it was the Tone. The Voicing. So pure and clear. Even for me it was something I never heard in any demo like that.
Some hate it, mainly professional reviewers, some told me, they think it is awful. Who knows...the visitors showed a different reaction (but only in that room) and I discussed that some time later with one of those guys and the answer is indeed a bit interesting.

"The demonstration by Silbatone, of such a WE-system at the HighEnd 2012 in Munich has probably resulted in not only visitors, but also one or the other exhibitor, questioning their believe in the alleged progress made, where music is often shredded into tone-scraps, ignoring the music’s inner cohesion"

Something to think about. Not so wrong when I think about all I saw and heard...
But life goes on .... see you next year :-)

syntax May 11, 2012 12:40

Some impressions from the High End Show 2012 in Munich / Germany

I think, in Germany the Vinyl Playback is very popular. A lot of rooms made Demos with Records, too. There is nearly everything to see (or to listen to), very modern Designs from Magico, NOLA, Wilson, JMLab, Martens....also an amazing number of Tube Amplifiers from all over the world. In a way, progressive Audio to "Retro" Audio with a wide range of Horns, or refurbished Turntables from Thorens ... I never asked for the price (or forgot it) but I think, High End will change more or less to a Life Style Product. Mainly I was not able to say "Yes, I can hear why this System is 100k$ or why this CD Player combination is 40k ...
But I guess, others can...

Some Pics

I think, this is a Klangfilm Design but I forget to ask, is it original or new based on Drawing but I think, it is expensive :-)

Klangfilm

Air Tight electronics with a German von Lange Speaker

Unknown turntable

Horn from Poland

Another Horn Design

NOLA

Form Follows Function

some old Horns from a Collector who shows them on Demos, I think he is from Korea, Western Electric Horns have a strong Fan group in Asia I think
3 Pairs for Demo, small, more or less a regular sized Speaker and the big one is made for 1000 visitors (Cinema)

Most crowded Room

syntax May 08, 2012 11:31

Hi Dover, I agree, most vacuum turntables are totally overrated, destroy or damage themselves over the time (Luxman ...) or have absolutely no sonic advantage, but this is based mainly on weak Design. The Basis had a very advanced Platter with a lot of very good solutions and was - or is - among the rare ones which really give a top sonic Performance. Conti found the solutions for a lot of 'Problems'... I learned a lot with that Design. Interestingly most really good Designs - Amps, Turntables, Arms, and so on - do not get the Hype or 'Support'. Most WPDs (Worst Performance Designs) I ever listened to have a strong Fan group. Real Believers. Love them all :-)

syntax April 07, 2012 15:48

Hi,
Some lines about the Seiki in general. Each of us has his very unique matrix of experience mixed with preferences, emotions, knowledge and social circumstances and background. Every personal opinion and every personal "sound reception" is based on this very solid ground.
Thus we are highly subjective beings and our opinions do reflect that.
Its not just our taste in music that is different between audiophiles - it is the whole approach to sound and the way each of us does experience it.
Maybe I wasn't precise enough: - I want to draw a clear and present line between the terms "opinion" and "knowledge". lt is possible to gain knowledge from the opinions of others (but this is a most uncertain way and very likely to mislead...), but all too often the opinions become "facts" or "statements" for many listeners/readers.
ALL Micro RX and SX platters are undamped and very sensitive to "ringing". The vacuum-version gives no real option to alter that. Thus one have little to no chance to really get the most performance from a SX-8000 ll unless you are willing to sacrifice the status of original on this expensive TT. I listened to it several times, with records I know very well and also with Arm and cartridges I also owned at that time.
I just KNOW - this is not my "opinion"... - that a Micro 5000 without vacuum suction and with a fixed 1/4' PVC or metacrylat mat on top of its platter will outperform the "stock" SX-8000 ll in terms of low register speed, punch, definition, color and body. lt furthermore would provide much better resolution in the complete band with more weight and 3-dimensionality. Only add a Vibraplane or Minus-K and it is done.
The SX-8000 ll doesn‘t give really good sound, a Basis Turntable with vacuum, Suspension and a Phantom Arm for example (or a FR-64s, I also had an Armboard for that) is a total different, much more serious chapter in analog reproduction. There are some differences in Design, what-is-responsible-for-what and Basis made its homework quite well.
The introduction of vacuum suction in high-end TT's during the very late 1970ies and early 1980ies was an answer to the very thin records common those days. After the 1st oil-shock there were soon no "180 grams" LPs around, but usual the record weight was below 110 grams and already warped when leaving the pressing plant. ln general - pressing down LPs by means of vacuum suction was not invented or introduced because of "better sound' - it was introduced because of poor physical quality by the "software" of the time and to be able to provide "solid" conditions during playback with almost generally warped records.
I for one can NOT stand the sound of a stock RX-5000 without its platter damped by a solid mat. Stock status there is no low register to speak of, no transients, no body, no space - just zing and bang and gone (Same with those overrated vacuum Versions !! Suite Española Decca SXL.6355 Side 1 - Orignal, no Reissue - is a desaster with them compared to a Basis or Oracle Turntable, for example)
I was ready to sell it when I got it. I had much better tables in my room at that time. But those non-vacuum Seikis have enormous potential to get tup the ladder. Especially with those FR-Arms and a working suspension... When you know the stuff. Good sound isn‘t a matter of „Taste“, often is has simple technical reasons...

syntax April 03, 2012 02:11

Hello Jeff1225,
yes, you are on the right track.
20 years ago, I owned a Kenwood Stereo with a DD Dual Turntable ... I met a friendly Audiophile, he once saw my System, smiled and invited me to listen at his Place. Rowland Gear, Martin Logans, Oracle Turntable...it was a complete new chapter for me...: "You know, there ARE differences"
His advice guided me all the years...

syntax February 23, 2012 19:41

Hello Jeff1225,
the Atma-Sphere are no longer in use. They were a great match with my 99dB Horns I owned for years. But when I got my first Lamm preamp I was impressed from its true, real sound that I went for the ML2.1, the 60W were never needed anyway. But when you think about those, they are reliable and sound very good with high sensitive speakers. Indeed, one of the great OTL Designs.

syntax February 20, 2012 12:17

High End has different faces, what works for the one, does not for the next
BUT
like Dover precisely wrote:

Jaw dropping ...

This is interestingly independent from "taste" .

(And in combination with a reproduction which touches the soul probably the magic High End can create).

syntax February 19, 2012 15:41

A different Story...about the Lamm M1.2R Amplifiers...
Here is my story with Monitors from Reference 3A( Midi Master II, modified with Hovland Music Caps, Siltech silver wire insidet ---> he full monty at that time)...bought also full Range Speakers in the 90's from them, but my wife liked them so they survived in our Family System...they are 8 ohms, 93dB and can be used with Tube Amps...but never really tried it over all those years...simply too lazy...

Big amps for small Speakers

20 years ago, at my beginning of High End (no money, no idea from anything....) I once made a visit in a High End Store and there was a System which impressed me immensely at that time....2 small speakers on stands, price maybe 300$ each, and I think the most expensive Spectral amp at that time with the also the most expensive Spectral monos...absolutely not matching from price...and then it started to play and I thought...my God, what is THAT?????
Simply fantastic Presentation (from my no-knowledge-about-what-is-all-about), deep soundstage and all of the usual fantasies....I totally forgot that for the next 20 years....until M1.2R arrived.
The fanatic Audiophile never sleeps well and after some modification on M1.2R I saw my wife's speakers and in the last corner of my brain a little light started to shine...20 years and what happened...well...moving the speakers to my main System and connected it with
Lamm LL2.1 (Tubes: Amperex first stage and Telefunken second stage), Lamm LP2 high gain version with 70db, Fr-64s + Lyra Olympos SL + LSC Royal Ballet
1. Side and a mug of fresh coffee...needle into first track.
And?
My coffee went cold.
20 years of High End Running passed my eyes and I was transformed into the theatre where this record was made....toc,toc, toc...needle got the last groove.I was still in my chair and was not able to get up. I simply couldn't believe what these units did with these little speakers.
Time for a new coffee....same record again... Volume from LL2.1 at 09.30...first track again...now back to my coffee....I started to nip....toc...toc...toc reaching the end of the record...coffee mug was still 2/3 full....and cold again.
So, maybe it is some help for readers with such comparable little speakers who look for a serious performance for the full frequency area...when you can do, try these amps (I use them with 6922 Telefunken, new from 1970 and silver connection at the rear)...they can close a chapter.

syntax February 18, 2012 15:36

Hello Drajreynolds,
Very good (no, excellent) posting. Can't add more, you always got the point.
An addition, I know, lots of motors are rattling and produce a lot of vibrations. The old Seiki doesn't. I opened it some time ago and what these engineers made 30 years ago is simply amazing. Adjustable, no noise, very heavy...design done right. And: Spot on with Timeline :-)

syntax January 22, 2012 18:42

Hi Peter,
Good questions from you. Will try my best to give useful answers.
Basis + Vibraplane
Indeed, the Basis has an excellent working suspension and the addition of a Vibrapalne is not so successful compared to a Micro or other unsuspended Designs. I made a few comparisons with the Basis with and without Vibrplane. The sonic step ahead with it is audible, it is not a sonic blockbuster improvement, but it can be heard. Deeper Soundstage, an improved Headroom in the upper frequencies and no more acoustical feedback through the cartridge. The VP is able to isolate deeper Hz and some of my classical Records show this clearly.
When I would use a SME 30 I would buy one,too. Cables are more expensive than that unit. It is made for serious use in Labor / Hospital and the price from 2k$ is ok. Would it be used in High End Dealer Promotion it would be sold for 20 K$ :-)

Seiki + Vibraplane
There is no advantage for this or that configuration. Everything what is onto the VP is isolated properly and stable (compared to Minus-K for example).
Before I got the HS-80 unit, motor & platter were onto VP with excellent results. After getting the VP I had to made a decision because it is not large enough for all 3 units. So I decided to give the motor its own base and the both rotation units (Platter & HS-80) - which are linked toghether and need an absolutely precise height levelling - onto the VP.
The VP does an excellent job, I can knock onto the rack, the platter, the spindle, the chassis when the needle is in the groove and the Phono Poti is open and it is .... Silent.
Try that with other turntable designs (be careful).
And btw. Here the difference is MUCH_MUCH more audible than with the Basis combination (Basis is a better construction in stock mode but the Micro can be modified to a real interesting level of performance)

Vibraplane Air
I use 3 of them and I bought all new. There is a big warning to move them when the feet are filled with Air. This will damage them.
When they were new the air hoses stretched and I had to control them 1x a week but when it is done it is stable after a while. My units are 3 years old now (or 5?), I check them now 1x in 2 months, only 1 move per pump in each valve and that‘s it. Mine work the way they should. For me, by far one of the best audio investments I ever made. Not so flabby like Minus-K, easy to go, enough size for a lot of units (2 of them I use below my amps, I saw so much amp stands for a lot of more money and they are more or less a joke, pretty uselss. No unit onto rattles like an old motor, what you need is to isolate feedback and internal movements, no piece of wood or plastic can do it properly. One reason why electron microscopes are not placed on SRA, HRS platforms or butcher blocks...)

Basis / SME
Yes, I did compare them. I had luck lots of years ago when a Dealer had both Tables in Store. But in a way it was not possible to do a 100% shootout. The main difference at that time was the used Arm (Cartridge was from me). The Basis had at that time a Graham 2.0 Arm and the SME 30 a SME V and my choice was Graham 2.0. The difference wasn‘t that huge at that time but when Graham offered the Phantom later, the SME V was sonically absolutely not in the same league. And the internal wire from the V is (and never was) good (from my kind of Standard).
I never trust the - cheap - rubber suspension, Basis had MUCH more clever solutions (Spring in oil dampers), the belt quality is light years ahed from the precision, the multi composite platter offers much more intelligent vibration transfer and when you look closer to all parts, Basis really IS precision. And his vacuum design is simply from another design world. Not negative to sound (because it is a low pressure design), not destroying its bearing (like other designs do) and super reliable day in day out.
But everyone has its own preferences, so, when I would use a SME 20/30 I would match it with Graham Phantom supreme in 9“.
Then you can close that chapter. The Geometry is done right and you will never have distortion with certain records :-)

syntax January 22, 2012 16:10

That is a very good idea. I totally forgot that. Today I opened my box (from Aesthetix Callisto NOS tubes) and I found the right ones I think:

Amperex 7308 NOS 1960s Dutch PQ Gold Pins

This is a very good match, huge Soundstage & more lifelike based on their superior tonal colors.
I also have a few new - sealed box-old Telefunken E88CC from Germany, ultra low noise, gold pins from 1960...also a good choice.

syntax January 12, 2012 20:13

Update for M1.2R
I am really amazed how much the Performance improves after factory burn in. Increase of detail and body, depth of soundstage increase day by day. This amp needs better power cords than the stock ones. I used them first (being lazy) and after some records I know very well I realized a more narrow Soundstage compared to ML2.1. I use now their PC's with Oyaide plugs and Soundstage is now deeper, wider with more definition to the single instruments. Amazing.

syntax January 11, 2012 06:33

Hello Drajreynolds,

from my experience the Reference 3A speakers are easy to drive. They use good chassis and they sound great.
Magneplanars run in a way with nearly everything but when I changed amps, they never got enough power. 2x100W at the beginning was good, later I tried 2x200W and it was better, then 2x400W and better again. Then monos and so on...I stopped that because really good sounding high power amps are very, very expensive (and very hard to find). No way out.
The Maggies are cheap to buy but later this will be compensated with amps... Based on that I decided to go for high efficient speaker designs, they made life much easier for me.

syntax January 05, 2012 07:13

Hi Unoear,

yeah indeed. It is like going back to the first love. Years ago I listened to them and I heard something I never forgot all over the years (a unique natural performance from Transistor amps) but I lost them out of sight because I discovered the fascination of high sensitive speakers which can show the magic from the first watt (or the magic IN the first watt). I always looked for a matched pair, meaning for THIS speaker THAT amp or the other way...
After your friendly invitation to listen to your System with ML3, our informative conversation about Lamm in general and their abilities, I remembered my old love, the M1.2R and made my decision to go for it.

Lamm M1.2R Amplifier

My speaker is in a way too sensitive (99dB) for its power but of course, it is able to show what this amp really can do. And that is really something special. I listened to a lot of amps the last 20 years, but honestly, I never heard this kind of naturalness, effortless speed, materialized Body in such completeness from any Transistor before.

Area

.

syntax January 03, 2012 18:42

Indeed, there are differences. There are a lot of outstanding expensive Turntables (some have real technical work inside, some not but they look good) and are from sonic performance in the same class than Turntables between 3k-5k. It is simply another one which miss the real thing reproduction by a mile...same with Seiki 8000 mkII, EMTs, Goldmund Reference, Garrards, LP12 and some more I forgot successfully. Direct drive is also no quality part for superior performance, or Rim drive (ok, have to stop now, my eyes are getting blind...). The knowledge of 'what-is-responsible-for-what' is more or less buried. Most - inferior - modern units have a good marketing with some fan groups who write, that they are happy to "join the club".
But, the same Story can be written about Tonearms ...
High End is a special chapter :-)

Anyway, let's quote Graucho Marx

"I will never belong to any club that would have me as a member"

syntax December 27, 2011 08:30

The final result from Rockport Sirius III comparison (Direct Drive) to an old Micro Seiki 8000 (String)...I thought, the famous one is much better, based on all the Hype, but at the end of the day (ok, we didn't need so long to know what is really going on), the voting's were cone...

Another one bites the dust

.

syntax December 24, 2011 15:25

The Speakers are made in Germany.

syntax December 24, 2011 14:10

Dear Mapman,

good as the dCS is - one of those rare digital combinations which is listenable for longer time than 4 minutes :-) - at my place the analog reproduction is at a different - much higher - level.
But when you did ask because you think about getting dCS gear, I think, these "old ones" sound better (much more natural than the current units). I listened to them and said 'thank you' after 3 minutes. But discussions about digital are always endless, I have no problem with it, but most silver discs are inferior from mastering and I that is the problem with that kind of reproduction. The Hardware is good, but it can't transform a bad mastering into a good one. You can find that with vinyl, too but in general it is the opposite (10 records, 8 good 2 bad, CD's from 10 are 8 bad and only 2 are good). But this is imo.

syntax December 23, 2011 08:07

Hello Agear,
well, yes, more things done right than usual :-) It runs easily with a few watts and what me amazes all over again, it is uncritical to rooms, works really well even in tiny rooms...most time I listen to classical Ballet music and the sonic picture in front of me is really special. Based on no loss of detail parts everywhere inside, the amount of additional detail serves this.

syntax December 23, 2011 06:34

Graham Phantom II Supreme

.

syntax December 04, 2011 12:44

Thanks for all, here are some more from that interesting session ...

Wilson Alexandria (2)

Lamm LL1 (2)

Lamm ML3 (2)

The next step ......

Seiki 8000 + 3000

Rockport Sirius III Arm (2)

The Analog Final Set Up

...

syntax November 27, 2011 12:46

Visiting another VERY interesting System from friendly Audiogon Member Unoear in Texas ... with building up a very rare Japanese turntable, a Micro Seiki 8000... and a comparison to a Rockport Sirius III :-)

Arrival of more Ears ...

Rockport Sirius III

Lyra Olympos SL (---> 0.20 mV, 3 Ω ...)

Lamm LL1 Preamp

Lamm ML3 Amps

Lamm LP2 Phonostage

Micro Seiki 8000 Turntable + FR-66s + FR-7 cartridge

Rockport Linear Arm

....

syntax November 20, 2011 19:13

Hello Audioblazer,
well, years again, I discovered, the magic is in the first few watts. So I changed the direction to explore this kind of recorded Presence. Any Signal can't be improved from its Quality, all we can do, is to find a way to avoid that it gets worse. No loss of Detail in the following steps of amplification. The Result is the Preamp and the Speaker. Unfortunately these parts are all selected, have all the highest technical specification which are possible and are simply awful expensive (for example a Speaker Terminal regular used is about 12.95$ for one channel, that one here is 195,--$ for one channel and so it goes on and on...).The Speaker also has no limit, that means, it is able to serve the smallest details even in very low listening volume, has a soundstage which forces the listener not to be only in ONE position (Sweet Spot), I can sit left or right from the middle and have the correct "view" into the Performance. Well, in a way it can't be described properly because all words were used before from reviewers and at end of day we all discover that is is simply not true what they write about. Here is 'Listening is believing'.

But back to real Life:

I got a very friendly invitation to listen to a (for me) very interesting System in San Antonia / Texas from member Unoear....

syntax November 20, 2011 16:20

Hi,
I have absolutely no problems at all with my System, no hum, no matter what kind of cable I use or what termination for it (XLR or RCA). So, I can recommend to go for that.
I made the experience that hum or other distortions are mainly based on grounding (different units, some with or without ground), but when this is done, no problems. I was visiting also another System with very long cables ('Back to Black' from Unoear), also dead silent (he uses Transparent RCA cables).
The DBS is also a good shielding, even when the Homepage from AQ has a different explanation for them :-)

syntax November 20, 2011 03:26

You are right. That System has 106dB Sensitivity. The speed and the effortless impact has to be heard to believe ... quite an experience.

syntax November 18, 2011 03:40

some more pics from listening to that System in California

Hornspeaker & electronics

Kuzma Airline

Frontend

Lamm ML2.1

Lyra Olympos in FR-66s

Lyra Helikon Mono

Micro Seiki 5000 Syntax Edition

Great

syntax November 17, 2011 15:30

Always interested to listen to something interesting, got a invitation to visit an Audiophile in California, south of San Francisco, Monterey area

Listening session

Elecroluv mono amp

Kondo GAKUO mono amp

Allnic Phonostage

Kondo ONGAKUO pair

Unit view

Lamm ML2.1 mono amp

Great time ..... more to come

syntax November 16, 2011 14:39

Hello Sam,

it is about 1,5 years ago when I did this modification. I got those parts from Audioquest. They offered them as an upgrade.

syntax October 04, 2011 11:05

Hi Glenfihi,
thank you. Same for you, too.

syntax October 04, 2011 11:03

The Delos is a complete sounding cartridge. This is rare, no matter how much money you are able to spend. A lot of cartridges shine in one or the other spectrum, let's say Midrange,or they lack in upper or lower abilities. This "coloration" can be used to tune ( or compensate weakness) a System in one or the other direction. Can be positive or can be wrong. This "shifting" of Frequency Balance can be called "Warmth", "PRaT" ... but honestly, the ability of a cartridge should be seen always in combination of the connected Phonostage. When done right (Accurate, uncolored and precise in tone) the differences between carts can be huge. Most cartridges are not correct in tone (they can deliver information, but tonal truth is something total different), our brain betrays us. When we listen to a Classic Recording and we hear in the background a "saw-toothed Instrument", we think, yes, that is a violin because our brain has stored that (from reading the information about the orchestra for example). But to recognize it as a violin because you really can hear it as a violin or you can separate multiple violins among each other based on their time differences to the microphone, that is something totally different.
The Delos can do that. This impressed me very much, the Koetsu RSP was not able to do that, Kleos also not, the Zyx Omega was simply wrong sounding in comparison.
I think, it is one of the great cartridge Designs, unfortunately it won't get its merits because most audiophiles think, the more money they spend, the better the cartridge is. Here it is the mistake of their life.
Well, each his own, but it makes life easy, easy in adjustment, good tracker, healthy output and I am afraid to say, it can save a lot of money which can be burnt somewhere else. When you understand what you hear.

syntax June 26, 2011 16:48

Do you mean the Dennesen soundtractor?
A very good tool, unfortunately available only used, out of Production for a long time. There are 2 models, metal and synthetic material. I have the metal one.
Very easy to use and excellent when you want an alignment for older records which have the most Dynamic in the last 3 tracks. Btw. Graham uses for the Phantom II the same point.

syntax June 06, 2011 17:52

Really?
*Ahem* But, it has only ONE motor.... :-)

syntax March 31, 2011 12:44

Hello Halcro,

yes, it is a serious unit with a lot of solved Details. The contact area from the Diamond in the groove works in an area with different influences, so Precision is really important to minimize all possible kinds of distortions (part of the suspension).
When we multiply a regular Tonearm by Factor 100, the Arm is about 27.34yd (25m) in Length, the Cartridge System is about 1.09 yd (1m) in Leight with a length of the cantilever in the area of 0.55 yd (0.5m) and finally the Diamond:
Its contact area is only 0.020 in. (0,5mm)! Same is for the Mass in comparison.
A simple example to show what analog reproduction really is ...

All parts will be refurbished first, some modifications will be made and it will run in June, 2011.

syntax March 29, 2011 21:21

Hello Islandmandan,
thank you. Yes, indeed, it was a long way from the Kenwood Hiifi-System I started with in the 90's. In a way, comparable to 'Raiders of the lost Arc' (smile)

syntax March 29, 2011 20:51

My next Project, found the last unit from the German Apolyt Series. 400lbs, Air Bearing (horizontal & vertical), Air Suspension down to 1.9 Hz area, electronically supervised...there are some serious technical solutions realized . It is boxed at the moment, will see...

syntax March 27, 2011 20:42

Hi,
well, my last comparison with Nagra Phono and Lamm LP2 was an eye opener. One of my friends uses a Nagra Preamp with- stock - Lamm LP2 and never looked back. Much more realistic sound.

syntax February 24, 2011 17:43

The discriminated music lover never sleeps...it was time to check out what parts were available to lift the reproduction to another level....(first it was an idea from what-is-responsible-for-what and it became more and more interesting, unfortunately those parts have their price...but, sometimes there is no way out)

Latest Speaker update for the X-over and the Frequency Filters:

- all pure silver flat ribbon Air coils
- all caps, the big ones from Mundorf - Silver/Gold/Oil
- V-Caps Teflon Elite Reference as shunt
- all pure silver flat ribbon wire inside - connected direct to voice-coil
- Removal of the pure copper terminal connectors
- Replacements with WBT-0710Ag Nextgen speaker posts

After modification I had to turn down my Volume 1-2 steps ..... increased micro-dynamics and transparency .....and another wide step closer to the real thing was done
Standing right behind the conductor, that's ok for now :-)

syntax January 24, 2011 16:45

Dear 11flat6,
I tried a lot with the Micros and I guess, my files are complete.
Seiki 5000 Stock, 5000 on vibraplane, 5000 on stones,

5000 with mat,

second 5000 as an inertia unit

one motor with 2x5000 in flywheel mode onto a Vibraplane

second 5000 as an inertia with a second 5000 motor

and so on... 5000 with HS-80 (see System pic.), 5000 with Walker controller....,
different belts (that was amazing, I thought, based on the heavy design the difference might be minor, but that was totally wrong, wow and flutter is a special chapter) and I also listened to a turntable with those double VPI motors+SDS. I didn't impress me and I had no interest to go for it.
Good sound or top performance can be stripped down to something very simple:
What-is-responsible-for-what?
And how it is solved.
And good/important looking "toys" do rarely push a curtain.
Btw. the owner of that double VPI motor units sold the whole and got a simple, one motor unit now, which is in the whole performance a complete different chapter. I listened to it, too.
Serious made solutions....

Mono cartridge
I tried some, sold all and will stay with a Helikon mono. I use it in my FR-64s (but it is also really good in the FR-66s), it is out of production now but it is one of those - rare - designs, which sounds very close to the real thing with mono records. The tonal colors are exceptional, it is very silent in the grooves and it can deliver some higher frequencies (smile)....

In general High end Audio it is pretty normal, that every owner hypes his latest buys because it was expensive and he can hear a "difference" and of course, he "likes" it. But at the end of day, it is wasted time, some like MP3 too.
I never "liked" anything, I wanted a result, as good as possible and others told me, I am one of the very, very, very rare people who compare and sell the expensive units and go for cheaper ones when they are better.
But, each his own.

syntax December 10, 2010 07:42

Hello 11flat6,
the "platter" is only a view from the outside :-)
It is a package, a result of 'what is responsible for what'... The Vibraplane, a platter without resonances, the FR-Arms and the HS-80. With these mod. there is a very serious improvement in terms of low register speed, punch, definition, color and body. Based on that there is in general a much better resolution in the complete band with more weight and 3-dimensionality. This combination goes down to real 3 Hz and builds up the whole frequency range completely new from focus, soundstage and weight/importance of the notes. Each record I listen to, tells me something new.

syntax November 17, 2010 06:15

You're welcome in the Area of clean mains and fresh air between the cartridge tip and the grooves :-)

syntax November 03, 2010 12:33

Hello Milpai,
thank you for your kind words.

Hello Aaron,
well, unfortunately I didn't have so much time for it at the moment. All I can say is, it is ok.

Hello Dave,
the Armboards are made from Gun Metal and Brass (very interesting from the molecular structure and energy transfer).

syntax October 28, 2010 13:34