New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House

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sebrof

New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« on: 27 Nov 2014, 02:31 pm »
Just bought a new Amadeus from Whetston Audio in Austin yesterday.

I went there with my highly modified Rega P3 (24v motor upgrade, Groove Tracer sub platter and Groove Tracer Delrin platter) and hooked it up to a Leben (PP EL34) amp and DeVore Orangutan O/96 speakers. Sounded very nice. We listened to music for about 30 minutes to get a grasp of the system, then moved my cartridge (Ortofon Rondo Red) to the Amadeus and played the same music. The Amadeus was quite a bit better sounding, much tighter bass and much cleaner throughout. Certainly worth the cost of the new table. We made the deal and I took it home.
(Brian the owner of Whetstone was very accommodating and generous with his time. Great guy, a pleasure to do business with)
I've been enjoying it since yesterday and am still tweaking it. Sounds fantastic so far, I'm sure I can squeeze even more out of it.  I'm reading all I can find, including the excellent insight in this forum.

Here's a pic of it in action



watercourse

Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #1 on: 27 Nov 2014, 11:45 pm »
Congrats! Check out the Auditorium 23 mat, a worthwhile tweak IMHO.

doak

Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #2 on: 28 Nov 2014, 03:19 am »
Check... there's a consensus on the A23.  Just do it --- after you've listened to the stock one long enough to have a handle on the stock sound.


sebrof

Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #3 on: 28 Nov 2014, 05:28 am »
Congrats! Check out the Auditorium 23 mat, a worthwhile tweak IMHO.
Thanks guys, my dealer had one on the table I listened to and suggest I get one as well.

sebrof

Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #4 on: 28 Nov 2014, 05:29 am »
.

rob400

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Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #5 on: 28 Nov 2014, 11:35 am »
+1 for the Auditorium 23 mat. I've moved from Mogami to Auditorium 23 Interconnect and speaker cables also. Top drawer products all round (Thanks to Chaz for the recommendation).

sebrof

Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #6 on: 10 Dec 2014, 01:43 pm »
A few things I learned after a couple of weeks owning this table and playing the heck out of it.

The squash balls work, just make sure they are on a stable platform. I tried a few convoluted approaches and none were better than the stock feet on a solid platform and rack. Not saying they can't be improved, however.

Get a spool of the proper belt thread and all your belt issues magically disappear. They may break now and again, but if you have a spare (or about 300 spares on a $3 400 yard spool) who cares, just slap another one on. (I broke the first belt changing speeds, now I'm more careful and haven't broken another changing speeds or otherwise since)

This table is pretty close to set and forget, and seems to be stable after a couple of weeks. I've heard the previous WTL tables were tricky to set up; I find the Amadeus to be easy and straightforward. VTF, VTA and azimuth are a breeze, and no overhang to mess with is nice.

The fixed cartridge overhang/offset angle seems to work just fine. When I auditioned the table I played a few songs at the beginning and at the end of a side with the sole purpose of exposing OGD or IGD. I heard none in the shop, and I've done it a few times at home with the same result. I have a Mint Best mirrored protractor built specifically for my Rega and I swear that something like that is necessary for proper alignment. So how this fixed thing works is beyond me. :scratch:

I almost forgot - No tonearm cue quickly becomes irrelevant. So much so that I was trying to think of anything else to add to this list, staring at the table and almost forgot about this. And this was the main reason I was NOT going to buy a WTL. After only 2 weeks I really don't even think about it.

Just my 2 cents

threadkiller

Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #7 on: 10 Dec 2014, 04:04 pm »
That's a good 2 cents...
Sometimes you have to experience it for yourself to understand what all the babble is about....
In the hifi world, real knowledge is power... Forum spewing and theories are meaningless.

rob400

  • Jr. Member
  • Posts: 298
  • Versalex and Audio Note for the rest
Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #8 on: 10 Dec 2014, 08:26 pm »
In the hifi world, real knowledge is power... Forum spewing and theories are meaningless.
So true. The Well Tempered section on Audio Circle has good forum members, apart from the odd techno twit! The 2 big British affairs are PinkFishMedia and HiFi Wigwam. They are classic examples of why manufactures and dealers refer to forums as "no man's land".
« Last Edit: 12 Dec 2014, 10:47 pm by rob400 »

threadkiller

Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #9 on: 11 Dec 2014, 05:02 am »
Rob, I've heard many dealers and seasoned veterans call it the same...
Or the wild frontier...

watercourse

Re: New WTL Amadeus MKII in the House
« Reply #10 on: 12 Dec 2014, 01:07 am »
Great news sebrof!