[TheChairGuy]

Case in point....a Sumiko Blue Point that was re-tipped by van Den Hul (with one of those $300 Boron jobbies  )

It was the most I've paid for a cartridge, and among the worst sounding.  I set the VTF (tracking force) at the cartridge makers/Sumiko recommended 1.5 - 1.9, but realized only recently that the new stylus may have made that tracking force too high.  Sooo, I reduced to barely 1 gram today and it began to lose some of the etched stridency it had. Apparently, the new stylus profile and effective mass dramatically altered the tracking force needed to keep it sufficiently channeled in the grooves.  Who can know, or remember all of this sheet?

Then, I re-checked geometry and found I had overhung the cartridge a couple MM's (easy to do with the peculiar, tho excellent, JVC headshell where you measure from the collar where the pins are to the stuylus tip 48m to get your overhang right - easy to screw up, too. ...so I pushed it back and screwed it down to the cartridge.  Which, of course, meant that I had to re-balance the whole thing - so I did again.

Then I realized , tho a HO Moving Coil at 2.5mv that can be run into bog standard 47k input (typical 40db gain), it sounds best at about 1K (based on capacitance and induction interaction).  Once I adjusted that (in a tweeky outboard phono pre-amp) and put the needle down, the sweetest damn music I've heard here came thru.  What a change and a shocker from my view of this cartridge only a day ago.

So, while we may be enjoying great tunes, we'll always be in the minority.  Too bad, as, the results (to me) are truly worth the efforts. With long work hours, distractions that didn't exist 20 years ago to draw one's attention away now (including this PC I'm staring into), taller/bigger/fatter folks in general making our ham hands harder to tighten those little bolts and wires - it's quite an effort to be a vinylphile nowadays.  Guess that does leave more deals at the records bargain bins for us that do put up with it all.

Anyhow...my thoughts and laments of the day 

[WEEZ]

Agreed, on all counts.

 

[jrhymeammo]

I havent been here in a while. I was having some major problems with my Grado Silver. Well, I have moved to Denon DL-110 and couldnt be happier. Also upgraded my phono stage to TP2.5 by VTL. I just ordered Comete ES by Triangle Industry, and replaced my B&W Sig805.
Long Live Vinyl.
 Im thinking about dampening my platter with this stuff. http://www.verastarr.com/vibrationcontrol.html PLasticlay would be cheaper, but dont wish to add too much weight on my motor. Inaccurate speed is the last thing I'm looking for. Whatchu think?
Jayra

[TheChairGuy]

Well, welcome back anywho 

The Verastarr stuff might work...I've used this on two platter undersides with stellar results.  It's about $8.00 and can be found at a lot of auto parts places.  I think the 20 oz. whole can, including the can/nozzle/cap itself, is 1.5 lbs and you only use 1/10 of that to coat an underside platter.

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/undercoating.html

Duplicolor makes another version, the UC102, but this is the quick dry stuff (like 10-15 minutes total).  It deadens the metal ringing nicely in conjunction with a good platter mat.  Don't know about slowing the platter down with too much weight...I have direct drive servo controlling my JVC table speed.

I havent been here in a while. I was having some major problems with my Grado Silver. Well, I have moved to Denon DL-110 and couldnt be happier. Also upgraded my phono stage to TP2.5 by VTL. I just ordered Comete ES by Triangle Industry, and replaced my B&W Sig805.
Long Live Vinyl.
 Im thinking about dampening my platter with this stuff. http://www.verastarr.com/vibrationcontrol.html PLasticlay would be cheaper, but dont wish to add too much weight on my motor. Inaccurate speed is the last thing I'm looking for. Whatchu think?
Jayra

[jrhymeammo]

Ah, good stuff. Thanks TCG.

Does it peel off easily? I dont want that stuff to fall off, but I do wish to peel it off when I do desire.

Autozone here I come.

JRA

[TheChairGuy]

Nope - doesn't peel off.  It's semi-permanently stuck on.  Acetone dissolves it so says the can....but I'm not so sure it's a quick and easy process to do it.  It seems pretty well stuck on there.

Boy, does it work tho,  I used the rest on my hatchback area (especially where the tire sits) and, my, what a decibel difference in that car.  Hatchbacks are like big horns just amplifying every road, suspension, tire and exhaust noises back there.  I've never been happier with my '99 SAAB 9-3...it's now quieter and the music really does sound better (albeit with the crappy stock OEM system that came with the car)

[TheChairGuy]

Hey, try the full Longhorn mod on that Grado...you might find those sibilance probs a thing of the past when you do 

It's $10.00 for a bottle of 1000cst silicone for the coil damping, some brass U channel (I've used 13ga magnet wire tripled up and glued together as my Longhorn) and about 1 hour to do it all.  Talk about a tweek - it REALLY helps the ole' Grado in tracking and dampening microphonics -it's main issues in my estimation.

We had a whole topic a while ago - look back several topics to find the topic again and read it thru and thru.   

That Grado is a lot better than you might thing - it just need, gasp and damn, more tweeking 

[jrhymeammo]

Thanks Again TCG.

I have read alot on that Longhorn tweaks. I have thought about it. Maybe I'll think about it more

Thanks again

jayra

[Wayner]

We're the minority because we know how to do a proper turntable set-up. I've see TT's with the cartridge wired wrong, overhang set wrong, VTA and VTF wrong, offset angle wrong, platters unlubricated, belts not cleaned, rims and drive pulleys so filthy my garage door opener rail looked cleaner. I also seen broken ground wires, and interconnects. I won't even get into anti-skating.


W

[woodsyi]

We're the minority because we know how to do a proper turntable set-up. I've see TT's with the cartridge wired wrong, overhang set wrong, VTA and VTF wrong, offset angle wrong, platters unlubricated, belts not cleaned, rims and drive pulleys so filthy my garage door opener rail looked cleaner. I also seen broken ground wires, and interconnects. I won't even get into anti-skating.


W

Don't you go around poking fun at my system like that.  I will have you know I cleaned my belt last year and even checked the azimuth by very very carefully eyeballing the cart.