WELL TEMPERED AMADEUS WITH KOETSU

ssegrub · « **on:** 24 May 2010, 05:05 am »

I sold my Wadia 861 to go back to analog about the same time the Amadeus was
launched in New Zealand...so I ordered one after a brief home trial. I took a leap of faith and bought a Koetsu Rosewood Signature Platinum on Audiogon and it turned out to be a wonderful match with the Amadeus. The dynamic range and soundstage from records is huge and my CD loving buddies just can't work out why it sounds so good.

threadkiller · « **Reply #1 on:** 24 May 2010, 05:42 pm »

I like hearing that! I have a listening friend who still doesn't seem to get it, and that's fine. He'll pick the table apart rather than just listen. However, he has an inclination that the new VPI Classic will be the bees knees. That, I doubt.....

ssegrub · « **Reply #2 on:** 26 May 2010, 07:21 am »

An internet friend of mine from Norway has just bought a Koetsu RSP to go on his Amadeus.... so the ranks are slowly growing.

threadkiller · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 May 2010, 06:38 pm »

I've not heard a Koetsu since the 80's....need to rectify that!

Mike Pranka · « **Reply #4 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 03:10 am »

Hello Vikeby in Norway!

If the Amadeus alignment gauge is located correctly, your head shell (and cartridge body) should be parallel to the lines on the gauge. There is a single stainless steel screw that holds the head shell to the arm tube and allows the head shell to be rotated and held in place. The head shell is meant to be at a 19 degree angle relative to the arm tube. As nice as it sounds now, you'll like it a bit better if you get it lined up.

Mike

threadkiller · « **Reply #5 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 04:56 am »

Hello Vikeby!
Yes, please post a photo after you try some realignment. Your photo made me fly out of my chair and check mine. I'm perfectly aligned (that's what they said), with the cartridge being parallel to the lines. I should charge up my camera and send you a photo.

Also, I'm happy to report I just had some wonderful Norwegian inspired food last weekend in Madison, Wisconsin, which was divine. And the owner pointed to a photo on the wall of a his grandfather on top of mountain in Norway....it was beautiful. And the owner told another story where he swam across a fjord and all the people came running down the other side to cheer him on and check on his safety. Stunning photos...are you near the coast?

hesson11 · « **Reply #6 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 05:42 am »

Threadkiller,

What cartridge are you using on the Amadeus? How do you like the combination? Thanks.
-Bob

threadkiller · « **Reply #7 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 02:26 pm »

Hi Bob,
a Dynavector XV-1s....

threadkiller · « **Reply #8 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 10:10 pm »

Somebody had salmon, yes....and some had venison...the owner said that for the King of Norway he would have served moose in that particular dish....

yes, I'll post a photo as by the weekend as well...good to hear of your progress....

btw, your opinion is spot-on! (no matter what your latitude or longitude)

hesson11 · « **Reply #9 on:** 4 Jun 2010, 12:57 pm »

It might help if you could answer a few questions:

Does the imaging problem exist on a variety of recordings or just one (imaging qualities can vary significantly from recording to recording)?

If you have another source such as a CD player, does the imaging problem exist when playing that, too?

When did you notice the problem started (i.e., when you put the Amadeus into your system, when you mounted a new cartridge, etc.)?

Typically, a "hole in the middle" problem is attributed to speaker placement, but it's possible other things are involved. I probably don't have the knowledge to be much help myself even with answers to the above questions, but perhaps others will. I would tend to doubt that cartridge loading could be affecting the stereo image.
-Bob

hesson11 · « **Reply #10 on:** 4 Jun 2010, 09:16 pm »

Maybe that TV screen is acting like a black hole and sucking all the sound waves into it!

Sorry I'm unable to give you a more serious answer, Vikeby. But I do have another question that may or may not be relevant. I can't figure out how your cartridge would initially have been out of alignment, i.e., not parallel to the lines on the alignment gauge. Even in the first photo, the cartridge looks parallel to the sides of the headshell. And assuming the headshell comes from the "factory" so that it is parallel to the lines, wouldn't that mean that if the cartridge were parallel to the headshell, the cartridge would also be parallel to the lines?

Is there any chance at all that the alignment gauge was not positioned correctly in the first place?

-Bob

threadkiller · « **Reply #11 on:** 4 Jun 2010, 10:00 pm »

Hi Bob,
the first photo is definitely in need of alignment, which the second photo shows Vikeby has done. The "fixed" is not like superglue fixed, as Mike said, there is some play in it.
Sorry, Vikeby, without being there I can't diagnose you either. Is everything the same except for the new Koetsu and phonostage? I can't believe breakin would solve that, though I'm not sure.
Maybe the new items are so good they're showing something else off kilter?
Write back if there's any change.
Good luck!

hesson11 · « **Reply #12 on:** 4 Jun 2010, 11:48 pm »

Vikeby,

What about azimuth? Have you tried checking and adjusting that?

'Killer,

Thanks for the headshell info. So it seems either Vikeby received the Amadeus with the headshell mis-aligned or he somehow knocked it out of alignment? The owner's manual implies that no adjustment is needed unless the headshell is somehow knocked out of alignment.

-Bob

threadkiller · « **Reply #13 on:** 5 Jun 2010, 01:43 am »

Hairsplitter Bob,
it's possible, dunno without seeing it....we should fly over and help Vikeby!
My old Naim Aro was a supposed fixed shell, yet you could easily manipulate a cartridge to make adjustments....just thought I'd throw that in...we could discuss it on the flight....

hesson11 · « **Reply #14 on:** 5 Jun 2010, 03:20 am »

Quote from: threadkiller on 5 Jun 2010, 01:43 am

Hairsplitter Bob,
it's possible, dunno without seeing it....we should fly over and help Vikeby!
My old Naim Aro was a supposed fixed shell, yet you could easily manipulate a cartridge to make adjustments....just thought I'd throw that in...we could discuss it on the flight....

Geez, you're right. Did you see the way I mercilessly hounded Mike Pranka in the tonearm geometry thread? I wouldn't blame him if he never showed up here again! It's just that I find the Amadeus so refreshing and novel, that I want to know all the ins and outs, because nobody's done the ins and outs quite like this before, to my knowledge.

All Vikeby needs is for me to show up in the land of the Norsemen. I'd probably snap his cantilever off or something!

-Bob

threadkiller · « **Reply #15 on:** 5 Jun 2010, 03:43 am »

no no no, I'm sure we'd keep you upright and steady....no analog fears, if you please....flying, yes....tonearms and cantilevers, no....

Mike has said many times that there are certain things with Firebaugh's design and thinking that most of us wouldn't comprehend, and I just leave it at that. When they mentioned physics in high school I ran the other way. To put it another way, I don't have the need to understand the sun to appreciate it when I'm outside. Same with this table. When the platter starts spinning, I run for my listening room chair, and wait for the music to envelope me. It's the best I've had here, which is saying something.

so Bob, what baffles me most is, what are you waiting for?

hesson11 · « **Reply #16 on:** 6 Jun 2010, 04:19 am »

Quote from: threadkiller on 5 Jun 2010, 03:43 am

so Bob, what baffles me most is, what are you waiting for?

I've got to convince myself I can afford it.

Since I can't afford it, it's going to be difficult.

But I think I can do it.

Vikeby, any news?

-Bob

threadkiller · « **Reply #17 on:** 6 Jun 2010, 04:29 am »

Bob, you're killin' me

go ahead, pull the trigger...
I can't remember, do you have a table now? cartridge? lots of records?

hesson11 · « **Reply #18 on:** 6 Jun 2010, 05:22 am »

You're a dangerous influence, 'Killer.

• Oracle Paris, Sumiko MMT, Grado Prestige Gold

• KAB-modded Technics SL-1210 Mk. 5, Stanton 681eee

• A Shelter 501 Mk. II at Soundsmith for retip.

• Hundreds of LPs, gathered since 1968.

threadkiller · « **Reply #19 on:** 6 Jun 2010, 05:35 am »

Ah, good for you! about the records, I mean.
The latest version of the Oracle got a rave from Art Dudley not too long ago.
I used to have an MMT arm with the newer version of the AR table years ago. I really liked that arm, easy to use. I used a Promethean Green with it at the time, a reworked Grado. Bob, it's like six degrees of Kevin Bacon here (or maybe just the bacon).
I can see where you're at, table wise.
Let's see, since '68...you might be just a little older than me. I think it's time for you to take a leap of faith. Enjoy the mid years of your life! I bet you have some great records that you've never really heard with the analog you have now. Possible?