jandl100
02-05-2009, 08:27
Picked this up in a swap deal for a DAC a few days ago.
Here it is in its 'natural' colouring, dark & handsome ...
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/NAInterspacett1.jpg
With a flash you can see it better, but the blue marble effect gets accentuated. It's not really that bling. ;)
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/NAInterspacettflash.jpg
Here's a close up of the tonearm.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/NAInterspacearm.jpg
My previous tt (a Denon DP-62L direct drive) had stylus pressure calibration on the counterweight, the NA doesn't and Jerry doesn't have a stylus gauge balance. Doh!! :doh:
A frantic posting on a forum and a very kind gent is sending me his Shure balance to borrow. :) It arrives the following day, and the fun can begin ....
Initial setup - the very first thing I did was put 3 RDC1 cones underneath with blu-tac - this worked superbly with the Denon tt. Mounted my Denon DL-301 low output MC cartridge - damn, the cart is too light,it won't balance! A small black metal washer and some blu-tac on the headshell does the trick.. Then placed it on top of the TT-Tower and plugged it into the mains and my WhestTWO phono stage.
First listen - The motor is not powerful enough to spin up the platter on NA tts, you have to give it a shove to get it going. Weird, but it seems to work. Music comes out. Always a good sign. Sounds nice. Jerry tidies up a bit (only a bit) & scuttles off to get an apple to munch on.
Second listen - Hmmmm. :scratch: Actually the sound is kinda flat and boring, with reduced scale and dynamics, and a noticeable lack of 'musical flow'. Oops. Not good. :(
Tweak time!! - What to do? re-checked the setup and geometries and stuff. All OK.
Hmmm, maybe it's just a naff tt and my old Denon is rather a good one? That doesn't sit well with NA's excellent reputation, though. Must be my setup.
Maybe the RDC1 cones aren't a good idea with this tt? Damn right - whisked them away and stood the NA directly on its hard rubber feet, and a major improvement in musical flow and enjoyment. Actually fairly interesting to listen to now. But only fairly. Not up to the sq of my old Denon yet, let alone an upgrade.
Perhaps more of the same? .... found some tatty old sorbothane pads and acrylic footer things and placed these under the tt, whilst ensuring it stays level. Oh wow, yeah. We're getting there. Really quite listenable now. :)Probably on an overall par with my Denon. But it should really be doing better than that. A quick flit onto eBay and some proper, large hemispherical sorbothane footers should be winging there way to me next week.
The sound quality is certainly good enough now for some nice listening sessions until then, but I feel there is a lot more to get out of this tt yet.
The saga will continue .... :)
__
Any suggestions for getting the best out of Nottingham Analogue TTs?
Here it is in its 'natural' colouring, dark & handsome ...
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/NAInterspacett1.jpg
With a flash you can see it better, but the blue marble effect gets accentuated. It's not really that bling. ;)
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/NAInterspacettflash.jpg
Here's a close up of the tonearm.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/NAInterspacearm.jpg
My previous tt (a Denon DP-62L direct drive) had stylus pressure calibration on the counterweight, the NA doesn't and Jerry doesn't have a stylus gauge balance. Doh!! :doh:
A frantic posting on a forum and a very kind gent is sending me his Shure balance to borrow. :) It arrives the following day, and the fun can begin ....
Initial setup - the very first thing I did was put 3 RDC1 cones underneath with blu-tac - this worked superbly with the Denon tt. Mounted my Denon DL-301 low output MC cartridge - damn, the cart is too light,it won't balance! A small black metal washer and some blu-tac on the headshell does the trick.. Then placed it on top of the TT-Tower and plugged it into the mains and my WhestTWO phono stage.
First listen - The motor is not powerful enough to spin up the platter on NA tts, you have to give it a shove to get it going. Weird, but it seems to work. Music comes out. Always a good sign. Sounds nice. Jerry tidies up a bit (only a bit) & scuttles off to get an apple to munch on.
Second listen - Hmmmm. :scratch: Actually the sound is kinda flat and boring, with reduced scale and dynamics, and a noticeable lack of 'musical flow'. Oops. Not good. :(
Tweak time!! - What to do? re-checked the setup and geometries and stuff. All OK.
Hmmm, maybe it's just a naff tt and my old Denon is rather a good one? That doesn't sit well with NA's excellent reputation, though. Must be my setup.
Maybe the RDC1 cones aren't a good idea with this tt? Damn right - whisked them away and stood the NA directly on its hard rubber feet, and a major improvement in musical flow and enjoyment. Actually fairly interesting to listen to now. But only fairly. Not up to the sq of my old Denon yet, let alone an upgrade.
Perhaps more of the same? .... found some tatty old sorbothane pads and acrylic footer things and placed these under the tt, whilst ensuring it stays level. Oh wow, yeah. We're getting there. Really quite listenable now. :)Probably on an overall par with my Denon. But it should really be doing better than that. A quick flit onto eBay and some proper, large hemispherical sorbothane footers should be winging there way to me next week.
The sound quality is certainly good enough now for some nice listening sessions until then, but I feel there is a lot more to get out of this tt yet.
The saga will continue .... :)
__
Any suggestions for getting the best out of Nottingham Analogue TTs?