maybe later on mate,i think this time if i dont do it myself i would give angus a go.
My System
John Wood KT88 Amp.
Paradise Phono Stage
Sony TTS-8000 Turntable.
PMAT-1010 MK6 Tonearm.
Ortofon Cadenza Bronze
Sony X555ES Cd Player
Yamaha NS1000m Speakers
Quality Jamie, there are certainly some great arms from Japan and still fetching good money.
Bakoon 13r Denon DP80 Stax UA-70 Shure Ultra 500 in a Martin Bastin body with jico stylus, project ds2 digital Rullit aero 8 field coils in tqwt speakers
Office system, DIY CSS fullrange speakers with aurum cantus G2 ribbons yulong dac Sony STR6055 receiver Jvc QL-A51 direct drive turntable, Leema sub. JVC Z4S cart is in the house
Garage system another Sony receiver, cassette deck
System components are subject to change without warning and at the discretion of the owner.
That is a magnificent chunk of metal, although you need to change the headshell - the end of the fingerlift is far too effeminate for the rest of the arm!
Engineers: fixing problems you didn't know you had in ways you don't understand.
Ive spent this morning fitting the arm.
Here are my initial thoughts, I love it!!
When you are used to a fixed headshell its like a breath of fresh air using an arm with a detachable one,fitting cartridges is so much easier. the anti-skate is also very nice to use and adjust.The VTA is also very precise and can be adjusted whilst listening,another thing that's brilliant.
Whats it sound like? Well it doesn't blow the Alphason HR-100 or the Zeta away but then i wasn't expecting it to. it seems to be a bit more transparent than the zeta with a touch more air to the top end,bearing in mind the zeta has fresh wire throughout and the pioneer arm has 38year old cable i would hope a re-wire in the future would take it up a level.
With the Denon 103SA in use i was a little concerned about balancing the arm,for cartridges weighing 7g -12g there is when supplied new a sub weight,i dont have this so some careful applying of some lead strip helped me balance the arm.
A quick spin of the hifi news test lp showed resonance to be 11 hz,the zeta was 10 so a little better.
The specs for the arm suggest Stevenson alignment,Japanese arms seem to use this alignment a lot,the headshell slots do allow Baerwald or Löfgren B though so i can choose,i went with Baerwald.
This is my first Japanese arm,im very impressed with the level of quality and engineering,they certainly know their stuff,why they were ignored over here for so long is beyond me??
My System
John Wood KT88 Amp.
Paradise Phono Stage
Sony TTS-8000 Turntable.
PMAT-1010 MK6 Tonearm.
Ortofon Cadenza Bronze
Sony X555ES Cd Player
Yamaha NS1000m Speakers
Looks excellent Jamie. Suits the turntable very nicely.
Once again Sir James you have posted pure pornography for us to ogle. Fortunately I'm only just up the road from you so I WILL be coming to hear it soon. Top work mate.
Turntable
Toshiba SR-370/Mission 774/Van Damme cable with MS Starline plugs/Ortofon Quintet Black
CD
Cambridge CXC transport/modified Musical Fidelity X-DAC/modified Musical Fidelity X-10 V3 tube buffer
Network Player
Cambridge NP30
Amplifier
Denon HA-500 head amp/Nakamichi CA-5E pre-amp/Chinese passive RVC/Proton AA-1150 DMC power amp
Speakers
Mordaunt Short Signifer on original factory stands
Cables
Mogami with Rean Neutrik plugs/NVA LS5
Headphones
Sennheiser HD600/Sennheiser HD650/Koss Pro4 AA
Yep, I'd keep that one mate. Really looks just right on the TT as you'd expect and once you feel how good a Japanese arm is, there's no going back. Great stuff.
Quite possibly, IMHO, one of the most goddam SEXY TT/arm combos I've seen. Beautiful. Want.
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Before you criticise a man, walk a mile in his shoes. Then, when you do - you'll be a mile away. And have his shoes.
Wavy grooves go thru a RigB 540ML on an SL1500C. Digits stream from a cheapie CDP and a Sonos, into a Yamaha 803D driving Kralk Audio little 'uns. I used to have a Linn but I'm better now.