View Full Version : AKG P8ES Super Nova
Just bought one of these with a Van den Hul stylus brand new in box for only £176 :cool:
I've been after one for yonks but baulked at some of the prices beings asked http://www.audioscope.net/akg-p8es-super-nova-vdh-ii-nos-p-1682.html :stalks:
Given it's age and that they are notorious for iffy suspension I'm going to send it off for a service before installing - this place has a good reputation http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/en/home/ and have an English contact form which is just as well as my German is limited to what I learned reading Paddy Payne in The Lion comic :)
I guess it will be some weeks before it's back in UK but I'll report how it fairs in the Technics/Jelco. I have read that they like low mass arms (which the Jelco is not) but Raul over on Audiogon reckons a low mass headshell like the standard Jelco should be fine. Anyway, at this price if it doesn't do the business I should be able to move it on and make a bit of profit :)
I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has/is running one of these beauties.
Steve
In the '80s I used inter alia an AKG P8ES. I loved it: it was brilliant for rock 'n' roll.
Unfortuately, I loaned it to a friend of mine, who later claimed to have 'lost it'! :steam: Been looking for replacement ever since. :(
The P8ES was renowned for crappy stylus quality - in the diamond finishing and overall shape, but Axel referred to above, should be able to fettle it for you :)
The P8ES was renowned for crappy stylus quality - in the diamond finishing and overall shape, but Axel referred to above, should be able to fettle it for you :)
Maybe Dave,
But I loved my sample of the P8ES - and I'm still looking for a replacement of the entire assembly! :)
Regards
I liked them too, as a livelier and more "involving" Shure V15 IV/ADC XLM/ZLM/Sonus Blue alternative. I'm not sure about the suspension, but I've just got mine in me mitt and shall have to check the diamond for extreme wear (suspension looks ok and not excessive in lcompliance either...)
Well my NOS Super Nova has arrived and pretty darn neat it looks to.
All in original box complete with data sheet and instructions etc :)
Despite the negativity of some respected colleagues "I seriously doubt the efficacy of using the cartridge as it is - it was an excellent unit in its day - and I think that it is more likely that it is over thirty years old. "
I am confident that this will prove to be a great cartridge in 2011 :p
To that end I have already sent it back to Germany to Alex at http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/AKG/AKG-Nadel-Reparatur-Retipping/AKG-Nadel-Pxx-Nadel-Durchfuehrung.html
"I can repair your AKG P 8 ES with a new suspension for EUR. 59,00 + 2,95 shipping"
Pretty impressive and if all goes to plan I should have a uber good and rare cartridge for less than €300 :cool:
Steve
Maybe Dave,
But I loved my sample of the P8ES - and I'm still looking for a replacement of the entire assembly! :)
Regards
Well, mine has gone the way of many AKG's sadly. The diamond under the scope is worn but possibly serviceable still, but the body is open circuit with broken wires on at least two pins that cannot be repaired as they're stretched tight :(
The Shure V15 with SAS tip would probably make for a "better" modern solution in all honesty, but I do understand and remember what you mean about the original 8ES model..
That Super Nova doesn't look like an original P8ES at all to me, but maybe it's just the shape of the stylus assembly... :scratch:
That Super Nova doesn't look like an original P8ES at all to me, but maybe it's just the shape of the stylus assembly... :scratch:
Stylus is Van den Hul II not standard AKG.
Steve
So the AKG is being breathed on as we speak - here is Axel's opinion:
"The suspension is stiff. :(
It will be OK tomorrow. After testing i will send it back." :)
"After repair your cartridge will be as good as new. In earlier times it was the best cartridge you can buy. :cool:
Best regards Axel"
Steve
The Super Nova arrived back from Axel Schurholz (http://www.schallplattennadeln.de/) after it's suspension rebuild today and it does not disappoint :)
Setup was very straight forward using my custom MINT tractor. Initial setup is with headshell horizontal (no increase or decrease in SRA) and tracking at 1.6g (top of recommended range). I'll play about with these in the weeks to come.
The first thing I noticed was how "quiet" it is. After the spherical stylus of the Decca which apart from the initial "thunk" as it enters the lead in groove is excellent with regards surface noise I was expecting to hear a lot more surface noise from the VdH II stylus but not a bit of it.
Straight out of the box it sounds stunning. Full bodied but not mellow, dynamic and detailed. In fact it's retrieving detail I had not heard previously on Dark Side. The background voices are far more intelligible, the running feet have more of an echo and "holographic" presence and yet there is also a delicacy of presentation. I can believe the frequency response curve is flat across the spectrum as there is no over emphasis of one instrument/voice/frequency over another - real tonal balance.
By the 4th album the bass was really coming on song going lower and with more detail and rhythm than before.
Final track of the evening was Sultans of Swing - the PRaT from the Super Nova was just amazing - so musical - so enjoyable.
Tonal "quality" is similar to the Decca Blue but on this first session the Super Nova is more enjoyable and musical - it's certainly more detailed and refined and I reckon it will just get better with the coming hours.
Don't get me wrong - I still love the Decca - it's superb it's just that now I have an alternative that satisfies just as much but in a slightly different way.
So to all those (well meaning) gainsayers who predicted the Super Nova would be a dud :ner:
For the money I paid including the suspension rebuild I have a stunning sounding NOS iconic cartridge that is virtually impossible to find nowadays. http://www.audioscope.net/akg-p8es-super-nova-vdh-ii-nos-p-1682.html
Steve :cool:
stewartwen
08-09-2011, 22:12
I have been looking for an AKG P8ES for many years, I used to own one in the late seventies and was enslaved to it!
I don't care about the condition as it will be refurbished.
S
Hope you can find a good one, as the coil wires were pulled very tight when soldered to the connection pins and these can fracture, as happened to mine, rendering it useless on both channels :(
If you can't find one, a Shure V15 III body and SAS stylus should sort-of replicate the pleasure you had (the 1980's HE stylus sweetened the V15 III pill no end and I understand the SAS stylus goes rather further). Just a thought.....
Oh poo!!!!! That's a later one................ I'm so old I was thinking of the late 70's one, which wasn't a Super Nova.. I'm a ----------------------------------- :lol:
Enjoy, and at least you can get it re-tipped if necessary :)
Enjoy, and at least you can get it re-tipped if necessary :)
Axel in Germany is a great contact for all things AKG.
I'm really regressing as I have just bought an "old style" 7g headshell to reduce the mass of the Jelco which should improve the tracking still further - looks very retro :cool: (and a set of Ortofon 8N-LW10 cartridge leads from William Thakker http://www.williamthakker.eu/Universal-Headshell-mit-SME-Anschluss-Silber_c192-196_p9394_x2.htm
Steve
Being a cheapskate, I bought some generic "Litz" cartridge wires on ebay for well under £20. I thin kthe last lot were some Audioquest. I now have two sets (Audioquest? and Sumiko) and they seem to be the same to me. No sonic difference to my tired old ears...
No sonic difference to my tired old ears...
I suspect you're dead right ;)
I think these "trinkets" shape not improve the sound but the 7g headshell ships with really basic leads and I just couldn't bring myself to connect my beautiful AKG to them :lolsign:
Steve
The Super Nova continues to delight and the Decca has been sulking of late :)
However, I can't escape the issue that with it's high compliance (30) it's not best suited to the Jelco. According to the tonearm/cartridge data sheets the resonance should be way off nominal but that does not seem to be borne out by the HFN test disc where both horizontal and vertical resonance seems to be slap in the middle of the "ideal" range -I guess that the damping is helping here. Nonetheless, I am having to track at 2g and use a lot of bias which grates on me (metaphorically not actually ;) ).
Anyway, the upshot is that I've just acquired a very nice (new in box actually) SME 3009 II improved (effective mass 6.5g) so with the AKG weighing in at 4.8g the combined mass of 11.3g should give a resonant frequency of 9Hz which will do nicely :)
Of course, I won't be able to use any other darn cartridge and I'll have to put the Jelco back if I want to use the Decca again but hey ho - this is a hobby not a job :lol:
I've emailed those nice chaps at Audio Origami to see if it's worthwhile getting it rewired first (I think I know the answer).
Steve
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