Thermionic Idler
07-03-2013, 18:27
This week I took delivery of a rather splendid creation frae bonny Scotland! :D
It's a 12" version of the PU7 with all parts in matt black, except the counterbalance weight and arm tube which was picked out in gold plate, and it was set up with a highish effective mass to match my Koetsu.
Aesthetically it matches up beautifully with my Garrard 301 which now has a polished brass platter and grease bearing upgrade from SMD/Peak.
So this replaced the Thomas Schick arm, where the lack of anti-skating and the possible long term effects of same on my cartridge, was starting to concern me. That was the main reason for change, as sonically I felt the Schick to be pretty damned good.
However... so far I'm hugely impressed with the PU7's sonic abilities indeed, particularly with classical music. Technically, all vestiges of mistracking seem to be banished completely and detail retrieval has moved up another level - I'm picking up orchestral lines I'd not heard before. More importantly, the combination of Garrard 301, Koetsu cartridge and the PU7 fuse together to deliver the musical and emotional message with a knockout punch! So all that detail actually means something, if that makes sense.
I have the complete set of the Solti Ring Cycle that Decca issued in the early 1970's which were cut on the Neumann lathe. In the first act of Das Rheingold there's a line that Gustav Neidlinger as Alberich, delivers --- "so verfluch' ich die Liebe! (thus I curse love!)" --- and one REALLY got the sheer venom in his voice even though it was near end of side. I've been listening to records most of the afternoon and been really quite moved by what I've heard.
So if you're reading this John... thanks!
When I manage to track down the camera battery charger I'll post a pic.
It's a 12" version of the PU7 with all parts in matt black, except the counterbalance weight and arm tube which was picked out in gold plate, and it was set up with a highish effective mass to match my Koetsu.
Aesthetically it matches up beautifully with my Garrard 301 which now has a polished brass platter and grease bearing upgrade from SMD/Peak.
So this replaced the Thomas Schick arm, where the lack of anti-skating and the possible long term effects of same on my cartridge, was starting to concern me. That was the main reason for change, as sonically I felt the Schick to be pretty damned good.
However... so far I'm hugely impressed with the PU7's sonic abilities indeed, particularly with classical music. Technically, all vestiges of mistracking seem to be banished completely and detail retrieval has moved up another level - I'm picking up orchestral lines I'd not heard before. More importantly, the combination of Garrard 301, Koetsu cartridge and the PU7 fuse together to deliver the musical and emotional message with a knockout punch! So all that detail actually means something, if that makes sense.
I have the complete set of the Solti Ring Cycle that Decca issued in the early 1970's which were cut on the Neumann lathe. In the first act of Das Rheingold there's a line that Gustav Neidlinger as Alberich, delivers --- "so verfluch' ich die Liebe! (thus I curse love!)" --- and one REALLY got the sheer venom in his voice even though it was near end of side. I've been listening to records most of the afternoon and been really quite moved by what I've heard.
So if you're reading this John... thanks!
When I manage to track down the camera battery charger I'll post a pic.