Nice to see you back Andrew, I always enjoy your posts. Fine-tuning vinyl playback gear is more fun than just buying new boxes!
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 63
I'm Charlie.
Nice to see you back Andrew, I always enjoy your posts. Fine-tuning vinyl playback gear is more fun than just buying new boxes!
Alright Charlie, I'll have a wee update, probably on Sunday about my exploits!
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE / MONO
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
The Garrard 301 Restoration Project PT LXXVII - MONOLOG - A sub blog! Pt X - More MONO Optimisation ......
It's Sunday so it must mean another update for this never ending blog. The 301 MONO side of things has been at times something that has very nearly left me bald (I ain't got that much thatch as it is). Sometimes the MONO side of things would produce some amazing sonics, sometimes I'd hit a brick wall. I never doubted that I'd get to where I wanted to be. Presently I've been bugged with track distortion as I got to the end of the record. I of course knew that I had to mess around with anti-skate and tracking weight of the MONO SPU. These issues have now been fixed thanks to a very small amount of additional tracking weight, I'm now at 5g which is the upper end of what Ortofon quotes for the MONO SPU but I figure that I only play my MONO records for maybe a couple of hours a week and then I have them on rotation so any wear and tear on the records will be kept to a minimum. I would also expect that some on the 60+ year old records already have quite a lot of wear and tear anway so it's just a case of keeping this to a minimum. I have also stopped faffing around with platter mats and the VTA for the SPU is working very nicely. So, overall the SPU is about 95% sorted.
I have a couple of things left to do, this is very very fine tuning of the bias and also a need two new sets of MArk Grant IC's for the 3009, presently I'm using a pair of Yannis Tome IC's but these are from my Technics 1210 system and a pair of "REAL SOUND" IC's that I made up years ago. This mish mash has been put together to so that I could here a noise through the speakers and make sure that everything was working. I have to admit that they are making a very nice sound but I do have a full loom of Mark Grant IC's sitting in my 301 Reference system and can only think that I might be able to get a little bit more out of the system. I'll have to price things up and see how skint I'll be at the end of this month.
Now for some bad news! It seems that my SPU is not compatible with the Ortofon MONO SUT, so it looks like I'll be sticking with what I've got at the moment. I suppose money saved on this will go towards the IC's. OK I think that just about winds it up for this time around. Stay tuned.....
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE / MONO
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
In what way is your SPU Mono (exactly which model is it: an original, or the later SPU CG25) incompatible with the Ortofon mono SUT (again exactly which model)?
Regarding record wear, that all depends on the date of issue; whether they are original pressings or reissues. Original pressings were intended to be played with a 25um stylus, reissues are probably intended to be played with a 17um stylus.
Barry
I've spoken to HUGO already, he stocks the MONO SUT. My SPU is the 3.5mv output CG25, and it's the latest oRTOFON MONO SPU that I'm talking about. All my MONO'S are original press 25um stylus.
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE / MONO
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
The SUT provides 12dB voltage gain, so the 3.5mV output of your SPU is transformed to 14mV, which will overload an MM input. I'm not surprised you are having problems.
Barry
I never had problems! I just wanted to try the MONO SPU, but it's obvious that's not going to happen because of various things such as a 14 mV load for the phonostage, even Shure didn't produce MM's with greater mV loading. Can you imagine the treble on that, 14 mV, it would probably strip varnish from wood at a hundred paces!!!![]()
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE / MONO
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker