My Constant State of Change System...

[cube-tube]

Thank you.

Got an Ortofon 2M Bronze mounted and aligned. Just as I figured, the built-in phono stage of the Quad sounds excellent!

[cube-tube]

Purchased a somewhat mint JVC XL-V411 CD player. I say "somewhat" mint because once it arrived via FedEx, the display got knocked crooked, five plastic tabs got broken off, and the motorized volume was making noise, but not moving. I opened it up yesterday, disassembled more than half of it, and got everything straightened out (pun intended) and un-jammed the volume knob. Other than that, the unit is excellent, everything operates, it sounds amazingly good, has a coax output if I want to add a DAC at some point, the remote control looks almost new, and the manual is still sealed in its factory plastic sleeve from 1989.

I also swapped out the APC H15 power conditioner for the much older but totally mint Monster HTS 5000. Reason being that I think the APC might be on its way out. A couple of times in the past week or two, the system connected to it shuts down for a second then comes back on, yet the other half of the system at the front of the room is unaffected, nor is the computer (running Roon Core) and the modem remain on as well in the rear of the room.

[eldarvanyar]

Thanks for sharing all this, I have enjoyed reading your thread. I absolutely love the R2R.
Can you say what has been the pinnacle of your system and also something about your tape decks. How good is the JVC one?

Thanks

[cube-tube]

Thanks for sharing all this, I have enjoyed reading your thread. I absolutely love the R2R.
Can you say what has been the pinnacle of your system and also something about your tape decks. How good is the JVC one?

Thanks

Thank you.

It's a toss up between the Quad Artera preamp and the Magnepan 1.7i's as far as the "pinnacle" of the system. The Quad on its own without changing anything else in the system brought a LOT to the table. Overall sonics, impact, definition, imaging, sound stage width and depth, they all improved somewhat drastically with the Quad over the Schiit Freya+ that it replaced. And then the Maggies... Well everyone one knows that kind of performance those have when set up correctly. They open the window just that much more over the Quad preamp. The detail, the delicacy and air of instruments as well as voice, the acoustics of a venue, the texture and soul. It's all there with this combo. And the fact that the Emotive amp can even convey any of this from the preamp to the speakers is an amazing feat in of itself. Even though that amp is not the pinnacle of the system, it has yet to let me down in any way.

The cassette decks... They're all near TOTL units, all in mint shape, though the JVC and Yamaha have to have the belts replaced. Other than that, they're all excellent decks, and all 3 head decks except for the JVC. However, that JVC has those very fine Sen-Alloy heads and that B.E.S.T. Tuning system, it's recording quality equals any 3-head deck out there, not to mention that Super ARNS does a spectacular job. Also, this unit is built like a tank and utilized heavy duty solenoids for the various functions just like in the Pioneer RTR. I love just touching a button and hearing/feeling that solid "clunk". They don't make them like they used to!

Out of all the decks, I would venture to say the JVC is the best I have, or have had.

[cube-tube]

Did a little upgrade tonight. Out with the Ortofon 2M Bronze, in with the...

[Wakefield Turntables]

Great evolution of the system Charles, a decent thread as well. I've enjoyed reading this in the UK, early in the morning with a decent cup of coffee. Keep up the good work!

[cube-tube]

Thank you for the kind words, sir!

Only had time yesterday to mess around with Sumiko some. Currently fighting an uphill battle with some inner groove distortion. Roughly the last two tracks of every album, voices start taking on a fuzzy, static like quality… a.k.a. - IGD. I've encountered this before with other carts and tables, but was always able to eliminate it after a few more alignment tweaks. However, with this cart, I'm having a heck of a time with it.

Maybe you can give me some pointers if you have any experience aligning carts on Technics turntables.

[Barry]

Have you set up the stylus alignment using the protractor supplied with the Technics deck? AFAIK, the geometry of most Japanese arms conform to the Stevenson prescription.

I would also try increasing the VTF to 2.2g, to see if that helps.

[cube-tube]

Have you set up the stylus alignment using the protractor supplied with the Technics deck? AFAIK, the geometry of most Japanese arms conform to the Stevenson prescription.

I would also try increasing the VTF to 2.2g, to see if that helps.

Yes and yes. This isn't my first time setting up a turntable with a new cartridge... Especially not the first time with this table. And I've tried a number of alignments. This cart just requires a bit more tweaking apparently than others.

[cube-tube]

Good ole' Amazon delivery today... Hudson Hifi acrylic mat and gel stylus cleaner.

To my amazement, the acrylic mat is no joke. Bass and lower midrange has tightened up and become cleaner and more defined. Bass also seems to reach a little deeper. Everything else from what I can tell has remained the same with the exception of a bit more open sound stage. All in all, a nice simple upgrade for only 24 bucks, ordered last night and arrived about 2 hours ago.

Also, pretty sure I've pretty much eliminated that stinkin' IGD. Part of it was the cartridge alignment (resorted back to the Technics alignment tool that came with this TT back in '78), and the other part was from some of these old LPs. It's just the way some of them are, or how they've been played in years past with mis-aligned carts from the previous owners. My personal collection of LP's from my father, brothers and myself are all perfectly fine... IGD free.