Location: Dagenham Essex
Posts: 11,215
I'm Allen.
Measures up to 3 grammes!
Two metal sliders, one for x1, other for x2.
AC POWER
Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
AMPS
Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
SPEAKERS
Wharfedale Evo 4.4
DAC
PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
TURNTABLE
Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
PHONOSTAGE
Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
DIGITAL
OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
MUSIC PLAYBACK
Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
Ipad Roon Remote.
Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
SPEAKER CABLES
Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
INTERCONNECTS
All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables
still got mine.. 2 spots for placing the stylus
Regards,
Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse
I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work.... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
FIIO K7 BT, M11 PLUS, BTR7, KA5 - OPPO BDP-103D - PANASONIC UB450 - PANASONIC 4K ULTRA HD TV - PIXEL 6 - AVANTREE LR BLUETOOTH - 2* X600 SOUNDCORE - HEADPHONES INCLUDE, FIIO, NURAPHONES', FOCAL, OPPO, BOSE, CAMBRIDGE, BOWER & WILKINS, DEVIALET, MARSHALL, SONY, MITCHELL & JOHNSTON - 2*ZBOOK'S- MERCURY BD ROM, ROON, QOBUZ, TIDAL, PLEX, CYBERLINK, JRIVER - MULTI HDD'S -
Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?
“Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".
“You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”
"You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”
“There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”
***SMILE, BE HAPPY***
Location: Milan, IT
Posts: 4
I'm Marco.
Thanks for pointing me to this article, very useful. I do use a scale that's not leveled with the playing position of the stylus (higher)
I made a couple of measurements removing the mat and then the platter (thus going to the opposite side) and the lower the gauge the lower the VTF was.
Food for thought and time to rediscover the analog types (Garrard SPG3 is on its way)
Location: KY - Scotland
Posts: 5,470
I'm Mike.
I tried with and without my 5mm Achromat.
Without - 1.50g
With - 1.55g
Boy you should have heard the difference that 0.05g made
As an amusing aside regarding the SPG-3, a magazine (I think it was Hi-Fi World, but don't quote me) did a group test of various new balances about 15 years ago, but also threw an old SPG-3 in for a bit of a giggle.
The SPG-3 turned out to be the most reliable and accurate of the lot...
Engineers: fixing problems you didn't know you had in ways you don't understand.
Having carefully read this, I decided to try something out this morning.
I run my Micro Benz LP-S at 1.7gm and set it up using an Ortofon beam balance gauge https://www.ortofon.com/stylus-press...e-p-279-n-3444.
I checked the height from the platter to the Ortofon balance beam when level and this is just over 6mm. This means the stylus tip when on the Ortofon balance beam at the desired setting it is about 5mm above the record surface, based on taking and average of 1.2mm thickness for an LP see http://gallery.audioasylum.com/cgi/g...ssbyweight.jpg.
So my arm is a constrained uni-pivot and so I decided to that the last figures for a uni-pivot into account, so a raising of 0.285gm with a stylus VTF measurement taken at 5mm above the record height. As my arm had the weight in line with the arm tube I decided to initially take in account an adjustment of 0.2gm. I therefore set the VTF up using the Ortofon gauge at 1.5gm.
Well this has made quite a bit of difference, better detail/definition, more dynamic and open, and a seemingly larger soundstage, whether this is perfect or not I cannot be sure, I think I may be investing in one of these when I can afford it. https://www.ortofon.com/ds-3-digital...e-p-708-n-3444
Last edited by AJSki2fly; 28-05-2020 at 14:50.
Listening is the act of aural discrimination and dissemination of sound, and accepting you get it wrong sometimes.
Analog Inputs: Pro-Ject Signature 10 TT & arm, Benz Micro LP-S, Michel Cusis MC, Goldring 2500 and Ortofon Rondo Blue cartridges, Hitachi FT5500 mk2 Tuner
Digital:- Marantz SA-KI Pearl CD player, RaspberryPi/HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, Buffalo NAS Drive
Amplification:- AudioValve Sunilda phono stage, Krell KSP-7B pre-amp, Krell KSA-80 power amp
Output: Wilson Benesch Vector speakers, KLH Ultimate One Headphones
Cables: Tellurium Q Ultra Black II RCA & Chord Epic 2 RCA, various speaker leads, & links
I think I am nearing audio nirvana, but don’t tell anyone.
Location: Cheltenham
Posts: 982
I'm Charlie.
Here's an explanation about the effect on apparent VTF due to the height of the stylus scales in relation to the height of the LP on the platter.
http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/in_balance_e.html
R2R: Studer A820 1/2 inch 2 track; Otari MTR-12 1/4 inch 2 track; Sony APR 5003; Sony APR 5002; Studer A807/II. Vinyl: Platine Verdier Allaerts MC1B/Schroeder Reference & Model 2 Decca C4E/Hadcock 228 TRON Seven Reference phono. Keith Monks MkII RCM Other analogue source: Nakamichi Dragon with ANT4066 mods. Amplification: TRON Meteor preamp TRON Voyager 20B SET power. Speakers: Avantgarde Duo. Digital: computing at last with Prism Sound Lyra 2 A2D converter
I have one of the digital gauges mentioned by the OP: the EMB-1. Despite have a readout to three decimal places, the third figure can only be "0" or "5", so the resolution is 0.005g.
I weighed the calibration weights that come with the Transcriptor/Michell 'beam' balance using a laboratory chemical balance, whose weights had been checked against standards confirmed by the UK's National Physical Laboratory. I then weighed these Transcriptor weighs using the EMB-1 digital scales. In all cases the worse-case error in using the EMB-1 was 0.01g. Since IMO it is pointless in trying to achive VTF values correct to two decimal places, I regard the EMB-1 scales to be more than adequate.
This accuracy was maintained regardless of whether the detachable outrigger was used or not; it's sole purpose in being to place the stylus notionally at the same level as that of a record. But again, as above link http://www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/in_balance_e.html shows, the error is very small: certainly less than 0.1g for most sensible arm geometries. Just as well, otherwise one would be constantly be having to change the VTF (and VTA) every time one played a record of a different thickness (i.e. weight).
Barry
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