The Quest Begins... (Dave's Odyssey)

[John]

The TT looks lovelly Yes a good wall shelf should really help

[synsei]

Thanks John, it is a rather stunning example and sounds it too. I'm very grateful to Chris for all the advice and extras he threw in for free, and also for the work he did the night before to refit the arm and cart. I'm trialling the Goldring with an option to buy and so far I'm suitably impressed. The only thing that worries me, as I mentioned above, is the availability of replacement styli. There are a lot of inferior ones available, but it would be criminal to use anything other than the original VDH tip in this fine cartridge.

[satanfriendly]

The yellow cables on the arm are TNTTNT's and if I remember the red ones are Chameleon. The VDH are the short yellow cables and they are great between pre/power or CD/DAC. Do check the phono's on the VDH's though.

Yup that is the main issue with the G900. The stylus. You see them rarely on E-Bay and I am sure that there are one or two still alive with dealers. Not cheap though. The more common 'blue' replacement is a little less rare, but you do lose the VDH stylus if I remember correctly. Be worth inspecting the stylus as I suspect there is more life left in it than you probably think there is. It tracks as if new and I think had little use before I got my grubby mits on it.

It may be a case of do I live with it until destruction and try to find a replacement stylus or enjoy what life there is and change completely in the future? Don't forget I will happily take it back.

[synsei]

The yellow cables on the arm are TNTTNT's and if I remember the red ones are Chameleon. The VDH are the short yellow cables and they are great between pre/power or CD/DAC. Do check the phono's on the VDH's though.

Yup that is the main issue with the G900. The stylus. You see them rarely on E-Bay and I am sure that there are one or two still alive with dealers. Not cheap though. The more common 'blue' replacement is a little less rare, but you do lose the VDH stylus if I remember correctly. Be worth inspecting the stylus as I suspect there is more life left in it than you probably think there is. It tracks as if new and I think had little use before I got my grubby mits on it.

It may be a case of do I live with it until destruction and try to find a replacement stylus or enjoy what life there is and change completely in the future? Don't forget I will happily take it back.

Unfortunately the VDH cables are currently way too short for either application due to how I have my system configured. That may change once I obtain a more suitable rack however...

As you mention, I'm sure there is plenty of life in the IGC. I've rather fallen in love with the old girl so it would be a shame to break up such a good relationship...

I've subsequently discovered that I can obtain an HE stylus for the G900 from Canadian Astatic for an extremely reasonable price. In the meantime I'll keep scouring the net for another IGC as insurance...

[synsei]

Swapped out the Monster ic's from the Caiman to the 8000c for the Chameleons and surprise, surprise, the Monster ic's were shite. Nuff said

[DSJR]

Taken the belt advice onboard, will buy a Joel's Kit off eBay next month to be sure

My only concern with the G900 is going to manifest when I need to source a new stylus, they appear to be as rare as rocking horse poo. Do Goldring still produce 'em, or maybe VDH offer a retip service?

VDH used to do re-tips, but my memories are from years ago now

Expert Styli have their excellent Paratrace tip and I'm sure they'd be delighted to refurbish yours when the time comes.

By the way, the later SME CA1 arm-wand was in a different material, the shell was apparently altered slightly and the performance improved - enough to give the simplified IIIS arm a recommendation in HFC IIRC. It'll never take a Denon 103, but I suspect an AT440MLa, 150MLX and even the OC9 and siblings would work well, although I's possibly add the damper part filled with baby oil.

[synsei]

Thanks for the SME armwand tip Dave, found this on eBay. If it truly is a CA 1 (excuse my ignorance), it looks identical to the one fitted to my arm...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SME-arm-wand-/...#ht_500wt_1156

[satanfriendly]

Any further thoughts now you've had a few days living with the new toy? Which reminds me to post the pods off tomorrow as rather overlooked due to re-building the kitchen. Well, more a case of tidying up the crap we've inherited.

Think you may find the arm tube is indeed the CA1 made from titanium nitride.

[synsei]

Any further thoughts now you've had a few days living with the new toy? Which reminds me to post the pods off tomorrow as rather overlooked due to re-building the kitchen. Well, more a case of tidying up the crap we've inherited.

Think you may find the arm tube is indeed the CA1 made from titanium nitride.

I've managed to get the deck good and level now which has made a big difference, although the arm still skips back a groove occasionally. I'll be making some small adjustments to the arm as soon as I'm feeling confident and competent enough to do so

I'm finding that the 160 has a richer sound overall than the 316, which can sound a touch weedy, especially in the lower registers by comparison. The detail the Goldring can dig out of a groove is truly stunning. My partner and I sat and listened to Dire Straights, Brothers In Arms again a few days ago, an album we both like very much and which we played regularly on the 316. I could easily determine detail previously absent when playing this album on the 316. I kept schtum though and left it to Jo to comment on how 'natural' it sounded. She was particularly taken aback by the dynamism of the drum hits on this album. I'd dearly love to get hold of another copy of Love Over Gold on vinyl to hear what the TD160 can do with Private Investigations.

We've decided we are going to keep the G900 but also try out an AT440MLa at some point after we've paid you for the Goldring to see if it could be a suitable modern alternative. I was also wondering if the SME III is capable of keeping a Denon DL160 under control without the dampening trough?

The granite isolation platform I have the 160 placed upon is such a good fit into the base aperture, and has tightened up the dynamics to such an extent that I've chosen not to bother buying an original base plate. It is resting on four small, clear polyurethane feet glued to the triangular corner stays which the base is usually secured to. It is a simple and elegant solution that I feel enhances the aesthetics and sound of the deck, with the added bonus that it has saved me a little wonga...

[synsei]

Right, going to repost some pics as I renamed the folder in which all my Hi-Fi pics are stored in Photobucket not realising how it would affect the pics in all my posts