Marco's latest vintage marvel....

[Marco]

I've just bought another original G800 stylus, which comes with a free cartridge:







http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWNX:IT


I spied that on eBay last night, and bagged it. The styus looks in really good nick and perhaps better than the original one on the other G800 I bought, so I thought 'what the hell?'. I can always sell the surplus cartridges to folks who might fancy trying one of these babies

I'll also have three samples from which to judge if there is any evidence of "the rubber, nitrile, polyurethane or whatever used in the cantilever suspension, having deteriorated over the years", as Shane suggested earlier could possibly be the case. If so, I'll simply keep the best sample. It's nice to have a choice

Anyway, look out for the results of my 'stylus rolling', soon!

Marco.

[synsei]

My 900IGC is certainly not a lowrider, so I guess all is well with it. I have it tracking @ 2gms in my SME SeriesIII simply because it sounds far more composed at this weight. Because that is a little over the recommended tracking weight I'm sure any cantilever suspension problems would be apparent.

Marco, the 900IGC doesn't sound at all analytical in the SeriesIII, and it is far more refined than a 1042. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say, so we'll just have to wait and see, or rather hear...

By the way, is Scalford Hall in Rutland the same Scalford Hall where the show is held, because if it is, I live just a 30 minute drive away?

[Reid Malenfant]

By the way, is Scalford Hall in Rutland the same Scalford Hall where the show is held, because if it is, I live just a 30 minute drive away?

Yes, 3 miles out of Melton Mowbray

[synsei]

Thanks Mark, then I shall defo be at the next show

[DSJR]

The SME III was a "subtle" performer, to put it mildly, so an energetic cartridge will be all for the better in this arm I think.

It'll be very interesting to hear the results of Marco's stylus bakeoff too. The Lab 80's got some balls missing (not all my fault I can assure you ), but replacements are ordered and hopefully will be with me tomorrow..

[synsei]

I tried a borrowed 1042 in the LVX+ on the TD316 and the result was not pleasant. It was very shrill at the top end and I suspect the LVX+ was having problems keeping it under control. I haven't had the opportunity to try one in the SeriesIII as yet and I'm not sure it would work well in this arm anyhow.

I agree that the G900 and the SeriesIII are an excellent match Dave. In fact, when Chris demonstrated the TD160 mk2/SeriesIII/900IGC at his place when I went to pick it up, we were both blown away by the gorgeous sound it produced. It would appear there is a little bit of magic going on in this combo. I'd love to bring the deck to a bake-off because the whole seems to be better than the sum of its parts, relatively speaking of course. My only gripe with the SeriesIII is that it is a fooker to set up. I still haven't got it quite right...

[DSJR]

The 1042 is a strange beastie, truth be told and not universal as the cheaper ones can be. Stick one in a Rega 3 and it's fine, but try it in something lively and it's just as you suggest, sting in the treble and lead footed in the bass.....

To be fair to the Basik Plus arm, it may be past its best now. they weren't all that strong and the mechanical joints may be loose or fatigued now, let alone the counterweight insert, which can turn to goo after a few years, let alone twenty five years as many of these are now.

[synsei]

I had been warned about the little issues that crop up in LVX's over the years from quite a few Vinyl Engine members, so I had it checked out. I'm glad to say that this particular LVX+ is as fit as a fiddle. Not that it'll be mine for much longer because in just 40mins from me posting this, it'll have sold on eBay along with the my Thorens TD316...

[Marco]

Hi Dave,

Marco, the 900IGC doesn't sound at all analytical in the SeriesIII, and it is far more refined than a 1042. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say, so we'll just have to wait and see, or rather hear...

By the way, is Scalford Hall in Rutland the same Scalford Hall where the show is held, because if it is, I live just a 30 minute drive away?

As Mark's said, yup, dat's da one... Be good to see you there next year - it's a good giggle!

I dislike the 1042 with a passion - it epitomises what I detest about the voicing of most modern cartridges, and as Dave says, it takes the blandness of a stock RB300 to nullify its forensic excesses!

I can well believe that the 900IGC is a nice sounding cartridge, as it still comes from an era when manufacturers voiced cartridges by not sacrificing musicality to obtain a falsely 'pumped up' sound, which to some sounds superficially impressive - for five minutes, anyway!!

Whether or not I'll prefer it to the 800, as you say, only listening will tell, so I look forward to our future sesh

Marco.

[Marco]

Ok guys, a small update on proceedings......

One of the original Goldring styli has arrived, along with the 3g headshell weight from Analogue Seduction, and I've been having a bit of a play. I don't have a microscope, but with the naked eye, it still looks nicely sharp and pointy, and when used, sonically, I can detect little, if any, significant signs of wear. So in that respect, I've won a watch!

The original stylus is, sonically, a rather more refined beast (DSJR was correct in that respect - nice one, Dave!) than the modern replacement I had been using. It's not a 'night & day' difference, as one would expect, but it does raise the bar to a higher level again by tidying up a slight raggedness and adding a soupçon of 'polish' and refinement, giving upper frequencies a 'creamier' quality, without the loss of any definition or sparkle.

Bass, interestingly, goes even deeper now (not that it was lacking in any way before), but it hits harder and yet still has that infectious bouncy and rhythmic quality to it, which is really addictive, and that I associate in particular with the DL-103, when optimally partnered and set-up. Detail retrieval has also gone up a notch or two.

I've now fitted the 3g headshell weight to my AT LT-12, giving an overall mass of 15g at the headshell end of the Jelco, which the low-compliance G800 positively LOVES, and together with this and the addition of the heavy Jelco counterweight balance, I feel that I've now got the effective mass of the tonearm spot on.

I can't stress this enough: a high-mass tonearm is absolutely essential in order to hear what this cartridge is TRULY capable of, otherwise you will only hear a fraction of its potential, and perhaps rather foolishly, even dismiss is completely!

The original Goldring stylus also (as DSJR correctly said) is right at the top of its usable range at 2.7g (modern replacement styli for some reason must allow for higher tracking forces), and the cartridge sounded distinctly 'squashed' with that level of VTF, so I backed it off to 2.5g, which is now spot on. Anti-skate is thus set identically.

I'm looking forward to trying the other original stylus, when it arrives, to see if there's any difference, and if I can obtain any further improvement. Interestingly, this original stylus is a yellowy cream colour, and the one that's coming is bright white, both with 'Goldring' written on the front. Would anyone know if that means anything, such as one of them perhaps being an earlier version?

Anyway, now that I've got the effective mass spot on, and fitted an original stylus, the sound I'm getting from the G800 is, quite frankly, astonishingly good: I'd say that in terms of the overall quality of its music-making, it's as good as or better than any modern cartridge up to around £500, perhaps more. It's so good, in fact, that I wouldn't hesitate to put it up against any of the current Nagaoka MMs (which are themselves superb) - yes even the MP500 at some £630!

It is my intention to demonstrate the G800 at next year's Scalford Hall event to show just how good some vintage cartridges can sound in a modern system. I'm expecting more than a few raised eyebrows!!

It certainly, in my opinion, outperforms any of the current Goldring range (or Audio Technicas), unless you happen to get off on that thin-toned, rather forward and clinical, treble-emphasised sound, so many of today's cartridges produce.

For those who love the 'BBC broadcast sound', as it was in its heyday, you simply must find a G800 with an original stylus, pop it on a high-mass pick-up arm, on a nice idler or direct-drive T/T, replay it through a good system, and then sit back and revel in audio nirvana!! I'll return later with some updated pics, showing the G800 fitted with its new stylus.

I've also discovered something else recently which has proved to be a bit of a revelation...... All will be revealed in due course in a separate thread in Strokes of Genius, so look out for that one, particularly modded Techy users!

Ok, I must go off and do some work now.... Laters!

Marco.