New Ortofon RS-212D tonearm, chez Marco

[Marco]

Which cartridge is that in the FR headshell?

Hi Barry,

Yes, it's called 'Mr Magoo's Invisible Wonder'.... There is NO cartridge inside the headshell, daftee!!

It was fitted purely for photographic effect, dude. There is a shadow, however, which looks like something is attached to the headshell.

Great day at Martin's, as usual. What a wonderful system he has! Very educational, as usual, too... Boy did we discover some stuff to report on, but later - too knackered now to type much!

Martin, many thanks again for your excellent hospitality (and superb sarnies)

Laters,
Marco.

[Marco]

Thanks for your kind comments, guys, on my T/T. Yes, I agree it does look rather good... And with Martin's Shelter 5000 fitted to the Ortofon, well, quite frankly what we achieved yesterday, sonically, with vinyl was breathtaking.....!!

I hope that we can replicate it at Scalford. If we can, it will certainly raise a few eyebrows

I can categorically state that the combination of the above, in Martin's system, with his Whest PS.30R phono stage and Hashimoto SUT, is beyond question the finest I've EVER heard with vinyl replay - and yes, that includes in my own system!

The Whest/Shelter/Hashimoto combination, with either my Ortofon arm or Martin's Dynavector (which, sonically, we both thought to be on a par) is just GORGEOUS... Talk about sonic synergy - I didn't want to leave; I just wanted to stay there and play music all night!!

It was one of those sadly all too rare moments in audio when everything just clicks. I only hope that when I get my new SPU, that it delivers the sheer musical magic I heard yesterday at Martin's...

Ok, I've got my parents coming round today for Sunday lunch, so I need to go now and help Del prepare. I'll be back with some more thoughts later, and tomorrow will post my thoughts on the Funk platter vs. Mike New's, on the other thread that's been started

Marco.

[MartinT]

Marco, I am still reeling from what I heard, too. Not only was that Hendrix some of the best live music I've ever heard reproduced, but we learned some valuable lessons too.

Not to mention that I have two damned expensive cables to sell now, and a short shopping list to acquire. Oh, and some more music to buy. All in the pursuit of ever better sound.

Thank you as usual for making the long journey down

[Audioman]

Marco, I am still reeling from what I heard, too. Not only was that Hendrix some of the best live music I've ever heard reproduced, but we learned some valuable lessons too.

Not to mention that I have two damned expensive cables to sell now, and a short shopping list to acquire. Oh, and some more music to buy. All in the pursuit of ever better sound.

Thank you as usual for making the long journey down

Can you elaborate on the cables ? I take it Marco produced some of his relatively cheap ones. While I can hear differences at a sane price point I have always been a sceptic on the meriits of realy expensive stuff v improving your hardware.

[Barry]

Hi Barry,

Yes, it's called 'Mr Magoo's Invisible Wonder'.... There is NO cartridge inside the headshell, daftee!!

It was fitted purely for photographic effect, dude. There is a shadow, however, which looks like something is attached to the headshell.

Great day at Martin's, as usual. What a wonderful system he has! Very educational, as usual, too... Boy did we discover some stuff to report on, but later - too knackered now to type much!

Martin, many thanks again for your excellent hospitality (and superb sarnies)

Laters,
Marco.

I was puzzled, but I thought it might be the Shure M3D.

Cheers

[MartinT]

Can you elaborate on the cables ? I take it Marco produced some of his relatively cheap ones. While I can hear differences at a sane price point I have always been a sceptic on the meriits of realy expensive stuff v improving your hardware.

Think I'll start a new thread on this, but briefly: I discovered that two lengths of Kimber KS-1121 that I had just bought (seriously pricy balanced interconnects) do not sound the same as the original one I have from about 6 years ago. Despite being well burned in, they sounded hard in the upper mid and sibilant. I replaced them with Paul Hynes Fine Silver XLRs and everything about my system balance was restored.

Therefore, the Kimbers are going on eBay and Paul will be getting another order from me.

[Audioman]

Think I'll start a new thread on this, but briefly: I discovered that two lengths of Kimber KS-1121 that I had just bought (seriously pricy balanced interconnects) do not sound the same as the original one I have from about 6 years ago. Despite being well burned in, they sounded hard in the upper mid and sibilant. I replaced them with Paul Hynes Fine Silver XLRs and everything about my system balance was restored.

Therefore, the Kimbers are going on eBay and Paul will be getting another order from me.

If you bought them of RA and had them less than 30 days you can return for a refund !

[MartinT]

I've just missed the 30 day deadline, but I'll write to them. Thanks. Otherwise, it's off to eBay with them.

[Marco]

Talking of cables, that Furutech tonearm cable David sent me was a bit tasty, eh Martin?

Just when we thought things couldn't get any better, we popped that in, and it was like the T/T had been upgraded with a more expensive cartridge!! I've heard less of an improvement with whole component changes....

Marco.

[MartinT]

It's easy sometimes to forget what a well designed cable swap can do to the sound. This is a case in point: it would not be easy to predict what a whopping improvement in sound quality a tonearm cable swap could elicit.

Also, how interesting that it sounded like a silver cable? I like silver cables but had not thought much about how recognisable silver sounds.