Jason's Techy T/T blog and the arrival of the Jelco 'big boy' c/w

[Marco]

Sounds good! However, why not simply try another arm on it in conjunction with the Time Step? That may just make all the difference you need...

Ask Dave to fit a Jelco while you're there! I'd also be interested in Dave's opinion of the Kenwood.

Marco.

[Ammonite Audio]

Sounds good! However, why not simply try another arm on it in conjunction with the Time Step? That may just make all the difference you need...

Ask Dave to fit a Jelco while you're there! I'd also be interested in Dave's opinion of the Kenwood.

Marco.

I'm not spending any more big bundles of cash on it - the motor dynamics mod is the last part of the experiment, particularly as the Kenwood has more to give once its Paul Hynes PSU has arrived.

I did have a chat with Dave at Heathrow on Saturday, and with hindsight, a reconditioned SP10 would have been better value than all this fiddling with the SL-1210! I had no idea that an SP10 was such a reasonable price from Sound HiFi.

[Marco]

He'll fit one for free to try and you can judge the results yourself! However if you don't want to go there that's fine

particularly as the Kenwood has more to give once its Paul Hynes PSU has arrived.

In your opinion only, so far, of course...

I know of Dave's "reconditioned" SP10s, but the last I seen they were lying on the floor of his workshop, far from being 'reconditioned'...

If some of Dave's SP10s are 'ready to go', or imminent, I'd like to know about it!!

Marco.

[Ammonite Audio]

In your opinion only, so far, of course...

Marco.

Quite.

[Marco]

Cool. What exactly did Dave say about the availability of his SP10s?

Marco.

[Ammonite Audio]

I didn't ask, but he did tell me that rough old ones make a good buy, as the costs of reconditioning are reasonable, and all the chips etc are readily available. In essence, the advice was not to pay over the odds for a 'good' one, when he can sell a fully reworked one for (iirc) around £750. I may be wrong on that, and I'm sure Dave would be the first to correct me, but when I consider how much the SL-1210 has cost me so far, the SP10 in a plain plinth is the same sort of money. I've never heard an SP10, and I'm not about to go after one now, but it was a fairly illuminating conversation with Dave.

[Marco]

Interesting stuff, Shugs. Having spoken to Dave only last week about this matter when I was down at his place I suspect that given his workload at the moment you'd have a long wait for a completed reconditioned one to be ready for sale!

However, the point you're making is extremely valid and one I wholly agree with. I have seen the 'gubbins' that makes up an SP10 (he showed me), particularly the motor unit, which is a different ball game compared to the one in the SL-1210.

Bear in mind though that Dave is on record here as saying that a fully modified SL-1200 or 1210 is 95% as good as an equivalent SP10, so it would appear that the obvious superiority of the parts used in an SP10 doesn't necessarily translate into huge differences in sound quality. This is certainly borne out by my listening experiences to both so far, although I would expect one of Dave's reconditioned units to raise the bar a bit further, hence why I am interested in buying one when they become available

Sifting through the second-hand knackered ones, hammered in radio stations and broadcasting studios, and all the hassle this entails to find a good one, is the only reason I haven't bought an SP10 so far.

Marco.

[Dave Cawley]

Yes 5%. And yes, my work load is considerable. But he who waits; gets the golden goose, with egg fried rice



Regards

Dave

[Marco]

Oh don't worry, I'm waiting!!

Marco.

P.S You have an email regarding silver tonearm cable

[jonners]

How's the LH-18 doing, John - still hitting the spot?

Marco.

Yes indeed. I thought I might try different materials for the spacer - they will need to be lighter than Dave's copper one, though. A bit of spruce tonewood may go there next.