Hello from the Country all, I've been overcoming Culture Shock in reverse, adapting to Western society after months spent in a Middle Eastern lifestyle and mind-set. I confess I do miss the walks along the beaches and in the mountains and medieval fortress cities, the movement and the exotic situations!! But, it's back to work and setting up the workshop after it had been mothballed for months. Out here the internet is snail-slow, but I'm working on this.
I'd like to thank you all for your support in the face of DungBeetle (who is obssessed not with the truth, but instead with mud-slinging and uncoveriung mopre dirt, evidently, being satisfied with nothing else...we'll go back to his old name when he shows evidence of positive as well as negative attitudes, and actual investigation of the situation). Telling that these types have to resort to my ancient pre-professional cabinet-maker plinths (I hired one to train me and help me out in gaining the Wyetech Lenco score for the brilliant PR/evidence this provided) I have let stand under my "system" to encourage novices (as I was then) to join in, be proud regardless (have fun and be creative to substiutute for ultimate quality of finish) and add to the store of evidence; questions of aesthetics being counted as superior to issues of performance, simply put a pissing contest. Even more incredible to me that some find this sort of issue/attack acceptable and join in. Those watching who are interested in the truth and the public record can download the original thread at Lenco Lovers, inspect my own Audiogon "system" (also for photos of my later more aesthetically acceptable work which has been there for close on two years now ;-)), and use their heads to put together the real story by extrapolation and some research.
Moving on to more pleasant matters, I've been thinking about the Lenco vs EMT 930 experience in Cyprus, which settles various issues I was thinking about. To wit, whether the Lenco with European motor running off European voltages and cycles sounds precisely the same as the same Lenco running in NA, a question which has come up in various e-mails. Happy to report that to these ears the Lenco sounded precisely identical in both contexts, which should be the case as the Lenco first blew me away in Europe before being shipped back to Canada/NA a decade later.
Another aspect of the experiment concerns a favourite subject of mine: the issue of subjective vs objective evidence. I have always been on record saying that music is NOT an entirely objective experience, of course, and so we must trust our bodily and emotional reactions in determining the superiority of various engineering solutions to reproducing music (and this includes the old MM vs MC debate ;-)). I.E.: if one 'table makes/forces you up out of your chair while the next makes it entirely an passive intellectual experience, then the one which raises you up is dong something right while the one which leaves you untouched emotionally and biologically is doing something wrong. Furthermore, there are engineering/scientific reasons for this, and in the case of record players this has everything to do with issues of speed stability. The ultimate scientific tool is the human ear, and trumps all theories and measuring instruments and systems in the context of home audio systems.
Since it is impossible to have perfection in any physical manifestation (i.e. there are always imperfections), then the issue becomes one of which types of imperfections in speed stability the human ear is sensitive to. So, for instance, I believe quartz-locking/referencing DDs is a mistake, as the human ear is extremely sensitive to the resulting form of speed INstability (negatively affected), however impressive the test figures are, which are necessarily averaged out in any testing. Idler-wheel drives (and belt-drives), however, are a purely analog/momentum solution to the issue of speed stabilty, and both are more fluid-sounding (less "dry"/analytical) than the quartz-locking DD solution. I'll write more on this later when I have more time to think and write and experiment.
All this leading up to another subjective reaction I had when listening to the EMT 930 vs Lenco: while the EMT was undeniably powerful, fluid, entertaining and rivetting, the Lenco did that familiar trick, raising the hairs in my arms and causing me to shiver, something the EMT failed to do. The Lenco - Direct Coupled to a high non-resonsant mass (which the EMT cannot be to the same extent) and Glass-Reinforced to address the resonant top-plate - provides not only better resolution of complex material than the 9,000 euro EMT, more detail, more high-frequency extension and greater focus - it provides a deeper musical experience, and I submit the Prime Directive in the reproduction of music in the home is depth of musical experience; detail and such-like being more in the nature of icing on the cake. This applies as well to the MM vs MC debate, which was my angle all along, not really matters of detail/information-retrieval, though indeed certain MMs - Deccas, some Grados, upper Pickerings and vintage Ortofons - do indeed extract an astonishing amount of information when sympathetically set-up. I'm happy to report however that some MCs do indeed provide an intense PRaT-filled musical experience (usually the preserve of good MMs), such as the Ortofon SPUs, the Ortofon Jubilee, and the Denon DL-103s (in its various guises). In terms of musical intensity, only the Denon matches a good MM (and moving irons) so far, while adding that extra focus/clarity MCs are so good at.
Anyway, this is me getting trying to get back on track after my months-long interruption, I'm setting up a new system and experiment with different components, thanks again for all your support and kind words, keep the Idler Ball rolling!! I'll be back with more as I once again get exposed to the sound of idler-wheel drives and various other 'tables, including the Sony 2250 DD. Over to you all and your respective reports and experiences now ;-), I'll be a while settling in and cogitating and experimenting. WHAT fun!!
