As I assisted Doug White on Saturday in The Voice That Is room showing Tidal & Brinkmann, please let me shed a bit more light.
On Friday, after a comment was made, Doug acknowledged there was a problem that sounded like a simple out-of-phase wire swap and spent some time during the day troubleshooting in between visitors to the room. After Friday’s show ended more evaluation led to the decision to demo digital only on Saturday until he could clearly identify the issue. At that point all indicators pointed to a likely problem with the cartridge. Friday night was filled with meetings so, other than confirming the connectivity, the analog was untouched knowing he could focus and would have my help on Saturday.
On Saturday, we played digital throughout the day amid many smiling faces and enthusiastic head nods. A number of folks commented about the great bass from the TIDAL Piano and wondered about the contribution of the subwoofer which wasn’t turned on. We later moved the woofer to a table top to clarify the point. Later that morning a reviewer asked to play his LPs. Doug explained the analog issue and, at his repeated request, we reluctantly agreed to play some for him anyway. In hindsight, that might have misled others that walked in at that point. We returned to digital playback only for the remainder of the day. Not used to gremlins, Doug agonized over the trouble and, late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, he had the chance to “test a million more times” finding the issue. As it turned out, the tonearm mounting had slipped during the relocation of the turntable from table to the rack resulting in a cartridge alignment/overhang problem. What appeared to sound like out-of-phase wiring, was actually an alignment problem (Van Den Hul stylus type). Admittedly, Doug stated he should have checked again despite the long day Thursday as digital was used in overall setup in not just one but two rooms. Lesson learned. Don’t do the show’s turntable setup after a 18 hour day. Get a good night’s sleep! Bringing a backup would be ideal but isn’t always feasible.
Sunday morning’s show opening was with the analog setup back and spinning at 100%. The same reviewer returned at 10:15 to hear a number of his LPs and shared his enthusiasm at the sound. Some attendees re-visited and analog was featured throughout the day.
Yes, it’s true that stuff happens during show setups and exhibitors go to great lengths to debug the issues as quickly as possible. Very often the best sound is experienced on Sunday because exhibitors work on their rooms constantly. Doug mentioned that he appreciated the attendee mentioning it to him, regrets his less than ideal experience, and extends an invitation for him to visit the Studio to experience the setup correctly - hopefully in the near future.
We appreciate all the kind words from visitors to Capital Audio Fest, the TVTI room and the Bricasti/TVTI room next door. We look forward to seeing you at the next show. Cheers,
Spencer
On Friday, after a comment was made, Doug acknowledged there was a problem that sounded like a simple out-of-phase wire swap and spent some time during the day troubleshooting in between visitors to the room. After Friday’s show ended more evaluation led to the decision to demo digital only on Saturday until he could clearly identify the issue. At that point all indicators pointed to a likely problem with the cartridge. Friday night was filled with meetings so, other than confirming the connectivity, the analog was untouched knowing he could focus and would have my help on Saturday.
On Saturday, we played digital throughout the day amid many smiling faces and enthusiastic head nods. A number of folks commented about the great bass from the TIDAL Piano and wondered about the contribution of the subwoofer which wasn’t turned on. We later moved the woofer to a table top to clarify the point. Later that morning a reviewer asked to play his LPs. Doug explained the analog issue and, at his repeated request, we reluctantly agreed to play some for him anyway. In hindsight, that might have misled others that walked in at that point. We returned to digital playback only for the remainder of the day. Not used to gremlins, Doug agonized over the trouble and, late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, he had the chance to “test a million more times” finding the issue. As it turned out, the tonearm mounting had slipped during the relocation of the turntable from table to the rack resulting in a cartridge alignment/overhang problem. What appeared to sound like out-of-phase wiring, was actually an alignment problem (Van Den Hul stylus type). Admittedly, Doug stated he should have checked again despite the long day Thursday as digital was used in overall setup in not just one but two rooms. Lesson learned. Don’t do the show’s turntable setup after a 18 hour day. Get a good night’s sleep! Bringing a backup would be ideal but isn’t always feasible.
Sunday morning’s show opening was with the analog setup back and spinning at 100%. The same reviewer returned at 10:15 to hear a number of his LPs and shared his enthusiasm at the sound. Some attendees re-visited and analog was featured throughout the day.
Yes, it’s true that stuff happens during show setups and exhibitors go to great lengths to debug the issues as quickly as possible. Very often the best sound is experienced on Sunday because exhibitors work on their rooms constantly. Doug mentioned that he appreciated the attendee mentioning it to him, regrets his less than ideal experience, and extends an invitation for him to visit the Studio to experience the setup correctly - hopefully in the near future.
We appreciate all the kind words from visitors to Capital Audio Fest, the TVTI room and the Bricasti/TVTI room next door. We look forward to seeing you at the next show. Cheers,
Spencer