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Best Bang For The Buck I've Ever Spent

Recently installed the Primacoustic London 12 acoustic panel kit purchased from Sweetwater.
Install couldn't have been easier, just a few hours.
Made sure to cover all first reflection points front wall/ceiling/side walls/rear wall.
Less than $800.00, free shipping, no tax, delivered to my home.
Have a dedicated listening room, a dedicated AC line, and have spent many hours on speaker and listening seat positions.
The packaging from Primacoustic was first-rate.
The service from Sweetwater was too.
The difference in resolution was startling.
FWIW, IMO, before anyone spends $ on another piece of gear, spend it on sound treatments.
I'm sure glad I did.
Happy listening...

Tom
tomcarr
terry9
2,354 posts
 
No contest on this. Resonance damping adhesive pads, used on drum kits, for my tonearm. Cost $10 for a significant difference.

For a component, the Trans-Fi air bearing tonearm at $1000.

For accessory, ultrasound.
randy-11
1,913 posts
 
$800 is not a lot to spend on art for the living room - tell the wife the artist is young and his work will go up in value

you'll need to get the splatter painted acoustic panels tho
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,085 posts
 

Terry, are you speaking of the RTOM Moongel drumhead damping pads? They are pretty subtle on heads (I’ve used small cotton pads taped onto mine---long used by studio drummers---for many years), but never tried them on a tonearm. Sounds promising. Better than Sorbothane? I’ve read that the Moongel pads are used by some for stylus cleaning, a scary idea for a Decca/London pickup user!

Coincidently, I have become aware of and interested in the Trans-Fi Terminator arm myself. Have you heard it in comparison with the Eminent Technology air bearing arm? That arm is still available on a limited basis, but now costs $4500! Used 2.0’s can occasionally be found for under a grand, however. I’ve seen and heard that arm on many Oracle Delphi’s and VPI’s (favorite combinations of the late Brooks Berdan, whose shop I spent a lot of time in), but the designer of the Terminator shows a London Super Gold, my favorite pickup, mounted on his arm on the T-F website. An arm designed and built by a London user has GOT to be something special! Some of the Decca/London enthusiasts on the Lenco Users Forum swear by the arm for those cartridges. The most exciting arm in years, and only $1000!

terry9
2,354 posts
 
@bdp24

No, I’m afraid that I haven’t compared to the ET directly. That is a fine tonearm and one of my friends owns one.

But - it’s high pressure, which means an oil compressor (maintenance), or a very very noisy oil-free unit.

But - it’s hard to see that the azimuth adjustment can be anything like as fine as the Trans-Fi, which has a 2 inch adjustment base, which yields adjustment increments of 5 minutes of arc.

But - it has no flat spaces for affixing extra weights to adjust mass, or apply Moongel.

But - the wand sits on the end of a tube, which would appear to be less stable.

But - it’s 5 times more money !!!

Another reason to buy the Trans-Fi - the owner, Vic, went on a mission to make the tonearm work for me. Change the fasteners? No problem. Need a custom mounting tower? Done, no charge. You think that might sound better? You’re right, it’s incorporated in the new edition.

I put one on a Nottingham Analogue Mentor, which was upgraded to beyond Dais specs. Big improvement. It runs a Mayajima Zero.

I bought another one for my DIY air bearing turntable with 45 Kg platter. Very fine. It runs a higher end Koetsu.

If I try another tonearm, it will be a Durand.

But - of course, YMMV.

terry9
2,354 posts
 
Another thing about the Trans-Fi - it's just made to be modified and tweaked.

When I got into experimenting with mounting torques, I calculated that I needed more strength in the mounting nuts. So, I bought a disc of copper-nickel alloy, and had two mounting holes drilled and tapped into the disc. Presto - superb distribution of force, good looks, mass where it's needed for the low compliance cartridge, and strength to spare.
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