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Jelco TK-850L review

Just received the new Jelco TK850L.
It is a drop in replacement for the previous model 750L. It retails for around $1100 from a few online retailers. However I got it from GEM Dandy's George Merrill who retails it for $895. I used the headshell from the 750. It looks like it’s the same one. I am running a Decca Super Gold with Paratrace stylus on an Audiograil early model 401 with an Audiosilente idler (just buy it) in a slate and maple plinth. Initial impression is that it is a solid improvement on the 750. Listening to Buddy Tate and Walt Davenport in Nice, France 1974. An improvement in soundstaging is immediately obvious as is speed of attack, or rise-time. Depth and width are improved. The music is more colorful. Trombone sounds more golden than I recall while the guy playing tuba sounds like he is huffing and puffing into the instrument. An added realism. Rim shots are faster and snares portray more insight into the rattles -the metal has color and feel...a mechanical quality. Percussion is much improved. Surface noise seems reduced, supressed even. Now playing Jay McShann and Janis Siegel, Ain’t Misbehavin’. Wonderful vocals and very dynamic with jump out of the stage piano fortissimo that I have never heard before. Highs better with oodles of detail but no harshness. More black space between notes... all of that.
I could go on about the minutiae but I’ll stop. This thing makes music like I’ve never heard. It is a taste of the high end which is lacking in the 750. More anon.


128x128noromance
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noromance OP
9,821 posts
 
The cons:
1. The arm rest clamp is not great. It doesn’t grab the arm like a friction type. It simply rests on it unless you close it and the hard plastic feels cheap.
2. There is a very mild and barely detectable upper bass/lower mid dip in the response more like a slight veiling of that portion of the spectrum. After swapping out the arm stub and counterweight on my 750L for an Expressimo Audio brass substitute, and experiencing the improvement wrought by that, I believe the same rubber stub on the 850 is causing this coloration (note 3). Again, it is minor. I will follow up if EA bring out a brass replacement for the 850. I spoke to Brian there and at this time there is none available.
NOTES
1. It may also be not broken in yet as I only used it for 4 hours.
2. I have not played with VTA - too busy listening to my albums all over again.
3. I also have a standard 750L with which comparisons were made.
4. Amps are Croft 25R/EICO HF35 monos, Quad ESL 57. See Virtual Systems
5. The arm looks better and bigger in the flesh than in pictures. 
raymonda
855 posts
 
4 hours is not enough time to give an assessment.  Please put in 50 hours or more and then report back.
noromance's avatar
noromance OP
9,821 posts
 
@raymonda will do. I did note that this was first impressions.

noromance's avatar
noromance OP
9,821 posts
 
Listened for another 15 hours. The clasp is annoying. I have to lock it every time I rest it. The bearings are VERY free moving. One tiny touch and off it goes so be careful. I do not use anti-skating on 12" arms.

I'm not sure why but with the same cartridge and head shell, it is, or the music is, very sensitive to changes in VTA/Stylus overhang compared to the 750. Maybe the increase in info retrieval in general betrays errors in the setup in a more obvious manner.

Anyhow, I seem to be at the sweet spot and it's sounding good. The jury is out on this aforementioned upper bass/lower mid coloration. Increasing the stylus overhang to 2mm past where it is spaced (13mm) helped.
I'm also reluctant to call it coloration - it is as if there is a slight hump in the response in the upper bass and a slight dip in the lower mids. I would love to see test results. It could also be an issue with my rig heretofore not noticed. To reiterate, it is very slight but comparing old favorite LPs, I can hear it. Overall, a good improvement offering improved detail, insight, color, sound-stage and dynamics. It's just not quite magic yet.
noromance's avatar
noromance OP
9,821 posts
 
Have a few hundred hours on it now and it seems to be settling in or I am getting used to it. I played one of my reference recordings: Frank Zappa Joe's Garage - Little Green Rosetta. It's got a lot going on with singers spread across a wide soundstage. It's always sounded much the same no matter what rig I've had over the years with the usual improvements. Not this time. The soundstage has increased in depth by 300%. Texture, transparency and insight into how the song is constructed are much improved. The best bit is the space between performers front to back has changed the presentation completely. Good fun.  

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