Good to see you back, Halcro. First, I hope that you and yours are well and staying healthy during this crazy time we are all living through.
Interesting cartridge comparison as always. Stunning playing by Stern and, as usual, your system sounds fabulous (with the Victors; but, with a very strong caveat). I will offer two observations that may or may not be related; although I suspect that they are. I hesitated to point these out, but it really makes a fair comparison impossible for me.
You have treated us to the sound of your TW Acustic Raven several times previously and while its beautiful sound has shown some qualities that in comparison to the Victor’s direct drive design could be attributed to its belt drive design never did I hear anything that I would describe as speed instability of any kind (however subtle). Admittedly, sustained piano notes as in the Bloch’s introduction are a brutal test for any turntable. However, in comparison to the Victor turntable’s rock solid speed stability the Raven shows a subtle pitch waver in the sustained piano notes. More importantly and re my comment about another possibly related observation is the fact that the Raven is running a full semitone (half step) too fast; not a small deviation. This changes the key of both the Bloch and Armatrading selections (semitone higher). Could all this point to a problem with the Raven’s drive system?
Warm regards.
Interesting cartridge comparison as always. Stunning playing by Stern and, as usual, your system sounds fabulous (with the Victors; but, with a very strong caveat). I will offer two observations that may or may not be related; although I suspect that they are. I hesitated to point these out, but it really makes a fair comparison impossible for me.
You have treated us to the sound of your TW Acustic Raven several times previously and while its beautiful sound has shown some qualities that in comparison to the Victor’s direct drive design could be attributed to its belt drive design never did I hear anything that I would describe as speed instability of any kind (however subtle). Admittedly, sustained piano notes as in the Bloch’s introduction are a brutal test for any turntable. However, in comparison to the Victor turntable’s rock solid speed stability the Raven shows a subtle pitch waver in the sustained piano notes. More importantly and re my comment about another possibly related observation is the fact that the Raven is running a full semitone (half step) too fast; not a small deviation. This changes the key of both the Bloch and Armatrading selections (semitone higher). Could all this point to a problem with the Raven’s drive system?
Warm regards.