@slaw yeah, I don’t really like to broadcast much about any spending that I do and I almost never buy anything very expensive, my system was mostly pieced together used and would probably be viewed as mid-fi by the Audiogon gang, but as many of us audio nuts do, I looked around quite a bit for years for something different and new and I will tell you and my other friends on the thread here about it.
What I did first was move my entire rig into a heavy cabinet in another room from where the big speakers are in the living room. So the table could be on solid footing with very little vibration or air movement. This requires kind of a long speaker wire run under the floor but I got good shielded stuff for the job from Transparent. This change really made a significant improvement In SQ coming from my 30+ y/o 1200. Feedback eliminated, resonances greatly reduced, less noise. Might sound crazy but putting my turntable in the next room really worked.
So then, since I didn’t have to worry so much about isolation, I got my own idea (who knows if it would be considered correct to a real audiophile) that I should go with mass rather than springs. I also thought I should demonstrate to myself what a good belt drive might do.
In the haze and deliberation of copious research I eventually became beguiled by the Pro-Ject xtention:
https://www.project-audio.com/en/product/xtension-10-evolution/
I did not have the prejudice against this maker of value equipment that I’ve heard many do because I really don’t know enough to have that problem.
This turntable is so nice to look at, especially in person, that I sometimes second guessed my own judgements as well as the good reviews about it. But I got over that and saved up for one. Then, when my favorite stereo store, Echo Audio, here in Portland offered their demo example I bought it. They also gave me a significant additional discount to take it without the packaged sumiko cartridge. So all in I got a virtually perfect tt for about half of the retail price.
I put my Hana SL on it with the Origin Live enabler between the cartridge and the fixed arm. I don’t think the 1200, as much as I loved it, was quite able to show what the Hana was capable of.
The dealer, who I consider a friend who helps me a lot even when I’m not buying things, put his elaborate TT software to the setup and got exceptional results. The best he had seen on the software to that point. I’m not even really sure what all the measurements mean but we agreed that it sounds very good.
After a few weeks of listening here at home I remain astonished at the analogue sound I have now. I know it’s considered too easy to say things like it’s magical but I find myself wanting to say things like that. It is really astonishing.
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Beethoven
Symphony No. 6 in F Major
Op. 68 “Pastoral”
Berliner Philharmoniker
Sir Simon Rattle
From the 2017 Boxed Set