What Does It Take To Surpass A SME V?

@albertporter -Albert, thanks for weighing in. I think this did address the OP’s question directly based on your experience.

@mijostyn - I’m not taking "shots" at you and feel for you if you are suffering from an influenza.

As you might recall, I have both the Kuzma Airline and the 4 Pt 9" arms. The pods for the XL are 30 lbs each and are immovable without considerable effort. My set up is on an HRS platform, which in turn sits on the big Minus K bench top isolator-the BM-1, which has an optional floor stand of welded steel with a phenolic top and indents for the feet. It is tricky to set up, particularly with a table like the XL where there is no single center of mass and that mass is distributed via the HRS platform. It does work well, though. And the trick to adjusting the arm level is to use the arm behavior itself-- using the technique of how it tracks in the run-out groove as well as its behavior along the rail on which the arm travels.

I’ve found that lower compliance cartridges, like the stone Koetsus, behave better in this arm than higher compliance cartridges. There is no "wander" or "hunting and seeking" unless the record itself is out of round. My experience with this set up is that you don’t hear the sound of a record playing--what I call a "halo" which is an artifact you can more easily discern when it is absent.

This is not for everybody- it’s complicated by the need for an air compressor, which is located in another room in a silencer box I had fabricated (by wood workers, I don’t have your skill). I hear no air hiss or high frequency anomalies caused by the air bearing; I’d say the biggest negatives are cost, set up and dealing with air compressors (I got pretty good at servicing them- the Silentaire folks are not far from me, in Houston, and have been great).

PS: the Koetsu also lends a certain gravitas to the sound that the Lyra and Airtights lacked. Interestingly, when at Albert’s we directly compared the Airtight Opus to a Koetsu Blue Lace--you can readily hear the difference on Albert’s system-the Opus was more linear in sound, but I could hear more "wood" on the drum sticks via the Koetsu. Perhaps a coloration, a little of that Koetsu "technicolor" splendor, but it works really well in my system, given the character of the Avantgarde Duos and the rest of the system in my room with the addition of 15" subs and DSP (only on those subs).

I hope you feel better.

Bill

Hi, Albert. Nice to hear from you, and I hope you are well. Happy New Year.

Whart, that’s a beautiful system. I assume you have no feedback problem with the horns aimed so directly at your TT? Which Allnic phono stage is seen on the shelf below your TT? I’d like to hear that system.

Speaking of which, I noted that there are at least two others besides myself who live in the Washington, DC, area. (I live in Bethesda, MD, which is naught but a suburb of DC.)  Pindac seems to derive a lot of benefit from his local audiophile associations, and I think perhaps it would be fun if we also could occasionally get together for chat and auditions.  If anyone is interested, we can go from there.

@lewm- it is an H3000 which I got from a guy in Texas named Porter, when he distributed the line in the States. I only roll the rectifier and my fav for my system voicing is a GEC u-52, another not so easy to find tube these days. (I did get a NIB metal base Philips-Miniwatt from Andy at VTS, it has marvelous bass-but is less airy in my system-in a different system it might be better- it’s now a grail tube). No, no feedback issues at all. (NB- the depth of field in the photo makes it look like that horn is aimed at the TT, but the horns are toed in just past the "plane" of the table and they are pretty directional). 

Audio clubs, formal or informal, are great. I was involved in one in NY back in the ’80s-- got to meet a lot of people who in turn shared their systems, swapped records and had fun. That’s one of the reasons--apart from finally meeting Albert in person after many years--that my recent visit to Albert’s was such fun. He has a regular listening group every week. We listened to a lot of different things (his Studer is gorgeous as was his selection of tapes), had some laughs and enjoyed each other’s company. It’s a great way to express and stimulate your interests in music, gear and all the "stuff" we seem to do in this pursuit. DC metro seems to have a fair number of audiophiles.

There are a few people I’m aware of here in Austin that have serious systems, but very little brick and mortar, which used to be another way to meet and hang-- the after hours demos, the friends you make in the hobby, etc.

Obviously, if you ever get to Austin, you are welcome to visit.

I used to hang around local emporia for audio, until I began to feel guilty about taking up space and not buying gear. Stopped going about 20 years ago, but that didn’t prevent most local businesses from failing. Tokyo is just the opposite; they still have wonderful stores and no one seems to care how long you loiter, although I do also buy stuff usually.

Still waiting to know if mijostyn has actually spent any time with a properly set up ET2, or any other linear tracker for that matter.  Hope you feel better mijo, some nasty bugs out there,