ZYX Airy 3x/SB vs. Dynavector XV-1 or 1s

BTW-Doug,I admit to being up,last night(Thursday),until 3 am,doing(STILL)JUST THAT.I think? I have found a way to pull a smidgen better timbral performance,by increasing the height,on the phono tubes,of the "Herbies" tube dampers.This has allowed me to "voice" a bit more,to my taste.I'm going in,for the final round,tonight,but admit I'm REALLY tired of fotzing around!!Though I'm happy my system has the ability to tell me of such minute changes.

BTW--I hope you REALLY forgave the "little" devil(on my left shoulder) vs "little angel (on the right one).I killed off the left sided terror.He should not rear his head for a long time.I hope!!!

Just an update on the progress I've made based on Doug's and Speedy's recommendations...

Although the 'brightness' issue on my ZYX/2.2 setup has not completely gone away, I believe I've made some progress. Since Friday, 11/11, I've been fine tuning SRA and VTF settings and have logged a total of 18 critical (alcohol-free) listening hours and damaged about 6 decent 180 gram LPs due to repeated playback of certain 'test' tracks. A small price to pay for the improvements gained in my opinion. I also played around a bit with the impedance setting (lowering) but was not happy with the outcome so it's still at the ZYX recommended 100 ohms.

A VTF setting of 2.05 works best in relation to my current 'almost parallel' SRA setting. Previous VTF was 1.9 and SRA was slightly 'butt lower'. All tests were done using 180 and 200 gram vinyl (both 33 and 45) but I have marked the scale to compensate for 140 gram pressings. I was able to tame down a bit of the brightness -- say about 30% (without any noticeable HF rolloff) with the new settings.

I'm now ready to move on to the next stage -- damping fluid, which appears to be the more tedious task. I don't intend to play around with the SRA and VTF settings in relation to damping fluid adjustments (sounds like a true test of patience). Should be able to report back sometime next week.

Thanks again for your recommendations.

Ca2284,sounds like you are on the right track,to good set-up,AND more importantly,learning about critical set-up,which makes a huge difference,in a high res system.

I don't want to spoil the party,BUT----You will definitely NOT get the most out of your fluid(TINY amounts at a time)efforts if you do not go back and recheck/revoice tracking force,and VTA,after each addition,or subtraction of fluid.These work in conjunction with one-another(sort of like a rubick's cube).It is a very tedious series of adjustments,which I'm fairly certain most will not be happy about doing,to this level,and I don't blame them!!I know it sucks,but that's the way it is!!I don't want to come off as arrogant about this.Let's call it "militant",instead!Just kidding!!

Believe me,I've spent hours upon hours with this,and trust me----"I friggin HATE fotzing around" to this level,but I know what I'm talking about,here.Sorry!!

The good news is #1-Nobody is really forcing you to actually do all this.#2-In reality it will be you,not any of us,who benefit.

The first two were really just a bit of humor.#3-(this is really the good news)-The fine tuning needed "after fluid addition/subtraction"(pinheads at a time) is in very small increments,and is easily repeatable due to accurate markings on your arm.Also,it is of paramount importance that you have a very good DIGITAL guage.Accurate to 1/10 gms will NOT be enough to get the very high level of performance,this arm/cartridge can deliver,if the rest of your system is up to it!Possibly you can borrow a "WINDS" guage,or consider the excellent Digi-One stylus guage,which is not too pricey,and superb.

Remember to carefully take out the bearing,and place it with the "tip" facing up.Now with a toothpick,or actual pin,(I like to use a pin,because with a toothpick there is a bit of absobtion,into the wood.Am I obsessed,or what?)add tiny amounts to the bearing tip.Hope this helps,and doesn't drive you out of the hobby!

Believe it or not,I'm actually done with ALL my tweakings!!Thank GOD!!!!

Best of luck!!

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experience.

Ca2284,

Glad to see you're making progress. Keep at it!

SirSpeedy,

Alls well that ends well.

Interesting results you're getting moving the Herbies, and it makes sense. A tube in its socket should vibrate more at the top than at the base. Moving the dampers upward should dampen that movement better.

I have two Herbies on each tube in my preamp/phono. Two sounds better than one and I'd use three if I had the space. Herbie's website warns about "overdamping", but I have a hard time imagining how ANY vibration would improve the performance of a tube. If damping a tube makes the system sound lean or dry, there's a problem elsewhere in the system.