Having actually seen Jean’s luscious Garrard 301, I have to stand by the original assessment that it is, in fact, “stunning” - no overstatement about it.
Our afternoon of listening at Jean’s digs, however, was taken up exclusively with Mr. Red which was quite a treat for me. (While Grant aka gjwAudio1 was there too, these impressions are solely mine and he should weigh in with his own take.)
Well, first the journalist in me was so much reduced by the subjective enjoyment of the session that I failed to objectively keep track of what combo was playing what – i.e. the Morch/Decca or the AS-R1/Denon DL-103“E”. But no matter – as this wasn’t a track by track comparison session to dig out the nuanced differences between the two (on which Jean has already reported) – but an audition where both armed combos were given free range to come “on song” by utilizing the Mr. Red based Lenco as a foundation and springboard.
My initial impression (and this will have to be for both arm combos as I was at a loss to discern the difference) was that this was a level of detail that defied the analog sourcing that I was listening to. This was a “digging out” that went beyond crisp/full frequency response and marched right into the field of quick paced timing and rhythm.
Non-analog descriptors came to mind like “attack & decay” – “tight envelopes” and digital “pace”. It was truly a listening experience that would have had many searching for a hidden SACD player. But if one listened carefully, the absence of truncation and clip allowed for a bloom that could only be analog.
For dessert, our amenable host outfitted the golden Morch Unipivot with the Grado Platinum woody. This produced a lush warmth that I was much more familiar with. Detail wasn’t lost, but was simply upstaged by the richness of what one might call a glorious “music hall” sound. The Grado promptly staked out its own turf in a field that would encompass all large ensemble recordings.
For me, there really wasn’t any issue of supercedence between the cartridge/arm combos. Each claimed its own laurel as an analog retriever. Before this session, my audition exposure to “detailed” retrievers was invariably linked to a “clinical” experience. Jean’s set-ups have changed all that. I love my Grados and someday soon, I’ll go Platinum. But I was so enthralled in what I heard from the D&D twins that I’m glad my Lenco plinth can host two arms.
We also were able to apply and test MuMetal on Grant’s Lenco platter in Jean’s system. This, I would call a qualified success. Success, in that it clearly provided a barrier to EMF induced hum on the Decca. Qualified, in that there was some slight hum in the first ¼” to ½” of play arc. This may have been attributed to:
1) That I had previously hammered out some slight ridging in this area. (Hammering, I would later learn, breaks down Mu shielding properties.)
2) The Canadian winter conspired to hamper a glue set-up temperature for an optimal meld to the platter.
3) Jean’s system was able to pick up a diminished “wrap-around” of EMF that I wasn’t able to pick up on my home system.
In the end, this was a wonderful and an all-around educational experience for me: Plumbing the depths of how this seemingly primordial means of recorded music can be retrieved in a magical way into something so full blown. I know there is a scientific explanation for each step along this analog trail – but somehow I can’t shake the notion that wizardry is somehow involved.
-Mario
