A Copernican View of the Turntable System

Dear Thuchan – thnx so much for the tube book reference. I had such a wonderful time a few years ago swapping tubes when I had an SP8 and changing its sound. I miss that THICK sounding preamp.

I have a large drawer full of tubes from the experience and I have told my fraternal 16 year old twins that drawer may not look like much – but in 10 years what it contains will be worth – well at least 2 – 3 times if not more than what they are worth today. What’s in their dad? Old TV tubes I tell them. And they laugh. “Yeah they are from Holland, Germany former Jugoslavia and other places like that and some from the US. But don’t be in a rush to get them – they may break”.

Prepping for the Juniors

I set up an alternate rig to practice with the Juniors next weekend to see how they work and to see how good they isolate.

See here
http://cgim.audiogon.com/i/vs/i/f/1302538853.jpg

I purposely placed the setup in the middle of the upstairs room containing hardwood floors. What a terrible location but perfect for this experiment - if they work here they will work anywhere. Based on what Geoch said about parallel tracker users using them, I chose to set up my 12” pivot arm on my first armpod (the steel one). I figured this would be of more interest to people here. Again based on some fears about learning how to use the Jrs. (from Geoch’s posts) I mounted a cheap Grado Black on the arm and aligned it with the table and started to get used to it. I have to say with the armpod it took no time at all to align the pivot arm. I set it high so that the Jrs. would fit under the armpod and the arm could be lowered.

BTW for this experiment - I pulled an old SL1200 out of a closet to use as the drive system while I play . I have to say as well how good that SL1200 keeps time. Hmmm - with a little damping and new feet – who knows ?

I will practice with the Juniors here on weekend before trying them under the brass armpod.

Cheers Chris

Dear Chris,

I was finishing the last meters on my loudspeaker project, now having exactley calibrated the attenuators and all fixed in a special box. This was the time to close the rear front cover. All done now!

Next I went into the Technics SP 10 MK II experiment in a nice but not Panzerholz or slate based wooden plinth. It is a good sounding machine, nevertheless not exactely reaching my demands. Maybe I am a bit spoiled too and it is different with a MK III in a plinth of Albert or Dobbins. But the prices for a good combo are getting insane regarding how much this Pro-series went in earlier times.

I am glad that you like tubes, there are also nice ones from the US :-)

Dear Corb, -thanks for the hint.

Best & Fun Only - Thuchan

Dear Thuchan

For me personally it did not meet my needs either in the plinth that I used. 7 layers of birch version. Not an exotic one like you mention.

My current nude set up with isolated arm pod gets me much closer to my personal audio nirvana.

You have a great many tables. All I can say is there are a number of us here that would love your opinion of it in a nude set up with an isolated arm pod. It is a different animal set up this way.

But I am sure you have many higher priority projects so I understand it if this is not possible. Time is so short for these activities I find.

Thank you for your impressions. Chris

Symposium Jr Initial Impressions under Armpod

Okay – I agreed to be the guinea pig for this and now am glad I did.

I say this because I have never tried symposium rollerblocks in the past. We all have various products we use for tweaking - this was not one of them for me. This experiment with the Jrs has to be the most odd and extreme one for me as it goes against conventional thinking – I admit that. But then I am going through a period of experimentation since the nude TT and armpod – we are on a roll. And the costs for the real improvements I can actually hear have been negligible.

What is the easiest way for me to describe for you what using these Jrs. is like under an armpod ? If you have ever used a VPI JMW pivot tonearm (I know there are a great many of these tonearms out there) then you are very familiar with the way the tonearm “shakes and squirms” in its pivot as you lift it and set it over the lp until the needle hits the groove. The Symposium Jrs. under the arm pod “extend” this type of movement down into the armpod so that the armpod and tonearm have the same action and feel. This best describes what its like to use them. It moves around but it does not and will not fall over. It finds its original place again very easily.

They are very easy to set up. But –BOTH surfaces must be level and straight (1) the platform on the bottom, that the Jr. rests on and (2) the bottom of the armpod that the top Jr is up against. If you are using a brass cylinder as an arm pod you need to make sure the bottom of it is smooth.

From my last post the test setup was on purpose, in a bad location suspended hardwood floors. The Jrs. reduced skipping when walking by greatly compared to the regular setup on spikes. The sound difference was noticeable to me even with the cheap old cartridge I was testing with, so I decided to go the next step and set the armpod up next to my sp10 in my sound room.

I believe if you take a cheap but functioning cartridge and put it in a good system, that you will make it sound much better than you think it has a right to sound. Likewise take a good cartridge – put it in a below average system and it will sound like a cheap cartridge.

The cheap grado black cartridge was bearable in my system with the Jrs. It was not bearable without them. Re-read what I just said in last 2 sentences because I am saying a lot here.

Am I ready to try the Jrs. with a $500 - $1000 + cartridge – not yet . Will it make a $500 cartridge sound better – if I was betting on this I would put my money down on it. But I need more time to practice.

On the whole tonearm/armpod/Jrs setup -

You either have the touch or you don’t. I can’t speak for you and I will not be responsible for cartridge failure due to clumsiness or accidents. If you are able to line up a cartridge on your own with the micro movements that are required, than this should be very easy for you.

I found it was easier to put the needle down than it was to raise it at the end of the record. But then I had it setup in the back as a second arm. It is going to take practice. A light touch to keep the armpod from moving. Very definitely give this a try with a cheap cartridge. You need to try it out to see if this is for you. As our friend Geoch said – not for the faint hearted? But the results are definitely rewarding to those that are able to do it.

Cheers Chris

Whow so cool.