Thank you all for your responses.
Twl,
Obviously I know you're the inventor of the mods, no need to recuse yourself. I've read all of that amazing thread and everyone who's tried it declares it's a keeper. You should be proud of your baby.
It's good to know that azimuth adjustment is "optional".
I had the same reaction as you to the concept of vertical damping. Damping the arm at the beginning and end of a warp would momentarily increase effective tracking weight. This "should" have only a minor sonic effect. Damping the arm at the top of the warp would prevent a momentary decrease in effective tracking force. This "should" help prevent mis-tracking that might otherwise be audible. Theoretical conclusion: a judicious amount of vertical damping should provide audible benefits on warped records, though possibly minor ones. I suppose experimentation would be in order.
Thanks for the tip on the Expressimo Heavyweight. How would you compare it to your suspended weight mod?
Gregm,
Thanks for the Morch insights. There aren't many users of this arm so it's hard to find a review. Your observations were especially pertinent since our music is also 99% classical, including lots of large scale works. That's what steered me toward the 901 vs. the 501. The 901 reportedly shines in large scale works.
Yes it will be a fairly exotic setup, though hardly in Twl's league. The rest of my stuff is downright pedestrian by comparison. I doubt I'll ever buy another TT. I can't say that about anything else in the system.
4yanx,
At last! Someone who's heard both arms, even if un-modded. Your comparison is about what I would have guessed, but my expectations are based entirely on reading rather than listening. Always best to get an ears-on report. I don't particularly fear working with a tonearm, but then you know what they say about fools and angels!
All,
The Morch was just snapped up by someone else. (If it was one of you, grrr!) Looks like it will be an OL Silver after all. Thanks again for the help. Maybe I'll upgrade to a DP-6 next year, after paying off all this exotica. Really like the idea of a 12" arm. I haven't needed to adjust for skating or non-tangent tracking in over 25 years.
Doug
Twl,
Obviously I know you're the inventor of the mods, no need to recuse yourself. I've read all of that amazing thread and everyone who's tried it declares it's a keeper. You should be proud of your baby.
It's good to know that azimuth adjustment is "optional".
I had the same reaction as you to the concept of vertical damping. Damping the arm at the beginning and end of a warp would momentarily increase effective tracking weight. This "should" have only a minor sonic effect. Damping the arm at the top of the warp would prevent a momentary decrease in effective tracking force. This "should" help prevent mis-tracking that might otherwise be audible. Theoretical conclusion: a judicious amount of vertical damping should provide audible benefits on warped records, though possibly minor ones. I suppose experimentation would be in order.
Thanks for the tip on the Expressimo Heavyweight. How would you compare it to your suspended weight mod?
Gregm,
Thanks for the Morch insights. There aren't many users of this arm so it's hard to find a review. Your observations were especially pertinent since our music is also 99% classical, including lots of large scale works. That's what steered me toward the 901 vs. the 501. The 901 reportedly shines in large scale works.
Yes it will be a fairly exotic setup, though hardly in Twl's league. The rest of my stuff is downright pedestrian by comparison. I doubt I'll ever buy another TT. I can't say that about anything else in the system.
4yanx,
At last! Someone who's heard both arms, even if un-modded. Your comparison is about what I would have guessed, but my expectations are based entirely on reading rather than listening. Always best to get an ears-on report. I don't particularly fear working with a tonearm, but then you know what they say about fools and angels!
All,
The Morch was just snapped up by someone else. (If it was one of you, grrr!) Looks like it will be an OL Silver after all. Thanks again for the help. Maybe I'll upgrade to a DP-6 next year, after paying off all this exotica. Really like the idea of a 12" arm. I haven't needed to adjust for skating or non-tangent tracking in over 25 years.
Doug