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Used Morch DP-6 or modified Origin Live Silver?

Hello vinyl-philes,

Thanks largely to this forum we've shattered the piggy bank and will soon be the recipients of a Teres 265 + Shelter 901. Now I'm stuck for a tonearm. TWL and others warn against unipivots for this cartridge. We understand and agree, so we've come down to the two arms mentioned above. Either one will just about bust the budget, so going up in price is not viable at this time.

Morch DP-6 (used, $800 + phono cable)
- offers adjustable azimuth (does it matter?)
- offers adjustable vertical damping (does it matter?)
- horizontal damping controls stiff cartridges (right?)
- ease of setup? ease of use? reliability?

OL Silver with TWL's mods ($800 + $1.79 fishing weights)
- no adjustable azimuth (does it matter?)
- no adjustable vertical damping (does it matter?)
- TWL's HIFI mod controls stiff cartridges (right?)
- ease of setup? ease of use? reliability?

Has anyone compared the sonics of these two arms with a low compliance cartridge? Your observations would be especially welcome.
dougdeacon
dougdeacon OP
3,338 posts
 
David,

I suppose a bit of extra gain isn't really a problem, though it makes setting volume kind of touchy. We're at full listening volume at about 9 o'clock. Any idea if different 12AX7's in the phono stage would modify this?

Mr. Chapman confirmed my guess that 20dB would be best. 5dB would have been inadequate to drop the noise floor low enough. It's so low now it's scary, love these trannies.

CHRIS BRADY - IF YOU'RE READING THIS GET BACK TO THE WORKBENCH! Just kidding, take your time and do it right. (Actually Chris has already told us it's shipping this week. We bought #10 of the twelve 265's he received in late July, so I'm sure he's been busy.)

I ordered the OL from Galen Carol, who had to call OL to get a Silver Mk I. The Mk II won't accept the HiFi mod. OL had to ship to Galen for reshipment to me. The good news? Galen got it in Monday and turned it around the same day.

We're almost there!
twl
3,251 posts
 
Doug, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised about that little bit of extra gain. I have a little bit extra too, and I am about max at 9 o'clock on the volume dial as well. This keeps the noise floor very low, and I think you'll like it.
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
Doug- Check Joe's tube lore at AA for info on 12AX7 subs that may have somewhat lower gain.
TWL- Does your mod for the Silver MK1 require dismantling and re-setting up the arm? I'm not the most delicate guy around and I've got a Benz glider with the naked cantilever that I could snap in a heartbeat.
twl
3,251 posts
 
Swampwalker, my mod is as simple as can be to install. You don't even have to remove the arm from the table. You just adhere the HiFi weights to the end-cap nuts on the bearing axle, while the arm stays in place. Nothing even comes near the cartridge end of the arm. There could be a little bit of tweaking on the hole size of my HiFi weights, to get them to be a good press-fit onto the cap nuts, but I make them very close to exact. It is about as simple as it gets for a mod.
dougdeacon OP
3,338 posts
 
Swampwalker, thanks for the tip. I'll check it out. Of course if pushing a lower gain tube harder would raise the noise floor, as Tom implies, I might just leave things as they are. I'm still learning here :)

Tom, I'm already loving the lower noise floor, even with the poor old TT and arm. Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra last night was shocking, like hearing the full score for the first time. Quiet passages were mesmerizing, and once again a full tutti for brass panicked the cats. Maybe I should upgrade to a 2wpc amp for their sake!
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