Turntable choices

Goodness me, dom, you are a Gemini? I had you down as a Libra.

 

At that price, I would have no problems following that advice, even were it the most brilliant hi-fi item ever produced.

 

I'm an Aquarius so my opinions hold water.

Actually jason it's a complete shock to be praised by mick, who when I am telling people that Avondale is decent kit, tells all and sundry that I am drunk by 9am and subject to strange fantasies.

Glad you have the system right now, with the bass sorted it must be sounding pretty superb. BTW I dealt with the problem of bass in my own system by ruthlessly eradicating it. I figured that if man could make music for around 20,000 years without any bass at all then so can I.

 

Hi,

I dont want to see an interesting thread on vinyl replay go the way of the kindergarden, that would be a real shame.

To all and sundry, please please try to avoid absolutism..absolutely?!

... the person with the best turntable must by divine intervention be god her/himself - and none of us know which model that is, if indeed its available to mere mortals. ''god is a DJ'' afterall!

NB
BUB - my question about Mana wasnt really whether it would work for me - I have a stable solution for my TT that Im happy with. I was just saying that I would be curious to know whether or not you find your Mana works to the same degree on suspensionless designs should you demo one.

Have you ever been to connoisseur audio in Fife? I have spoken to them on the phone a few times. They seem like nice people. The reason I ask is that they are the UK importers for bluenote turntables. The bluenote arms look particularly interesting to me. If you ever get the chance to visit - do let us know what they sound like in the flesh?

Getting back to the question on page one of this thread - I guess your best first bet is to spend a weekend in the likes of the Audio Salon, Connoisseur audio etc and try some turntables out... got any demos planned?

 

Re: Merlin

Far from it Marco, sadly I think it only takes one such individual, and a witless display of absolutism, to destroy a perfectly good conversation. If you strip out 80% of this thread, there is indeed a few interesting views.

Jason, thanks for the link. Sadly for me, coming from the convenience of a digital background, the lack of an arm lift is one step too far. I am toying with the idea of an Hrx, but really cannot justify it at the moment, the little Scout is most enjoyable in it's humble way. In some ways, getting pleasure out of relatively inexpensive kit is the most enjoyable part of this wretched hobby!

 

Not as yet, free time at weekends is very limited at present. I don't know if I can show my face at Audio Salon (long story involving ATC speakers, worst dem I've ever heard). Loud & Clear do Michell decks, however.

 

Bub,

Why not hop on a plane and come daan saaf and visit us, whilst arranging to dem some tt's at various home counties dealers?

I'd be more than happy to drive you around (the bend quite possibly!) You could even visit WM towers?

 

That's very kind of you indeed, I'll bear it in mind. I must visit Alex S at some point, I could combine it with a geek-a-thon, and go and annoy WM with some devilish CDs. Maybe in the Spring.

 

Re: Re: Merlin

Some good points. I can't believe an arm lift is beyond the wit of the people that have designed such a cleverly engineered product in other ways. Bit like the lid issue Paul Ranson, rightfully, banged on about. An arm lift, like a lid should at least be an option especially on a WT where the arm and the deck are almost exclusively used together. Not a problem for me, I used a Naim Aroed LP12 on a rack on a sprung floor for years. The WT is now a piece of piss in that regard ... even pissed with an expensive cartridge.

The HRx sounded very good indeed at the show (as it should at the price) even playing the sort of stuff that I never listen to by choice philistine wot I am.


Cheers

Jason


PS. For those having a go because this thread is long and a little heated in places: DON'T READ IT.
<rant mode on>Threads like this are the lifeblood of forums and almost always attract the most views and posts and make the most intetresting reading. So I'd like to report this thread to the moderators as the exemplar of how a thread should look!
Whoever said it is the only place a number of people can converse online and seemed to imply that is a bad thing, well I for one disagree the variety of posters and their passion makes Zerogain the most intetresting forum right now. By banning various people (rightly in some cases) you tend to lose an element thatr forums need to stay interesting.</rant mode on>

 

Bub

Despite a very kind offer there, if you dem any turntable anywhere other than your own room you are a complete twit. .

 

Quite right, but it could help Bub make a list longer than:
1. Tin of hammerite (black)
2. Orbe

;->


Cheers

Jason

 

"make that any high end component" ...data

 

Utterly agree Paul, I would never entertain a long term purchase without living with it at home for at least a week.

Having said that, how would you advise someone to proceed when they experience both a shortage of decent local dealers, and also a reluctance on their part to leave their dem stock with you for a satisfactory period of time?

 

I think with a TT comparative demos at a dealer, followed by a purchase on ''sale or return'' grounds seems reasonable.

The dealers I use would not want to see me being dissatisfied with something Ive bought from them.

If they didnt care, Id shop somewhere else

NB Bub .. Ive got no idea as to your planned budget for any audition. Here are a few shortlists... that I would personally...well, shortlist! if my pockets were deep.

Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace with Triplanar/ re-wired SME IV/V, or a unipivot (dont like N.A. arms personally).

Kuzma reference with Kuzma reference arm, or triplanar. The cheaper stabi/stogi is stupidly good for the cash.

SME 20 with rewired SME IV/V.

Amazon Model 1/2. With a unipivot.

Platine Verdier. Or Nouvelle Platine. Id use a unipivot with one personally.

Avid Acutus, re-wired SME IV/V.

Garrard 501 with SME IV/V (rewired again please!)


Ive just realised, I havent even finished my shortlist and already Ive put seven decks!!! how silly. It just goes to show how many top flight decks we are blessed to have in the UK.

It is an impossible task really, with no inkling of budget.

SCIDB was right when he said... I paraphrase... ''A TT is a precision measuring device, and a more expensive one will often measure more accurately''

Rabbits can be skinned so many ways... suspended or non suspended? belt drive or idler drive, or both?

If cash had never been an object to me, I think its likely Id have an SME 30 with a re-wired SME V. The re-wiring on SMEs really does seem to help. A suprise given the price of the arm.

 

Don't worry Paul, I won't buy anything without trying it at home for a week or two. You are right, though: I am a twit.

 

Bub, well anyone well tempered, I'll just get my mains finally sorted and I may be worth visiting.

 

I never noticed the fishy smell Fox, Pisceans are supposed to be very creative and certainly your whole house bears that out, unlike mine where I just picked ready made designs and did them.

Given .how long it took you to be really happy with your system I can understand a resistance to any change. Quite often that major upgrade turns out to be a diference really rather than the groundbreaking improvement we thought it was. Sam Tellig of Stereophile once told a tale of the Hi Fi uncle he had who used Macintosh valves. Every time Sam raved on about the latest design and the massive upgrade it brought, his uncle would say ." That Macintosh is good kit, likely the other stuff is just diferent."
Sam went on to say how, many years later he really wishes he had listened to the guy.

I'm just off to listen to my poxy old Linn with it's ancient Vallhalla power supply and wonder just how the hell I manage to like it so much.

 

Re: Re: Merlin

Sure, although who did you have in mind? If you're implying it is myself who has displayed this 'absolutism', as I suspect, then may I remind you that almost every one of my posts contains the phrase either 'in my opinion', 'to my ears', or 'in my experience', to ensure that people like yourself are in no doubt whatsoever what I write only represents my point of view. Despite all that, if you've still managed to interpret my posts as absolutist, then I suggest you're not reading them correctly.

Pity you didn't say that in the first place, Merlin, instead of rubbishing the whole thread because perhaps it didn't develop the way you wanted it to. I also note, once again, you have conveniently ignored my questions.

Hey, ho

Marco.

 

Re: Re: Re: Merlin

Don't worry Marco, I was thinking of another M

 

Merlin

You can be really cruel at times.

Regards

Mick