Turntable choices

Merlin

You can be really cruel at times.

Regards

Mick

 

Re: Merlin

Well to be fair Mick, anyone who thinks that a cds3 is "Superb" must be slighty disjointed I feel T.

 

Yes Bottleneck,

The rewiring on SME tonearms does take them to another level sound wise and I can confirm that as I am using an SME IV tonearm which was wired from new (by SME, U.K.) with the optional (at extra cost) MCS-150 silver wire. The four cartridge connecting wires are also made from the same silver wire. I am not one to advocate cables especially on a public forum, but in several listening tests with a standard SME IV containing the stock van den Hul copper wire and another containing the MCS-150 silver wire, the differences between the two arms was clear for any music lover to hear. When the tests were done, only two people knew which arm contained which wire. We (the listeners) did not know but we identified the rewired arm each time as the music sounded so alive and involving. I guess you could say that silver sounds different to copper so that was easy to tell them apart but to our ears, the silver wire was a positive upgrade.

In stock form the SME 309 and SME IV arms sounded better than the much hyped Origin Live Silver. In rewired form, the SME IV trampled over the Origin Live Silver IMO.

Therefore, my advice to anyone buying an SME 309, SME IV and SME V arm is to upgrade the stock internal wiring a.s.a.p. and replace with the MCS-150 silver wire or one of the Moth wires. Another thing you might also want to ditch is the freebie van den Hul M.C. D501 tonearm cable that comes with the tonearms. It simply sucks the performance out of what it is a superb arm and I have seen several SME V owners using this cable with this arm. Hmmm!!! I am now using Cardas tonearm phono cable feeding into the Graham Slee Era Gold V phono stage. Now being a betting man, I'll wager that a rewired SME IV tonearm sounds better than an SME V arm with the stock silver-over-copper internal wire. So all I do now is buy LPs and more LPs as the music sound so superb, IMO. The Incognito RB300 I was using was good but this latest SME IV trick is the best by far at Lawrie Mansions.

P.S. If you are using a Michell Gyro or Orbe deck and buy any of the SME arms, then get the Pederson armboard upgrade. It does make a difference more so than just using blu-tack as it provides better isolation between the arm and the base resulting in less of the bass heaviness that SMEs are renowned for. The silver rewire also goes some way to address that charge. Here is a review: http://www.tnt-audio.com/accessories/pedersen_e.html





Enjoy the music,

Lawrie

 

Reminds me, if you ever want a cheap (<100) armageddon-a-like let me know, they do work and since you don't have 45 now you won't missit. I guess I am in the queue behind jox though ;->

Cheers

Jason

 

Cheers Jason,

Thats a great offer,

You know Fox's post opens up the can of worms created by "Hi Fi experts."

For instance depending on which guru is sharing his knowledge at any one time. my Linn is

1- an outdated heap of junk that would lose out to a cheap Sony CD player.

2- The only true toe tapping, tuneful and possibly orgasmic way to listen to reproduced music.

This scenario as Fox points out is true of the Orbe, only in reverse if you follow me.

Funny that I have heard 2 Ninjas, Garrard 501, 2 Well Tempereds, an Orbe several Xerxes etc and enjoyed all of them. Which is the "best"? Haven't a clue, the longer I mess about with Hi Fi the less I find I can say for absolute certain, which thank God lets me out for being any kind of "expert" which seems to involve forcefully prevaricating on A always being better than B.

 

What are the Libra's traits (I had a link to all the signs' traits a while back and I've lost it)?

I know though that my ideal match is a Taurus - anyone know a good female Taurean going begging (preferably without kids and with a job?) Mind you, it says on one site that Gems and Scorpios aren't supposed to be a good match but I really get on well with one

Rest assured Paul that for all my slating of it, an LP12 is still musically far superior to almost any CD player Yep - I really did just say that. And yeah, if I had to live with CD or vinyl, the Linn and black stuff'd win every time

 

What are the Libra's traits

No idea. Just a little joke, sorry.

fox, you used to be too round, now you are flatter and much better. Leather trousers - coo!

Ninja sounds fine btw, but Kathie wants black. Your deck corrupted her.

 

For goodness sake

"Ninja sounds fine btw, but Kathie wants black

Then spray the bloody thing black.

 

Yep, you could take all the hardware off of the plinth, orbital sand it and then varnish it black couldn't you? Or get someone else to do it - it's a LOT cheaper than buying a new deck

Besides, why should the woman have her own way? Did she say how the lounge had to be decorated? If so, than you can even the score by stating you're not changing the turntable.

Honestly - these people who let women rule their lives Make sure it's give and take and evens stevens (although of course I don't mean to pry here - just glad (most of the time) that I'm single...)

 

Women

I find that beating them at least once a week whether they need it or not works wonders.

Actually a quote from Beau Brummell.

Bub did all his own design BTW, and a good job he did of it too.

 

Aha, Dom, so young, so much to learn about the realities of life. I await your future domestic arrangements with interest...

 

28, still single. There's a reason for that - some life lessons I'm too lazy to be bothered to learn, Tones I'm fiercely independant and correct me if I'm wrong, but most women slow you down when you're walking etc - not my idea of fun.

Plus I don't want kids so not much incentive to find a woman - unless I want a partner to help buy a house in this rip off Isle

They're OK for a bit of fun, but life long - nah, forget that Compromise isn't one of my middle names - neither's patience

And now... back to turntables!

 

Dom,

oh great no compromises for music gear

 

Yes, Dom, I've heard it all before. I've even said at least some of it. Let's see...

And now, back to turntables...

 

Change the plinth. Have you seen Dev's Linn Special Fluted Black job? But I suppose the Linn Standard Unfluted Black is shiny. Too much choice...

Anyway I think plinths are cheap compared to new turntables...

Paul

 

Sorry to interrupt, but is that the Piano Gloss black one that I've read about(anniversary something-or-other) - I've been looking for pictures on the web but can't seem to find any. Could anyone point me in the right direction?

Cheers, and, again, apologies for butting in.

 

That involves money so that's compromise by proxy so out of my hands

Why pay money for something that follows you around and whines when a washing machine does it for free and doesn't get under your feet?

Sorry - in an arsey mood due to trying to get through to British Turdicom (housemate's run up a 90 quid bill on my budget plan - gggggrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!) and those tossers cut me off once already...

 

Dom is right.

Some women just feel the need to mark their territory.

Six months down the line it'll be,

"I really liked that old Linn turnytable you had, it gave you feelings of nostalgia. Can you get another one cos the black cake stand is just so eighties."

 

He he he Out with orbital sander and lacquer then

Bit calmer now - looks like the phone thing'll be OK

 

FAO Dom

Breath in and breath out
Breath in and breath out
Breath in and breath out
Breath in and breath out

AHHHHH!!

And RRRRelaxxx