I have discovered that the source makes or breaks the system, therefore I put some time into improving the turntable. It started off when I made my own platters out of acrylic and within the platter made cylindrical encasements to hold leadshot. I also replaced the feet with my custom made acrylic tubes again filled with leadshot. I kept using acrylic and leadshot for the tonearm board support and the bearing holding structure to avoid drilling out the original plinth since I was installing the latest vpi hr-x platter weighing in at 33 pounds or thereabouts and the bearing is much wider in diameter than the original bearing. Each time I made an improvement the source became quieter and so much more was coming out. Very happy to say the least. Also need to point out that the turntable is swinging off steel cables, so I like to think of it as the tt being somewhat decoupled from the room. There are some bungie chords as part of the suspension system for the turntable. The whole thing weighs right around 400 pounds some of it as part of the flywheel assembly. I would say the turntable is about 250 pounds. Also on top of the platter rests a weight also composed of you guessed it acrylic and leadshot, well there was this sale and I couldn't resist. Also using the periphery ring. And on top of the cartridge is oh I hate to say it so I'll let you figure it out. How it sounds is all that counts, so I can say enthusiastically it's beautiful. Not the end all, but it never will be in this crazy hobby, gottta love it!!
Far from what I had purchased 2 years ago used here on gon. It's total weight around 430 pounds with custom flywheel assembly.
VPI Industries TNT-5
Another view of the flywheel (from old tnt model) that needs 4 motors (3 motors shown here from previous setup, added motor since then) to spin the 95 lbs. of rotational mass. An intermediary pulley (old flywheel) is used to transfer rotational force to record loading platter. Cannot find belt long enough to span two platters hence the in between pulley.
VPI Industries TNT-5
An old incarnation of this ongoing project. This picture was taken before leadshot donut was attached to underside of platter.
Flywheel VPI
String driven figure 8 to create better trcation
Flywheel VPI
Stand alone Flywheel
Modification Magnetic Repulsion to platter
Since adding leadshot encased in acrylic to underside of platter I needed to lessen load on bearing with this magnetic repulsion system.
VPI Industries Vpi
With tons of lead shot
VPI Another veiw
Lots of lead shot
Modification to Graham 2.2t
Leadshot stuffed into little canister and straw attached to wand of tonearm.
Denon Denon/zu 103r
103r
K&K Phono stage kit
Awesome, totally awesome. One of the best at this price point, highly recommended!
JLTI Phono
Excellent phono, beats my ear 834p and approaches the K&K phono stage
EAR 834P
Awesome phono stage for the money, should be modified with better caps and tubes!
oppo 980
An out right bargain of a cd/dvd player, highly recommended!!
Sony DVP-S9000es
Nice player.
audio experience a2 se
Very nice preamp for the money, was quite surprised.
Sim Audio Moon P-5
Suspended by bungie chords and loaded with lead shot.
Sim Audio Moon W-5
Awesome ss amp, most highly recommended!
Atma-Sphere ma60 mark II
Lights up the room in more than one way WOW!!
Merlin Music Systems VSM-GEN III RC
Suspended by cables to keep floor from resonating
Merlin Music Systems VSM-GEN III RC
Another view of the suspended system
Martin Logan Depth
Suspended with steel cables from ceiling above full range.
Alesis Masterlink 9600
Cd burner with hard drive to pre-record (to do editting or equalization) before transferring over to cd.
Merlin Bbam, Balanced
Makes the speakers sing as they were designed to with this bbam.
hi pedrillo, i was more interested in how your soundproofing experiment went. like you, i'm considering adding 2# mass loaded vinyl to my suspended wood flooring to reduce bass transmission to my downstairs neighbor, and would welcome your feedback on how you decided to go. thank you
Pedrillo, after all my audio buying life (35yrs and counting), and sticking with belt drive all this time (quite understandably), I've moved up to the Trans Fi Audio Savation direct rim drive tt, tons of torque, no time domain bass smear, minimal groove modulation resistance. Music has been liberated! It's amazing that my deep fear of losing belt drive lp playback's biggest colouration ie upper bass/lower mid bloom possibly leading to a digital like sterility to the music replay, has in fact proved groundless. In fact removing this bloom has totally opened up the sound, allowing bass to start and stop, decongesting the midrange for ultimate transparency, and allowing real shimmer to the treble frequencies. This is all augmented by the superior tracking of the Trans Fi Audio Terminator air bearing linear tracking arm which is bringing a real digital like stability to proceedings; it's spooky to hear piano notes solid and unwavering like cd, and end of groove stability as good as the start of playing a side.
I haven't seen any action on your VS in quite a while, good to see you're still at it. Yes, what new table did you buy you're so jazzed about? Let's hear about it, and pics too.
I'm enjoying my new/old Garrard 401/Dynavector 501, a far cry from the old Scout Signature.
Awesome system. I am a big fan of Conrad Johnson equipment myself. I currently own the Conrad Johnson Evolution 2000 amplifier and the PV-12 preamp. I also had owned their PF-2 preamp in the past. I find their sound to be unparalleled.
If you want to see my system you can find it here on "Conrad Johnson Owners.com". You may want to check the site out as it's a completely Conrad Johnson audio equipment dedicated forum site. Or you can just google "Conrad Johnson Owners". Kind of cool to have a dedicated site just for Conrad Johnson equipment.
Well, like I said. Congrats on the system it's really beautiful.
Maybe I missed something, what is the table that arrived on the 18th? I'm interested in a step by step comparison between your monster and the new arrival.
New tt arrived and it is a killer! I most highly recommend for those who listen to vinyl to go out and find a place to audition this magnificent tt. It surely beat my 450 pound monster. I was going to wait to spend more time listening but it's that obvious that I already hear the difference. Big question? What do I do next?? I will try to analyze where do I improve on my table and see if I can bring it up another notch or two. Other than that I am back into audiophilism. And will play around with different cartridges and my phono stages. I actually left audio for some time now and got into homebrewing which too is quite challenging and immensely enjoyable. No I didn't have too many drinks, the classic is the real deal.. buy one before it goes up in price or the wait gets even more rediculous. Mine took a couple months.
System edited: With my system sounding the way it has been my search is over for now. Still awaiting new tt though for comparison, it'll be very interesting to see the comparison.
For some reason the conrad johnson NOW too sounds extremely good at low levels. It feels closer to what I hear when I go to the Met opera house. This preamp is turning out to be a killer pre. Still awaiting new turntable.
I just have to say: TUBES IS THE WAY TO GO!! I am not sure how good conrad johnson premier 4 is in comparison to other tube amplifiers but right now my system is oh so glorious! I still feel the simaudio w-5 is better then the cj p-4 but the tubes bring out how shall one say warmth- sure it's warm, those tubes get awful hot-- sorry couldn't help myself. With the simaudio I was happier with the volume lower than with the cj p-4. Tis a great hobby.
I never thought I would be posting this but this chinese made Audio Experience a2se preamp is incredible. At first it seemed as though the resolution was low, but now it is resolving very nicely. Only thing is it's noisy when there is no signal. For some reason it sounds more life-like than my other preamp, that is in some ways. Too bad I don't know how to put it in words. Will soon be recieving another turntable to compare to my heavy weight, hopefully mine will prevail because as I understand this newcomer has beaten many other tables. If it does I will call it the heavy weight champ.
Wow...talk about a custom system! The suspended speakers are trippy :-) Reminds me of some clubs I've frequented - oh, that's a different thread! Congrats! -Sam
Just put the jlti back into the system and am reminded how happy I was with this purchase. Quite a different flavor from the ear 834p. Both very good phonos. Will be soon adding an additional flywheel/rimdrive to the tt.
David, Wow,we are on the same page on that as well. I planned on improving the power supply in the ear 834p then the K&K came along. D.G, in case I hadn't but I think I already did thank you for the excellent advice on the rim drive, it took the system to a whole new level. Peter
Hi Peter, Good set of points hard won through experience. Having now modified a fair share of components, I would add one more: the gap between an excellent and a superlative component is often in the power supply. A better power supply improves transients, expands the dynamic envelope, and energizes the music like real life. It's suprising how many even very expensive stock components compromise in this area, and how simple it can sometimes be to make improvements.
Just inserted the Woo audio headphone preamp to hear the difference of tubes and ss, though the Woo is not the same caliber as the Simsaudio and also it is not really a linestage perse but a headphone preamp it did sound nice and leading me to beleive I need to go to tubes sooner than later. Looking forward to getting my Atma-sphere back and a new tube preamp! Merlins will be back in a week or so, can't wait, these jbl's just don't cut it. But they do have some good qualities.
There are many lessons to be learned from this hobby. The ones I have learned recently are: a)the source is very important, get that right before adjusting down stream, b)in an analog setup the table plays a big role if not bigger than the arm and cartridge c)synergy also is very important d)the room too is important e)vinyl is most definitely better than cd's f)tubes are most definitely better than solid state g)merlins, atma-shere, simaudio, K&K, VPI are some of the best out there not because I own them but because they are just simply very good h)ask alot of questions to get the synergy right, it worked for me and I appreciate the help I received even though I caught some flack for it, don't be shy i)listen to many systems to get an idea what floats your boat, start with speaker and match the amp to the speaker, but do get the source right before tweeking j)don't rush into purchasing without thinking it over carefully, listen listen listen, a good system can be listened to for long periods of time without getting tired k)make sure equipment is broken in before coming to conclusions l)your own ears are what matters let them be the judge m)nutritional supplementation helps hear better
Well this shouldn't surprise anyone who has been following my quest for audio nirvana in the most unconventional way. One of my merlin drivers has been out of commission for some time and in the mean time I have been using inexpensive jbl speakers to provide me with music. But they are not exactly positioned the way they were designed to. Now why does that not surprise my friends, hello friends---- where did they go?? Ok it doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the merlins, but it does sound pretty damn good!! This is what I did: I hung one speaker above the other and they are both firing at each other! Hey wait I'm not crazy where are you taking me and why does this jacket have such long sleeves? It does sound pretty good though. Merlins are not going anywhere let it be known!
Thank you nycabby and mapman for your kind words. I realize we have different listening priorities, so I respect nycabby's preference. To my ears the rim drive was a monumental improvement over the previous tnt version, and I will continue to build on this platform. I now understand what it means when I read a while back that tt is more important than cartridge and tonearm. It is certainly true. And so I highly recommend to those pursuing analog get the table right and then the arm and lastly match the cartridge to the tonearm, I should be listening to my own advice! I will be getting an helikon eventually or other cartridge that will match the arm. The other end of my system the amp to be precise, I will be using the atma-sphere's eventually as they took my system to a whole new level when hooked up, can't wait for that to happen. And as some may have read the preamp will most definitely be an atma-sphere. Thanks for looking.
"The thing that amazes me is how the system has alot of resolution but without a hint of brightness. The reproduction of instruments is very natural and alive ... The strings and brass were so sweet sounding that I didn't want to stop listening. Even the poor recordings that I am familiar with were beautiful to listen to."
