You must have gone MAD to have such a systems.

aprica88 March 24, 2013 00:32

last Saturday Joel Durand brought over my second Telos tonearm for my Miyajima Labs Premium Be mono cartridge and installed it. it replaced my Durand Talea II which i sold.

2 Telos's

a month or so previously i had purchased a Sapphire cartridge plate for my original Telos where i have my stereo cartridge, the Ortofon MC Anna.

the standard cartridge plate is metal, not sure exactly what metal. the cartridge is attached to the plate and then one screw attaches it to the tonearm. so the cartridge arm interface is this plate.

it turns out that (at least with the Telos) Sapphire sounds better than metal, the sound is cleaner, more detail, more ease, there is more snap to transients, more solidity to the soundstage, more bass slam and articulation. when you think about it this cartridge plate has a similar function to the bearing in that it's a link in the chain. and it's the link which is closest to the cartridge. and Sapphire is what the bearing is made out of. likely Sapphire has less resonance than metal (i'm making a SWAG here.....i don't really know about such things).

i did not purchase the Sapphire cartridge plate for the mono Telos yet.

i am very very happy with my tonearms.

mikelavigne March 23, 2013 15:40

hi Norm,

sorry for the delay in my response.

i enjoyed meeting you and Bev. thank you for your very nice comments. i have to agree with you about what we heard on Saturday, my reference has been changed too. i guess it was not just me.

i hope that next time you are down in the area we can get together again.

best regards,

mikelavigne March 19, 2013 20:10

hi Dario,

sorry for the delay in my response, but i was traveling all day Sunday and then been in continual meetings. finally this afternoon i have some time to catch up on things.

it was a pleasure to meet you and i humbly thank you for the kind words about the system. i respect that you have heard many systems over the years so your comments are all the more appreciated. i'm glad you enjoyed the listening.

it was a fun session on Saturday and i could not agree more with you about the Telos. it is really sounding quite beyond my ability to find words to describe.....better for someone to hear it rather than me attempt a description.

hopefully you can visit again when we both have more time.

best regards,

mikelavigne March 19, 2013 19:58

It even sounds good, too. When are you coming to visit?

Jacob,

i'd love to visit your room. next time i travel near you i'll see if we can work out something. not sure when that might be.

and your visit to my room was so long ago it was to my 'other' room, so you need to come out here sometime too.

mikelavigne March 19, 2013 19:43

Mike thanks for the opportunity to hear your system today. It's the closest rendition of a live performance I've ever heard after 30+ years in this hobby. It's beautifully balanced across the audio spectrum and excelled on all genres of music from intimate string quartet, sultry female vocals to full on orchestra. I was also impressed with it's ability to satisfy both my technical and emotional listening appetites. Most systems do one or the other but it's very rare they do both.

I could not detect a single weakness which is a remarkable feat. Of course watching Joel setup his newly developed telos tone arm and hearing it on your system further added to the enjoyment. The telos is so leading edge it could arguably be the pinnacle of tone arm design and perhaps the best tone arm in existence.

Great job!

Cheers
Dario

djkiwi0 March 17, 2013 17:11

Hi Mike, your sound room is aesthetically WAY more speculator in reality than in “Virtual Systems”. Your..... Telos with the Anna cartridge is truly special. The dynamics and scale we heard coming from your system, I didn't think was ever possible in reproduced sound, until now. Thanks for the experience. Congratulations!

norm March 17, 2013 16:42

Mike thanks for the opportunity to hear your system today. It's the closest rendition of a live performance I've ever heard after 30+ years in this hobby. It's beautifully balanced across the audio spectrum and excelled on all genres of music from intimate string quartet, sultry female vocals to full on orchestra. I was also impressed with it's ability to satisfy both my technical and emotional listening appetites. Most systems do one or the other but it's very rare they do both.

I could not detect a single weakness which is a remarkable feat. Of course watching Joel setup his newly developed telos tone arm and hearing it on your system further added to the enjoyment. The telos is so leading edge it could arguably be the pinnacle of tone arm design and perhaps the best tone arm in existence.

Great job!

Cheers
Dario

djkiwi0 March 17, 2013 08:53

It even sounds good, too. When are you coming to visit?

gladstone March 13, 2013 14:28

David,

thank you for the kind words.

best regards,

mikelavigne March 02, 2013 17:01

Mike, Thanks for sharing the Video. Your room and passion are a true inspiration for anyone involved in this great hobby, David

davidmag February 26, 2013 19:39

hi Steve,

glad you and your family enjoyed the video.

thanks for nudging me toward getting it done. my next video efforts should hopefully be better. i got a smaller, lighter lens and a chest stabilizer mount which ought to allow me to eliminate much of the shake.

i was happy with the sonic results from this practice run. some of the sonic magic does manage to come thru.

fine tuning a system does take time and an open mind, but it's those little things which seem to provide that last little bit which captures the magic. you can have all the elements of the music but bringing it all together is more challenging.

cheers,

mikelavigne February 24, 2013 15:29

Jacob,

the Audio Desk sure makes playing clean Lps much more enjoyable. more music, less hassle.

i'm happy it's working out for you.

btw; the pics of your room are quite magnificent. congrats!

mikelavigne February 24, 2013 15:20

Hey Joe,

nice to hear from you. glad you like the video.

best regards,

mikelavigne February 24, 2013 15:17

King,

i can't say about the tonal shift of the 'Super' compared to the 'Premuim'. since i'm only using it on the amps inside my active subwoofer towers it's only a guess whether it's adding 'bloom' relative to other custom fuses. i don't percieve a tonal shift in the system, and don't view where i was as lean or dry in any way, but who knows. i'm not planning on any 'fuse shootout' to find out.

i do plan on trying these fuses in my preamp, digital, and tape repro when i get around to ordering them. we'll see where that takes me. maybe when i do that i'll also order the HiFi Tuning Supremes so i can A/B them. thanks for your thoughts on this.

mikelavigne February 24, 2013 15:12

Hi Mike,

Myself and the family enjoyed the video so much. Judging by the supportive components I think there is consensus that it was a good idea. Even with the recording conversion the good sound beams through like a shining light.

I have some brass cartridge screws and cartridge top plate so am in the process of fine tuning to get the best result. I have internal silver fuses and can vouch to their effectiveness over stock.

You have given us all a wonderful insight.

Thank you.

Steve

cyclopse February 23, 2013 20:21

Thanks, Mike, I just procured one. Works like a charm.

gladstone February 21, 2013 20:05

Mike- I really enjoyed the video!!

Joe

slipknot1 February 21, 2013 15:14

Mike, I was into photography many many moons ago. Had a Nikon F2 35mm camera, lens ... it's amazing the progress in digital photography especially printer quality.

My experience is with the $60 Audio Magic fuse. At the time, super was not available yet. It's a big improvement over stock and there's a nice bloom in the mid. I think if your system is on the lean or dry side, it should be a good match. For my components/system, I prefer the more neutral HiFi Tuning Supremes.

I will be very interested in your experience with the super.

knghifi February 21, 2013 03:30

Jacob,

changing the water in the Audio Desk does vary based on how much i'm using it. i'll change it once a month with normal 5-10 times use a week.

otherwise; i clean it every time i empty the drawer of liners. the drawer holds about 60-65 liners. i always replace the liner when i clean the Lp. this makes it easy for me to keep track. the drawer is under the table-top the Audio Desk sits on.

i also keep a container of distilled water underneath the table for adding when the light flashes for low water. i like to have minimal water levels. i also use minimal amounts of the detergent, typically just a cap full....which minimizes foaming.

when i do empty the Audio Desk i take it back to the sink and make sure i shake to unit somewhat as the last third of water is draining out to suspend any particulate in the water so it will come out with the water....i also tip it over so the corner of the drain hole is the lowest point agin to make sure the maximum water and sludge come out. then i'll refill about a third and shake and empty again.

every third time i change the water i will fill it completely and cycle it a couple of times and then drain it again.

i do remove the foam pad and rinse it very thoroughly under the tap water until it is good and clean. then i pour distilled water thru it and try to squeeze as much out as possible. same with the roller pads occasionally.

in 5 years i've changed the foam pad once and the roller pads once. i'm not sure that i needed to change the foam pad or the roller pads even that once.

mikelavigne February 21, 2013 00:05

Mike--how often are you changing the water in the Audio Desk? Are you rinsing the machine itself with a gallon of water before you put in a fresh batch of water and cleaning fluid? Have you changed the foam pad as well as the rollers?

gladstone February 20, 2013 20:05

Highenderr,

i've had others recommend the Tripoint grounding products similar to you, in that i've covered pretty much all the other bases. i've not heard them myself but with all the positive comments about them i'm sure they must do something good. i'm just not really too motivated to pursue something like that myself. OTOH; if someone wants to send me some Tripoint gear to try in my system i'm open to that.

i'm all for Angels standing up after all. :)

thanks for the recommedation......

mikelavigne February 20, 2013 01:28

Andrew,

thanks. it is beautiful where i live. i never tire of it.

mikelavigne February 20, 2013 01:22

hi David,

thanks. before i built my listening room inside it was a working barn with horses and everything. upstairs was a hayloft.

the two boxes to the left of the Studer A820's are the King Cello tape repro (upper box) and power supply (lower box). you may notice that each headblock on the Studers have a switch and a line the goes back behind the deck. the King Cello is custom output electronics for the Studers to bypass the 70's solid state internal electronics. it upgrades the performance of the Studers quite a bit. so far the best sounding tape decks i've heard.

the King Cello is also a very good phono stage too, with the flip of one switch. if i ever want to have a tt over on that side of the room i already have my phono stage for it.

cheers!

mikelavigne February 20, 2013 01:20

Hey Mike, just a thought, U might want 2 SERIOUSLY consider looking in 2 "Tripoint Audio" I would CONFIDENTLY SAY that your system is part of the top 1% in the World BEST!!! Tripoint will make the Angels stand up and take notice!!! :o)

highenderr February 19, 2013 16:52