i'm in Manhattan (NYC) with my son this week to watch University of Washington play in the NIT. we got in this afternoon and had a free night tonight, so we went to a Jazz Club, Smoke, for 'Big Band Night' with a 16 piece jazz band. no cover, great acoustics and a very entertaining enthusiastic band.

there is nothing like live acoustic music.

mikelavigne March 26, 2012 21:30

Enrico,

regarding the Kieth Monks, i did think about it. i looked at their website and tried to find some feedback. this was in December. i decided that the Loricraft looked like a safer bet as it's not 'automatic' and does not have as many moving parts. the Loricraft allows for use of multi-stage chemical treatments which i've found to be advantagous. i had already owned a Loricraft PRR3 for 5 years with zero issues.

regarding the 'thin' pressing issue on the Audiodesk the main problem has come from the later DG pressings, and other Classical pressings. many are not very heavy. what happens is that you need to dry those by hand a bit since the squeege does not remove enough water prior to blow dry. if you don't listen to classical the problem is minimal. it's maybe 30% of classical, but 10-15% of the rest. i could live with it if i had to.

mikelavigne March 12, 2012 19:14

I meant Keith Monks...sorry
E

enricovesce March 11, 2012 18:56

Thanks Mike for your kind and exhaustive response... what made me consider the AudioDesk was exactly the possibility to cleaning a fairly large record's collection while listening to music with a press of a button (and your enthusiastic report), now I'm concerned about the thin record problem, does it happen with all of them or just a small percentage? Also the motor failure... I suppose you didn't have that problem with the Loricraft, did you? One more question: did you consider Loricraft as well?
Thanks again
Best Regards
E

enricovesce March 11, 2012 08:31

hi Enrico,

i do still enjoy and like my Audiodesk RCM. however, i have learned about it's limitations so i added a Loricraft PRR4 Delux RCM too.

the Audiodesk is limited to a one step wash and blow dry. so you cannot use different chemicals and enzyme cleaners.

the Audiodesk has trouble with the thinner pressings as the sqweegy that wipes the water off is marginal for those thin pressings.

the Loricraft does a better job of getting every tiny spec of dust/dirt since it uses the thread and vacuum. you could have 2 Audiodesk units with one with ultraclean water for rinse only, but i still think that the Loricraft is marginally better at that.

i think having both is ideal, since when i want to do a quick easy clean and not stop listening i can throw the Lp on the Audiodesk, press one button, and go listen while it's being cleaned. also; there is some dirt where the Audiodesk with the ultrasonic process cleans deeper than the Loricraft and the chemicals.

if i had only one RCM it would likely be the Loricraft PRR4 Delux due to the thin pressing issue. but if you want to clean and listen at the same time to many Lps the Audiodesk makes it much more fun. 2 years ago when i purchased that large classical Lp collection the Audiodesk made it a wonderful experience of discovery and not the dauting task it would have been with the Loricraft.

finally the Audiodesk is somewhat less reliable than the Loricraft. i did have one motor failure which required repair. i'm still happy i own it but just FYI.

good luck with your decision.

mikelavigne March 10, 2012 15:27

Sean,

it was a fun evening, glad you enjoyed it. enjoy those Lps.

best regards,

Mike

mikelavigne March 10, 2012 15:12

Hello Mike,
I remembered that you picked up the Audiodesk RCM a couple of years ago and I was wondering if you are still satisfied with it and consequently recommend it.
Regards
E

enricovesce March 03, 2012 01:04

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the recent tour of your system. The NVS/Telos/Anna was making great music. I have ordered a few of the LP's we listened to that I did not have. Can't wait to try them out.

Sean

sarcher30 March 02, 2012 13:13

hello Jim,

i don't know about that (having impeccable taste that is), but it's nice of you to say it anyway, thank you.

i do agree with the British researchers about music and it's affect. how sad it would be if music did not have an ability to alter your state of mind. i know i would be (more) lost and adrift without it.

as to listening style, i have 'a' style, whether i 'have style' is whole nother question. :)

mikelavigne February 28, 2012 19:43

"Listening bias is strong. There was a recent study in the news where British researchers found that wine tasting was influenced by ambient music. The adjectives used to describe the same wine changed based on music chosen. So, here we are. Music taste and listening style (quaint old man with his cognac and cigar versus Maxell man and his martini glass being blown over). To each his own...."

I very rarely quote someone, but true dat, as they say in New Orleans. Mike Lavigne has impeccable taste.

talk2me February 28, 2012 08:47

Hello mike thanks for writing down your expiriences.
Not everything is measurable either .

greetings h-j

andromedaaudio February 20, 2012 12:50

Henk Jan,

i've been gone and then very busy. i've started to answer your question a couple of times but something always interupts. anyway; sorry for the delay in answering your question about cabinet difraction and how cabinet shape might affect the performance.

first of all; i don't really know about cabinet design and the technical side of your question. as a speaker builder yourself, i'm sure you know quite a bit more than me on this subject. all i can do is to tell you about what i've observed and cause and effect as far as my intuition goes.

i do generally observe that any speaker with a broad, flat front around the tweeter/mid-range drivers seems to struggle with image focus and tonal correctness. i think when mid to high frequencies get launched by a driver that any adjoining reflective surface will add it's voice to the message. how can it not?

i observe that speakers with cabinets that angle away or that are rounded seem to be more free of those negatives.

there are so many varibles on speaker design that i suppose it is hard to isolate specific cause and effect for particular speaker performance characterisitcs one might hear. if i was designing a speaker and wanted to make sure the tweeter and mid-range were free of cabinet surface and shape problems; i'd likely experiment with different type materials and shapes until i heard what i wanted to hear.

as far as felt, or leather, or some type of absorbant material on the surface around a tweeter; i'm skeptical about that idea......for the same reason that i avoid any absorbtion in my room surfaces. absorbtion reduces energy. that means there is less music. it might be cheaper to apply felt to a cabinet to tame a rough sounding tweeter than adding a curve to the cabinet, but i expect that it will limit ultimate performance.

i loved the way my Kharma Exquisites handled the high frequencies, they had a curved cabinet around the tweeter. so does my Evolution Acoustics MM3's.

speakers do need to be built to price points and there are many trade-offs as well as aesthetic considerations. and i have heard speakers with relatively flat fronts that seem to image well and be tonally correct.

mikelavigne February 19, 2012 20:53

further Anna thoughts....

did i say this cartridge is full of energy?

i guess i did. :)

you have not heard a String Quartet or Cello Lp until you've heard it thru the Anna. and i'll give the Telos and NVS their rightful share of the credit too. foundation, body, tender soaring string tone, and every tiny musical part of a string quartet comes alive right in front of you. the music gets personal and captivates.

bass. big bold ballsey bass. it packs a whallop. and the attack is explosive and precise. yet there is perfect focus. there is a wonderful bloom, and unlimited decay, yet never overshoot or rounding, and not a trace of edge or roughness.

i'm having trouble typing and listening. listening wins.

mikelavigne February 19, 2012 20:20

hi Sean,

regarding the Anna. late January the Anna did arrive. Joel came over and installed it. it sounded great as i mentioned. but i only had it installed for a few days and then was out of town for a week so i loaned the Anna to Joel to play with in his system and learn it's tricks. i figured he would find it's ideal settings in his own system. then i returned and picked up the Anna from him and he was then out of town for awhile. so i re-installed it on the Telos.....and to the Anna's credit it sounded fine, but i strongly suspected that it was not perfectly dialed in. knowing Joel would return i did not chase ultimate set-up. not that i could get there on my own, but i knew that Joel could and would.

not that the Anna sounded wrong in any way. only that the amazing energy i first heard was somehow not fully manifest. the information but not quite all the life.

and today Joel did return and nail down the Anna set-up. it's now more broken in than initially, Joel knows it better.......and i must say that it is a force of nature. breathtaking. alive. yet so sure of itself and sooooooo effortless. the music just leaps from the grooves.

tonality is quite advanced from the A90. much more color and richness, a sweetness of tone....but not any sort of thickness or blunting. just halographic color with infinite shading.

the A90 is a particularly dynamic and alive cartridge. the Anna is another level of dynamics entirely. the Anna has such an ease and unforced kind of power and control; like a mega watt amp but with the finesse of a tiny watt SET. so the music is just so relaxed but with all the tension and explosiveness you might imagine. the music moves with more synergy and and natural flow. more real.

mikelavigne February 19, 2012 19:55

Hi Mike,

Now that you have had the Anna for a couple of weeks do you have any further thoughts? Is the tonality the same as the A90? Are the dynamics about the same or better?

Thanks,

Sean

sarcher30 February 18, 2012 23:42

Hello Mike,

Thanks for the second recommendation. I bought an Absolute Fidelity component power cord for my PD MPD-5 and it was a nice improvement.
Cheers!

Vicente

vn101606 February 05, 2012 19:36

hi Fred,

you will love the Anna, it is a game changer.

the Anna has .20mv output, whereas the A90 is .24mv output. in my case the darTZeel at the 64db setting i had it on for the A90 also seems great for the Anna. if i were to have occasion to open up the darTZeel i'd likely try the next higher setting and see how the gain/noise is with the Anna. you never know until you try.

it's not that 64db is not already fine, but that just maybe higher output might be better. i suspect it's the same with the Yipsilon. maybe they can send you the higher gain SUT to try when you get your Anna.

mikelavigne February 03, 2012 15:40

Mike congatulations on the new cartridge .

I have some questions though:
What are youre thoughts on cabinet difraction , you have had many speakers ,some had felt , some rounded edges some had a large front cabinet and the ones you have now have a very minimalized front .
Do you think felt helps or not ( ease of listening) or does it make the sound dull .
second what do you think are the main advantages of having a large speakersystem compared to a smaller one , i dont nescesarilly mean room fill.

henk jan

andromedaaudio January 31, 2012 14:53

Just a curiousity question. I am using the Ypsilon phono stage with their transformer recommended for the A90. Should that be optimal for the MC Anna? I am already on the list to get one.

fcrowder January 31, 2012 13:13

Thanks Mike for the detailed comments regarding diffusors and MM Mini One.

lapierre January 29, 2012 21:09

as i mentioned above, the Ortofon Anna arrived Friday afternoon. Joel Durand was kind enough to offer to install it on my Telos yesterday afternoon. first we listened for awhile to the A90, which was sounding great. then the Anna.

Anna front
Anna back
Anna side

the Ortofon Anna uses the same SLM (selective laser melting) to build the body as the A90 but it's now made of titanium instead of stainless. the 'Anna' is named after Anna Netrebko, the opera singer.

my previous taste of the Anna a few weeks ago in another system was not conclusive since we switched phono stages when the A90 was switched to the Anna. i could tell it was very special but the phono stage change was too extreme for any specific conclusions.

well; this time there was no place to hide. and as good as the A90 is and has been in my system, the Anna is now my reference cartridge.....and after listening for maybe 10 hours last night and this morning, i feel the Anna is not just a little bit better than the A90.

the Anna has some break-thru technology which i must admit i don't fully comprehend. as i understand it is more efficient at capturing energy and so is more linear and especially more dynamic. and what i hear is first an effortlessness and level of resolution that is startleing. this is from the first few seconds that it hits you as quite different. and there is quite a bit more texture and body, not any coloration or thickness or rounding, but just more life and organic color and richness.....even a sweetness. there is more spacial information, but also less 'noise' around images and more musically significant information. things are 'clean up and real'. you realize that distortion is lowered significantly.

it's better at all the things the A90 does well, that linearity and naturalness along with great transient snap and smooth extended highs and lows. then add in the sweetness on top of the Lyra Olympos SL, the attack and speed of the vdH Colibri, and the tonal richness and mid-range beauty of the Koetsu RSP without the rounding or carmel color. i've owned and enjoyed all those cartridges. the Anna does all those things, and also it has a special ability to bring more order and reality to the soundstage, and the music seems more of one piece and together. that little bit closer to real.

i'm blown away. bravo to Ortofon for having the vision to build such a great product.

the A90 is still a great cartridge; and the Anna is twice as expensive as an A90, so it should be better. i see the Anna as a natural next step for A90 owners who can afford it. it does pay homage to the attributes that attracted so many to the A90 while going to another level and adding strengths.

the Anna has .2mv output, the A90 .24mv output. i plugged it into the same set-up as my A90 had on my draTZeel NHB-18NS......it's loaded at 47k with 64db of gain. and the Anna had plenty of gain for my system.

i want to repeat the word 'effortless'. the Anna never breaks a sweat. i'm guessing that the technical advantages in efficency of this design is the secret of what it does.

i've not heard everything out there, but the Anna is easily the best of what i have heard. my only complaint is that my 60 year old eyes cannot see the stylus and cantiliver as easy to hit a specific groove.....i need my glasses for that now.

mikelavigne January 29, 2012 20:51

Mark, agree that Paul at Adona is a pleasure to work with, good luck with your rack upgrade.

mikelavigne January 29, 2012 15:59

hello mike i follow your thread always with pleasure .
I have a question though or actually 2 :
First what do you think of felt or other absorbant materials around the tweeter and or mids / woofers .
Do you find this technique effective in eliminating cabinet diffraction or is it not really nescesarry when you have a acoustic well treated room .

Secondly you have had wilsons /kharmas von schweikerts and probably more i dont know off .
What do you find serious plusses of having a real big loudspeakersystem as you have now.
Things that spring to mind are off course : more room fill /bigger soundstage greater bandwith off course .
I hope you can shine a light on that .

henk jan

andromedaaudio January 29, 2012 12:52

Mike,...thanks! Paul L at Adona has been great to do business with over the years. I have all the parts for a triple-wide HT rack system in the garage as well. That's a lot of granite and X and Y-Frames hanging around the house :-). Thanks for your comments and advice. I will definitely do some more investigation into Paul's latest offerings and will plan the move!

zephyr24069 January 28, 2012 11:33

Pierre,

sorry, forgot about your MM Micro One question.

i did hear the MM Micro One at RMAF; i likey spent 5-7 hours in that room over three days. like all the comments you have already read, it is a remarkable speaker and even maybe a bit unbelievable that it can do what it does at it's size and price. i know all the gear intimately that was in that room as it's mostly what i have in my room, and it does get you quite a long way toward what the big boy Evolutions can do. and obviously it worked great in that small RMAF room. there were many questions about where was the subwoofer in the room from listeners.

you cannot go wrong with the MM Micro One's. and the fit and finish on it is also remarkable for the price.

mikelavigne January 28, 2012 10:43