Cartridge recommendations

[leggo rocker]

Yes, looks cool. But a $5,000 cart is just going to make me need to spend equally silly amounts upgrading the rest of my hi-fi.

Hi-end Hi-Fi is absolutely the domain of the very rich or the very bankrupt.

I would love to get an Alchemist Bragi Phono amp to complete my Alchemist stack, if anyone ever sees one at a sensible price please let me know.

There's one on sale at a hi-fi website based in Germany right now, but that isn't a sensible price - especially at the present Euro Vs Pound exchange rate!

http://www.audioscope.net/pre-amplifiers-c-34.html

[AnorakTrev]

Hi Leggo,

I am not knocking your PS X600,but it seems as though the " bells and whistles " you have on this deck might be getting in the way of fidelity.All the deck should be doing is spinning it at exactly 33 1/3 rpm or 45 rpm.It is a reference plane for your cartridge to work from.Messsing about with the cartridge " on the fly " is just altering stuff like vertical tracking angle etc.MC cartrides are a fine toleranced piece of kit.Tracking weights have a much greater effect on the final sound that you are going to hear.Each MC cartridge has a sweet spot within the manufactures` range of downforce.Also an MC`s cantilever is a lot more delicate, usually, than a rugged MM`s,which is why MM`s are usually used on DJ style decks.
The reason why people buy MC cartridges is to get into the EMOTION of the music they play,usually in a domestic enviroment.I can listen to my music in the early hours of the morning,at miniscule volume levels,and still feel involved with what I am listening to.All my system does is make it LOUDER,with no altering of the sound,as I turn the volume up !!If the source of music you are listening to is crap,it will sound crap at high volume OR low volume.A case of " Shit in,shit out "
Bass is purely subjective on a hi-fi system.There are times when I listen to my music,and I think " Where`s the bass on this ? ",put the next tune on and it`s there,deep enough to feel the floorboards shake.
So I think the answer to it all, is spend as much as you dare on your source components,to make the rest of your system work properly.If it`s within your budget to go to a MC cartridge, go for it,you won`t regret it.My system is not just set-up to hear reggae music alone,I listen to a complete range of music from jump band style stuff from the 1940`s to totally contemporary d`and b`.I get the same enjoyment from it all,to the point sometimes the hair stands up on the back of my neck and tears come into my eyes,at hearing what the artist is trying to convey to me ,the humble recipient of their talents.


Apologies for rambling,

Trevor

[leggo rocker]

No apologies required Trevor, in fact I've been waiting for you to come into this thread with your obvious expertise.

Don't worry, the PS-X600 isn't my main deck and I am well aware of it's weaknesses. The Bio-tracer arm is just a typical bit of Sony's habit of sledge hammering walnuts.

In fact until this topic opened the PS-X600 was gathering dust, unused for over a year. I kept threatening it with ebay but I am a hopeless collector and find buying stuff oh so much easier than selling!

Although I use the twin SL1210 set up for recording mix tapes and stuff, I tend to stick with the PX-X65 for actually listening to music. It is a fairly good retro deck and I still have a perception problem with spending a LOT of money on some modern made of perspex and driven by a rubber band! I am a bit of a direct drive junkie I guess.

What I really want is a deck like yours, as you once described it to me. With, if I remember correctly, a hand made slate plinth, and plenty of isolation!

I am about to jump into the MC world with my PS-X65 as I reckon the cantilever is no longer 100% in alignment on the XL35 cart. So if it needs replacing, I may as well go MC.

[AnorakTrev]

My record deck has just been through some SERIOUS mods. over the last week.It had been prone to " wowing " a bit lately.I took the step of replacing the motor,and modifying its mounting with silicone " o " rings .Then a thicker drive belt, that is not as prone to stretching as the thinner old one.
The best mod. was to make a new spindle bearing out of aerospace spec. plastic called Vespel 211. The effect of this is AWESOME,as there is no metal to metal contact in the spindle assembly,so hardly any mechanical noise is apparent when the needle hits the groove.An analogy is ,dare I say,is as quiet as a CD ,an inky black silence.
The upshot of this is that the cartridge can get on with what it should be doing,extracting ALL the detail out of that microscopic groove.(tu)

Trevor

[leggo rocker]

My record deck has just been through some SERIOUS mods. over the last week.It had been prone to " wowing " a bit lately.I took the step of replacing the motor,and modifying its mounting with silicone " o " rings .Then a thicker drive belt, that is not as prone to stretching as the thinner old one.

Trevor

And I was rather hoping you would say something that made me feel better about rubber-band driven decks.

I really wish I had the ability to mod stuff like this. It would be so cool to be able to do stuff like that.

And my system is a LONG way from inky black silence! In fact, I've become rather worried about the 'noise floor' on the amps. Turn them up high without a record playing and there's a snow storm raging in my room.

[AnorakTrev]

Leggo,
That there " rubber band " is/was at least 15 years old,it`s gone to the great recycling bin !!!
Trevor

[leggo rocker]

Leggo,
That there " rubber band " is/was at least 15 years old,it`s gone to the great recycling bin !!!
Trevor

Funny that you should recycle something that's been cycling for 15 years...



Please remind me what your deck is and what mods you've done to it. And tell us what cart you are using. If you don't mind us being so nosey!

[AnorakTrev]

For the nosey folks out there :

The deck is one I designed and built myself after buying a REGA PLANAR 3,and saying to my long suffering wife ScaryMary that I could build one of these.Like red rag to a bull,she said " Oh no, you can`t ".
So being an engineer and a metal machinist,I set to making my own.The current model is about the 10th. one I have made,all previous ones being sold to mates or commisssions.That then finances the next one.,`cos arms and cartridges don`t come cheap when your at this level of technology.
The plinth,or body,is made out of Cornish slate,machined on an old milling machine.The platter is made out of a composite of epoxy resin and slate powder in a cobbled up mould.This was then machined on a lathe to precise dimensions,with a recess in the top face for the record label.All the running gear ( motor mount,sub-platter and pulleys etc. are made from titanium alloy which I get from the scrap bin at work )The feet are also made of the same material,but with anti-vibration bushes set in strategic places to minimise noise and vibration.
The arm is a REGA RB300 which is modded by myself,with locking counterweight etc.The arm is wired with Incognito Cable,well worth the money.The cartridge that I use is a TRANSFIGURATION ARIA ( check it out on the web ) which tracks at 2.1 grams.It`s a moving coil,which requires a phono-stage in my set-up to boost the tiny voltages up to line-level to plug into my passive pre-amp.
The reason I have built this myself is because I can`t afford to buy one of this calibre and quality,I have the machines at my disposal at work( which is F1 )and access to exotic materials and it keeps me off the streets at nights !!!!:D BTW,it sounds f****g gorgeous.

( Now you know why I`m called AnorakTrev )

Trevor

[leggo rocker]

I'm interested!

Dare I ask, but....

How much for one of those?

PM me the answer if you'd rather.

[AnorakTrev]

@ Leggo

Check your PM`s