Technics 1210 - tonearm upgrade - The Wand - design build listen - comparison

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by mikeburns, Nov 24, 2014.

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  1. mikeburns

    mikeburns Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Hi everyone

    Well as some of you are aware I decided to take others advice and upgrade my stock 1210 tonearm. My choices were Jelco, Arm rewire from kab (and dampening trough), or some sort of a Rega RB250 style arm. Then I came across a local designer of The Wand - based in Dunedin, New Zealand. There was a bit of a buzz going on about the arm so I decided to pull the trigger and purchased a 9 inch wand with Technics mounting plate.

    I also decided to attempt to do some before and after needle drops with the same cartridge to see if I could AB a difference. I used a low level external sound card (Sound Blaster X-fi) to do the drops, but unfortunately the audio files are kinda noisy, guess I should have done some more homework on this, but oh well.

    At any rate I received the new "The Wand" tonearm a few weeks back and spent the better part of a weekend dialing it in on my 1210. This was no easy task but I got there in the end. Ended up with the wand set basically parallel to the platter (with cartridge parallel to record surface) or as close to it as I can. The wand is set with no anti-skate as I couldn't get it to behave with the most minimum of anti-skate settings (need to investigate a lighter weight to add to the nylon counterweight). It has upgrade tonearm wire in the form of Cardas wiring and plugs as well which may have an influence. Settings for the cartridge are basically all the same and the arm seems to be behaving appropriately. Cartridge is a Denon 301mk2 MC.

    The sound...

    So I was always kind of happy with the stock arm but felt like I might be missing out on something so was sold on the idea of upgrading the arm. After installing the arm it felt like what I was hearing was a richer version of the original. Decay on instruments was longer and weirdly it almost felt like the music flowed slower, almost as if the pitch was just slightly off. Its not by the way, technics quartz lock is a wonderful thing. I think it is just that the music is clearer, and there is more separation between the instruments, its hard to describe really.

    Music definitely sounds better. I notice it most with energetic, loud music, like metal, when the music reaches a big crescendo and there is a lot of complex sounds going on the new arm just sounds so much better. I can listen to relatively harsh sounding passages much louder than before and do not get the same kind of ringing, resonance issues that muddied the music before. Instruments sound more real (if thats the correct way of describing it) with more natural decays etc. Another improvement is because of the reduced resonance the arm is almost completely neutral at high SPL, with very little change to the tone of the music at high volume and no obvious resonances... which the stock arm definitely was guilty of at loud levels.

    At lower levels or with cleaner, less busy music I notice the difference less, but I have noticed more micro-sounds, things I either missed before or didn't hear as they were not as apparent. As I said the differences are hard to explain. I basically just hear more of the music and often hear stuff I haven't heard before. Not mind blowingly different but definitely not just subtle.

    I am not at a point that I am wondering if I am getting the most I can out of my current speakers and that I may well hear more with an upgrade there next.

    So for anyone itching to upgrade their tonearms here is my frank and honest opinion. The upgrade is not night and day difference as others are so keen to profess, especially if your other gear is not up to scratch. I think the stock arm does 90% of what an upgraded arm does already, its really good, so basically it depends on if your willing to spend the cash to get the next 10% upgrade.

    But the upgrade does indeed take the Technics into a new level entirely and definitely is a noticeable improvement. The micro detail improvement and reduction in muddiness is worth it alone. I do not in any way regret the upgrade!!! It is great and I cannot see myself upgrading to a different turntable at any point in the near future. The Wand is an excellent tonearm and does all it claims to and more. I have seen some reviews that place it higher than the origin live silver in terms of upgrade on the 1200. If this is the case then the wand is serious bang for buck especially for those in the southern hemisphere.

    I have uploaded a couple of tracks in flac to mediafire, but am not too happy with how they sound. I will open them up for download but please don't think they will show the difference like night and day, there is just too much background noise for some reason.

    Media fire files:
    Beck - The Golden Age - Mofi LP
    Stock arm: http://www.mediafire.com/download/l02wattl4g1o3jc/Beck_-_The_Golden_Age.flac
    The Wand: http://www.mediafire.com/download/bir838z6o5bm8wa/Beck_-_The_Golden_Age_-_wand.flac

    Have got some other files, Miles Davis, Alice In Chains unplugged etc which I can provide links for if people would rather hear something different.

    Cheers

    Mike
     
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  2. mikeburns

    mikeburns Forum Resident Thread Starter

  3. mikeburns

    mikeburns Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Also Simon from Design Build Listen is a really nice guy, very helpful whenever I hit a snag, even answering an email question after 9pm on a Saturday night! Thoroughly recommended his services.
     
  4. mikeburns

    mikeburns Forum Resident Thread Starter

  5. sushimaster

    sushimaster Forum Resident

    Sounds real damn good. I never heard Beck - The Golden Age or Miles Davis - Solea, until now.
    Very nice sound.
     
  6. mikeburns

    mikeburns Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks Sushimaster! Did you think it was too noisy?
     
  7. sushimaster

    sushimaster Forum Resident

    No, not at all. Very clean, and quiet.

     
  8. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Photos please!


    edit: Oh, I found some. It's a beast! That's one tone arm I wouldnt mind trying to rewire for a change!


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2014
  9. mikeburns

    mikeburns Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Yup thats it, huge diameter tonearm, it really is large in real life!
     
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