Bill, I'm glad to hear that you have fond memories of Brazil! Those are good times! In 1982, the Concorde made its last flight to Rio de Janeiro! As Tim said, we have a good community of audiophiles and melomanos, am in the middle, currently I just hear, lol
Thank you for your kindness Nasc, I am quite happy with the turntable, but like most, I'm curious to hear others! There is not much to say about the armwands other than to say they are all vintage VPI at the original 10 inch length, before the move to 10 1/2. Each one is different from the next and it seems VPI changed designs often. Each one is compatible with the fluid damping system and for me that is the key advantage over the newer VPI arms. I tried the 3D arm but moved back to the older, fluid damped arms. I've tried a bundle of cartridges as this is the easiest way for me to tweak the overall sound of my system. I'm a fan of Japanese cartridges and currently have a Dynavector, a Koetsu, an Audio Technica and a Nagoaka mounted on my 4 armwands.... two Moving Magnet and two Moving Coil. Fun stuff. The cartridge mounted in the turntable photo above is a Lyra Kleos. Here's a few more photos of some cartridges I've tried... Dynavector 17dII. I'm now using a 17D3. Paradox Pulse / Denon 103r Nagoaka MP-200 47 Labs MC-Bee
Nope. I'm not made of Shun Mook-type money. It is made with mpingo wood though. It's made by Club Wood in Korea and is a combo of mpingo and brass. The other weight in the photos is by Black Diamond Racing.
nice. I have some ebony here, but it is not mpingo. There's a wood craftsman who has worked on the house we bought, but I'm afraid if I asked him to make me something from it, it would cost more than the Mook! I can definitely hear the difference between different weights and clamps. The Shun Mook is supposed to be the bomb.
Since we are talking record weights, here's a picture of my Clearaudio Avantgarde sporting a homemade wood, chrome and acrylic/epoxy weight, riding with a Benz Micro Wood SL while playing one of my favorite records of the year, the 2-LP clear vinyl Persona album from Rival Consoles ... the heavy brass Micro Seiki ST-10 and machined aluminum weights are off to the side ...
I do love that record, ever since it first came out under his original Manitoba name in 2003. The one in the picture is the red flame RSD issue from (I think) 2013. I just recently played it over and over, but if it was next up, that would be fine with me too, never get tired of it. I was kinda thinking Tender Buttons by Broadcast may be next up.
Very nice pictures, you really have a knack for framing the cartridges and adding some drama and contrast to the scenes, well done. Wish we could all be so artistic, though it's still fun to see all the different tables and cartridges and systems around here, regardless of the camera skills on display
Oh man, all the great equipment I got now and I am totally hooked on playing my old 45's on this baby, my first recordplayer I found on a Dutch ebaylike place! PS how do i uploud my pic from photobucket? I've done it before but it's not working anymore)
Yeah, it's pricey. It was pricey when it was cheaper, too. I'm using the Stillpoints record weight and you can definitely hear a difference between that and the stock screw down clamp on my Kuzma. Franc K. sells an ebony record weight as an accessory that is a fraction of the price of the Mook (spell check wants to say 'Book'); I may try it at some point when I've run out of things to spend money on--but as a retired pensioner living on my investments, I'm very judicious in how I spend my money these days.
You got me! No, I just responded below (above) re the Shun Mook pricing. I bought a Stillpoints LP1 weight and it sounded dramatically different than the stock weight/screw down clamp on the XL. When I talked to Franc about alternatives, he mentioned his ebony weight- have you tried it? The Stillpoints required me to adjust the system to add more woofer gain; the stock weight/clamp seems to give the XL a more propulsive sound but compared to the Stillpoints, it isn't as relaxed sounding. So, I'm still using the Stillpoints. I did switch back to the stock weight/clamp a while ago, and had the same result-- more drive, more 'wham' from the stock weight, but more relaxed (albeit with less bass requiring retuning of the subs) with the Stillpoints.
Much of my spending occurred while I was still actively practicing law based in NYC. Now, without that kind of income, I am a little more low key on the spending. But, I've always spent money on hi-fi. And I think, as I age-- i'm in my mid-'60s now-- what am I going to do with all this stuff in 10 or 20 years? (Perhaps a topic for a different thread for geezers, don't want to derail this one).
Waxxy, it seems that your ability with the camera, compares to your good taste with the cartridges, congratulations! Very interesting your tonearm system! I also have a passion for listening to different cartridges and tonearms, my preference is divided between Japanese and European! If you let me, I'll show you my cartridges! Nothing too expensive, but they ensure a great fun! The SPU Collector box, these are my favorite cartridges! Ortofon SPU 85th Ikeda 407/Ortofon SPU 85th
Some that were not presented individually are in the organizer! As children, we like to show our toys to new friends rsrsrsrsrs
Hi Bill, I also do not like the stock weight / screw down clamp on the XL, I prefer others! I really like Kuzma eboni, I think you should know! Orthophon SPU (my favorites) may not be hi-end, but they are "warm and relaxing" combine very well with Kuzma eboni, I listen for hours without hearing fatigue!