Sony TTS-8000 Turntable with Phonomac AT-1010 Tonearm

thanks mate,i like to think im done now with turntables,i normally sell the previous one to recoup funds but with the pioneer i just cant bring myself to do it! its such a looker.

What a privilege it was to be in attendance yesterday!!

The morning started off with a really thorough explanation and demonstration of how each version of the PMAT-1010 had progressed through each advancement. It was great to get this from Angus. What is blatantly apparent is just how passionate he is about details. How thorough his approach has been and the level of financial input he has put into developing these improvements to the standard arm.

Firstly, we got our ears dialed into Angus's system. As usual, we have used the same few tracks to get a feel for the system. The mark V PMAT-1010 was in and sounded very impressive in Angus's ruthlessly revealing system.

The Mark VI was installed and the energy in the performance blew me away. There was more resolution too. The high hat being played was easily identified as being played with the foot pedal rather than striking it. Not always easy to distinguish but the MKVI made it clear and obvious. On we went to "wish you were here" Later in the song, there is an accidental strike of guitar string. This causes a harmonic effect which is in the wrong key. Again, not always clear but with the MKVI it was clear to hear. There were other differences too, attack and decay were improved. The track "Best days of our lives" was instant, the bass guitar and cymbal strike slammed then stopped instantaneously on the opening bars. No smudge or smear. Digital levels of speed. Impressive.

As we listened, i loved the MKVI more and more. It was excellent but as always, i need mine to arrive so i can dissect it here in my system. I'll update the Phonomac thread when i have done this.

Then we put the Bigbottle phonostage in. We did some listening and as usual, there were differences in the performance. From a personal perspective, The addition of the phonostage made the sound more appealing to my ears but Jamie felt there was a bit of loss in the resolution. I didn't agree but i wouldn't I felt the presentation was different. Everything was still available and audible but had a bit of a slower delivery. I also felt there was a bit more sounstage depth but Angus disagreed. Like i say, these things are largely subjective and regardless of evey ones personal opinion, i would rather have had the Bigbottle in, than out.

What it did highlight was how good the Sansui's built in phonostage and Angus's Ortofon SUT performance is. It really is very revealing but in my view, it doesn't sound as natural from a tone perspective. We did generally all agree on the tone being more natural on the Bigbottle which was pleasing. It also excites me greatly that there may be a future project with Angus to replicate the Sansui phonostage from the Sansui-X1 amplifier. This is a phonostage that has been highlighted as potentially an end game unit, so fingers crossed we can get the ball rolling soon!

Next up, the bit i was looking forward to the most......the Sony TTS-8000

Angus fitted Jamies new MKVI tonearm along with Angus's Ortofon Vienna.

Down went the needle and..................................HMMMM?!

I was a little bit surprised. The sound was a bit thick, muddy almost. Angus suggested we put the Tenuto Platter mat on and we tried again.

FAR FAR better. The Sony is absolutely beautiful to look at. Visually, it floats my boat and was my all time favourite turntable. I wanted one before i bought the SP10 MK2 and had i got one i would have been a happy bunny. So how did the Sony sound?

Best way to describe it was by talking about everything else. The system Angus has built is very revealing and carries no prisoners. The detail retrieval is such that its blatant and smacks you in the face for your attention. What happened for me when the Bigbottle went in was the addition of organism filled-real life sound. However, the Sansui was in and here's the odd part. The Sony added the same kind Organism filled, life like quality to the sound.

The Sony wasn't as immediate or incisive sounding as the SP10, instead it was fluidity and liquidity personified. The sound poured out of the speakers in a similar way it does when you have good valve amps in the signal path. For me, the Sony was a beautiful Turntable which made me really enjoy the sound. The Sony couldn't match the SP10's drive of metronome like rhythmic drive but i don't think its supposed to. It does something else entirely. I read that it combines the best of belt drive and DD turntables and i think i agree. Whether thats something you want, well, thats up to you.

For me, I'll happily keep the SP10 as i've built my sound around it but believe me, if a Sony TTS-8000 comes up, i will add it to the ranks. It captured my heart with it's looks AND its performance.

Thanks to Angus for his hospitality and all of his hard work in developing the Tonearm. It's time the PMAT-1010 goes up against the SME V. If anyone fancies a bakeoff, let me know. We can set up two SP10's and go toe to toe.

Thanks to Jamie for attending and bringing this wonderful TT with him. It was one on my 'to hear' list. I am well impressed with it.

thank you antonio

The Sansui is a big ol' Japanese integrated. Angus has rebuilt it with high quality components. It really is very good.

The Ortofon Vienna is arguably Ortofons best Cartridge. I'd need to hear a A95 etc before making that my official view but it's certainly the best cartridge I've ever heard. Rarer than rocking horse Sh#t.

He is,highly skilled too!
Ive rebuilt 2 Zeta's,its a ball ache,i gave him my pioneer arm to do and the rest is history!

Properly mounted today using the more coupled arm mount,the counterweights on the right way too now .
The arm is mounted at 225mm,any adjustment is done by moving the headshell forward or backward,thankfully i was spot on so no adjustment required.
I will give this armboard a try before making the final panzerholz one.

a few more tweaks tonight with tracking weight and jesus christ this arm is bloody good! listening to 'the wall' album and im hearing such clarity that ive never heard before from this album,things like the bird warble on the beginning of side 2 'goodbye blue sky' is so life like now,the decay in the guitar with delay effect on 'another brick in the wall parts 1 and 2 is astounding! ive never heard it like this before,ive owned zeta's,mission 774's,alphason hr100's,ittoks etc which are all top arms but none have got close to this AT-1010!

It always amuses me that folk (rightly) recognise AT’s capability to make fab carts, yet assume they wouldn’t be equally good at making an arm to play them on. Of course everything is open to improvement and it sounds like this arm is a great base for Angus’ work.