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Post by jimbo on May 26, 2020 14:16:54 GMT
Your bang on mate, I was thinking that this morning but to be honest the DL6 is not that bad at all. They are easy to drive, just not that transparent /articulate. But I am grateful for what they are and they do sound fine in the context in which they are being used. 
If I moved in the Pioneers you had their size may raise some eyebrows!  |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 26, 2020 14:29:32 GMT
Your bang on mate, I was thinking that this morning but to be honest the DL6 is not that bad at all. They are easy to drive, just not that transparent /articulate. But I am grateful for what they are and they do sound fine in the context in which they are being used.
If I moved in the Pioneers you had their size may raise some eyebrows! Hahahah, yeah but it would've sounded fantastic |
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Post by macca on May 26, 2020 14:33:45 GMT
It's not the average impedance you need to worry about it's how low the impedance swings. if you look at impedance plot of vintage speakers it's a straight line, more modern stuff it is up and down like a whore's drawers. That may not be optimal for the Pioneer. Not a question of volume but of frequency response.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 26, 2020 14:35:50 GMT
It's not the average impedance you need to worry about it's how low the impedance swings. if you look at impedance plot of vintage speakers it's a straight line, more modern stuff it is up and down like a whore's drawers. That may not be optimal for the Pioneer. Not a question of volume but of frequency response. Got ya |
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Post by macca on May 26, 2020 15:13:03 GMT
Can't find an impedance trace for the DL6. Didn't realise how old they were, 1982!
But yeah, to give 100% of what it can do, the Pioneer will want something like your old Pioneer speakers.
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Post by jimbo on May 26, 2020 17:02:24 GMT
Can't find an impedance trace for the DL6. Didn't realise how old they were, 1982! But yeah, to give 100% of what it can do, the Pioneer will want something like your old Pioneer speakers. I really liked those Pioneer speakers. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on May 26, 2020 17:39:27 GMT
Can't find an impedance trace for the DL6. Didn't realise how old they were, 1982! But yeah, to give 100% of what it can do, the Pioneer will want something like your old Pioneer speakers. I really liked those Pioneer speakers. They were fantastic.....I know they were a little unrefined at times but they sounded so sweet. Really open and quite resolving. |
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 1, 2020 10:09:21 GMT
The Lenco Cabin Fever project continues although the majority of the work has now been done. My attention now has been on assessing V blocks and their subjective performance in the Lenco tonearm. It is a contentious subject and there are two schools of thought. First is that soft rubber V blocks isolate the tonearm from the plinth and prevent acoustic vibration from the motor or platter...mmmm... not sure on this one as most tonearms are not isolated with rubber? My VPI turntable tonearm is a unipivot and is bolted to the plinth which is shared with the platter bearing. The Unipivot sits on a very sharp needle point and there is not rubber damping apart from some internal tonearm damping.
The problem with rubber material used in the V blocks is that it does not control or support the knife edge bearings effectively enough as it can move and smear the detail retrieval from the stylus when tracking a record.
The second school of thought, and this is my preferred route and that is to use a hard material for the V blocks but not metal which could introduce chatter. So I am using some V blocks made from Verowhite which is a type of resin. These V blocks support the knife edge bearings very effectively without unwanted movement in any plane other than that which is needed to track the grooves on the record.This has translated in a very detailed sound with tight bass and excellent soundstage and imaging. By comparison the rubber V blocks were maybe a bit fuller tonally but not so detailed especially in the treble which makes me think they were not as accurate. I could hear more information from the Verowhite blocks and the space and acoustic information in the recordings was more present.
Which one is right or wrong is all down to the ear of the beholder but I have decided the harder blocks give a more preferable presentation of the music. I know a guy who made them out of teflon...he swore they were the best |
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Post by jimbo on Jun 1, 2020 10:23:01 GMT
The verowhite material has a Teflon finish to it, bit like Delrin.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 1, 2020 10:24:43 GMT
The verowhite material has a Teflon finish to it, bit like Delrin. Oh ok...cool! |
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Post by brian2957 on Jun 1, 2020 10:59:56 GMT
So which are the Russian V- Blocks James . Hard or soft ?
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Post by jimbo on Jun 1, 2020 12:36:03 GMT
So which are the Russian V- Blocks James . Hard or soft ? The Russian V blocks are soft. The UK sourced ones are hard.
I expect that equally as many people would like both, it just comes down to preference. All I can say is I very much like the detail of the hard ones.
Tonally the Rubber are probably better?
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Post by brian2957 on Jun 1, 2020 14:15:03 GMT
That's interesting . Wouldn't have thought there would have been much difference on something so small . Thanks for posting James |
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Post by rexton on Jun 1, 2020 19:28:27 GMT
All down to your lug 'oles I think. Whatever sounds best.
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Post by brian2957 on Jun 7, 2020 7:31:22 GMT
Gone awful quiet here James I'm looking forward to your comparison between the AT95ex and the M55e / Jico cartridges . Big thanks to James who kindly helped me get my GL75 up and running again . I wasn't able to use it due to my cack-handedness when using the turntable . Anyway , thanks again mate |
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Post by jimbo on Jun 7, 2020 10:01:40 GMT
Gone awful quiet here James I'm looking forward to your comparison between the AT95ex and the M55e / Jico cartridges . Big thanks to James who kindly helped me get my GL75 up and running again . I wasn't able to use it due to my cack-handedness when using the turntable . Anyway , thanks again mate Always good to be able to help out a mate.
I have a Lenco headshell on the way as we speak and I will then pop the M55e and new stylus in that. I have been very keen to hear this new Jico stylus / M55e combination as interestingly it has the same size elliptical stylus as the At95ex so the comparison should be very interesting. I really like the precision and control of the AT95ex and its ability is way beyond its price. I think it will be a tough act to follow.......
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Post by jimbo on Jun 7, 2020 10:40:15 GMT
Waiting for a headshell...  |
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Post by brian2957 on Jun 7, 2020 12:16:32 GMT
Aye , shouldn't be too long hopefully . If I buy the Jico stylus for my M55e I will be buying another headshell to use with it . Me and mucking around with cartridges / headshells don't mix Lol  Much cheaper just to buy another headshell |
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Post by jimbo on Jun 7, 2020 15:52:38 GMT
Aye , shouldn't be too long hopefully . If I buy the Jico stylus for my M55e I will be buying another headshell to use with it . Me and mucking around with cartridges / headshells don't mix Lol Much cheaper just to buy another headshell Good point, and its far easier to just pop on a new headshell already preloaded. |
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Post by jimbo on Jun 8, 2020 17:40:02 GMT
The retro / second back up system has turned out rather good and has made me reappraise a little what I think is important when putting together a system. I remember in my very early days when messing about with HiFi I was thrilled just to get stereo and then something that would sound half decent. It was way before I became an audiophile and probably then I was not even aware what an audiofool was! I was simply happy just spinning tunes and listening to music. Back then in the late 70s I was far more interested in music than I was in hifi which is probably the right way round but as we have all found chasing the audiophile dream can take over somewhat?
I had forgotten this form of existence and the freeform consciousness of music. Being a lot younger then my hearing was far more acute and my response to sound and music was just an unconscious reaction. You heard something, you liked it so you bought it and played it to death! However I was always aware I was interested in sound per say. I liked some music just because of the sound or the patterns in the sound hence I strayed into all sorts of areas of music after initially starting with rock music. Back in 1976 rock music was midway to its zenith and you could not keep up with the torrent of fabulous music that was being released. I was afloat on a sea of rock music of unfathomable depths and I really did not consider Jazz, Classical or electronic music, they were not on my radar.
As we came to the end of the 1970s and into the 80s I was finding my taste in music had started to branch out. I had a massive classical music background but had never indulged in it. My father was a jazz musician but it did not even register in my field of view even though it was staring me in the face! However I had started becoming fascinated with electronic music after discovering Kraftwerk, Tangerine dream then bands like OMD, The human league and many many other electronic bands of the early 1980s. This electronic music became the EDM of the 1990s and beyond but by then it had lost its simplest purest form a bit like jazz.
Jazz had been dripped into my ear as soon as I was born mainly from the era of 1950-1965. This influence came out many years later when I started to appreciate Jazz more and indeed today I buy it constantly but it is this period of classic jazz and not the contemporary noodling of Miles Davis that I like. And classical music also took the same path. I found I was drawn to early music, Monteverdi, Bird, Downland, Purcell and then later Bach and the Baroque period but here my interest really ended. Anything moving on from this period apart from Philip Glass left me uninterested.
Pondering my journey through music and to a certain point my music collection has revealed to me that I have at the age of 56 become fairly sure of the type of music I like and consequently my ear is always open for music that fits these categories. My first great interest in rock music has been swept away by more considered music like Agnes Obel , Aldous Harding and singer song writer acoustic based music. I now like to hear space in my music with a spiritual quality of quiet transcendence ...i really should stop drinking that mushroom tea!!
Anyhow back to the beginning and my retro system and the connection with all that I have just mentioned. It has more than ever made me realise that at the end of the day if you put a system together that allows you to enjoy music this is the most important aspect and by listening to the music rather than to the sound you know you have achieved your aim.
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Post by rexton on Jun 8, 2020 20:06:49 GMT
You post mirrors an awful lot of my own experiences, spooky!! I too also decided this year to concentrate on the music and not chase "hi-fi". I'm happy to still spend money on upgrading what I own so long as it's value for money and an improvement on what I own, the Cadenza black upgrade for example. No more box swapping, more vinyl!
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Post by macca on Jun 9, 2020 6:36:59 GMT
Good post that James. I like it when people make thoughtful, intelligent posts on hi-fi forums, there doesn't seem to be enough of it, regrettably.
Speaking personally I think I did for a short while some years back fall into the 'hi-fi not music' trap. And the system started dictating my choice of music - that's when you know you've gone wrong somewhere. Not just in terms of equipment choices but philosophically.
I got into jazz in my thirties having previously been solely into rock and blues. I wish I knew more about jazz as I know what I like but I'm not really sure what 'types' of jazz that is and that makes it hard to build a collection. It's a huge genre that would take several lifetimes to explore fully, even if you did nothing else!
But a lot of my listening is still to the classics of rock and blues that I grew up with. My dream when I started out with my first set of equipment was to eventually have a system that would do full justice to that music - that is a system that you could crank up to a good level without it becoming harsh, hard, distorted and compressed.
It took a while to get there, I was held back both financially and by not knowing what the F#ck I was doing. But I was listening to The Cult 'Love' the other day at a silly volume level and I think that mission has been accomplished. Other considerations, maybe not so much.
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Jun 9, 2020 10:09:13 GMT
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Post by stevew on Jun 9, 2020 10:09:13 GMT
Great write up Jim, and many parallels with myself also.
At 63 I can totally concur with the desire to listen to music that has a ‘quiet transcendence’. What a very apt phrase.
My second system has also been instructive in what I now look for in a listening experience. Digital music has become less and less appealing when the vinyl side of things offers greater satisfaction and insight.
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Post by brian2957 on Jun 10, 2020 18:32:25 GMT
That headshell looks in good nick . You're not going to paint it are you ?  |
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Post by jimbo on Jun 10, 2020 18:51:47 GMT
Haha no mate I am not. It is in better nick than the headshell I have on currently. Can't wait to spanner in the new cartridge! Its been long enough! The paint is for another little project... |
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Post by brian2957 on Jun 10, 2020 18:57:41 GMT
Looking forward to your impressions |
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Post by jimbo on Jun 10, 2020 19:07:26 GMT
Looking forward to your impressions The AT95EX is going to take a lot to beat. I have been hoping to do this evaluation for the last month so looking forward to the weekend very much.
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Post by jimbo on Jun 11, 2020 7:16:38 GMT
Anyone got any tips on spraying metal objects?
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 11, 2020 7:29:01 GMT
Anyone got any tips on spraying metal objects? Lots of thin coats is better than trying to do it in one go |
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Post by brian2957 on Jun 11, 2020 9:15:49 GMT
Make sure it's very well cleaned , apply an undercoat , and as Oli says , lots of thin coats . Read the instructions regarding distance from object . Always wear a mask and do the job in a well ventilated area |
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Much cheaper just to buy another headshell 
