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RexBlog
Apr 1, 2023 9:59:41 GMT
via mobile
Post by rexton on Apr 1, 2023 9:59:41 GMT
.. funds needed for my dream monoblocks.  Radford Revival MA100? Yes sure! |
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Post by rexton on Apr 2, 2023 19:29:34 GMT
Back to basic - Tonearm/Cartridge matching.
More messing about with the Garrard 301/SME 3012 and SPU's. I'm a lucky bloke in that I own quite a few very nice carts and over the years I have developed a very specific taste with respects to what I like. One of the things I love more than anything in Audiofoolery is Silver. One of the things I don't like in Audiofoolery is plated wire. So, here I'am with a quandry, I have a very nice Royal N II SPU, with a lovely Replicant profile styles, and then things are spoiled because the coils are gold plated silver.  I've messed around with gold and silver plated copper before and have discovered that I didn't really like either. I'm evaluating the pro's and con's of the best bits of the Royal N & the Silver Mesiter II SPU's and seeing if I can come up with something that takes the best of both and then produces something extra special. Here is a spec's list of both carts.
ROYAL N SPU
Output voltage at 1000 Hz, 5cm/sec. - 0.2 mV
Channel balance at 1 kHz < 1 dB
Channel separation at 1 kHz > 25 dB
Channel separation at 15 kHz > 20 dB
Frequency response - 20-20.000 Hz + 1,5/- 0 dB
Tracking ability at 315Hz at recommended tracking force *) - 60 µm
Compliance, dynamic, lateral - 8 µm/mN
Stylus type - Nude Ortofon Replicant 100
Stylus tip radius - r/R 5/100 µm
Tracking force range - 2.5-3.5 g (25-35 mN)
Tracking force, recommended - 3.0 g (30 mN)
Tracking angle - 20° *) Typical value
Internal impedance, DC resistance - 7 ohm
Recommended load impedance > 100 ohm
Coilwire material - Goldplated silver
Cartridge colour - Shiny black
Cartridge weight - 13 g
SILVER MEISTER II SPU
Output voltage at 1000 Hz 5cm/sec - 0.3 mV
Channel balance at 1 kHz < 1 dB
Channel separation at 1 kHz > 20 dB
Channel separation at 15 kHz > 10 dB
Frequency response 20 - 20,000 Hz +2/-1 dB
Tracking ability at 315 Hz at recommended tracking force *) > 70 μm
Compliance, dynamic, lateral - 8 μm/mN
Stylus type - Nude Elliptical
Stylus tip radius - r/R 8/18 μm
Tracking force range - 3.0-5.0 g (30-50 mN)
Tracking force recommended - 4.00 g (40 mN)
Tracking angle - 20º*) Typical value
Internal impedance, DC resistance - 3 ohm
Recommended load impedance > 10 ohm
Coilwire material - Silver, 6-nines
Cartridge body material - Ground wood and resin composite
Cartridge colour - Shiny black
Cartridge Weight - 28 gram
Not much to choose bewteen the two, the Royal N does not have the damped wood resin cartridge body of the Silver Meister II, but then I do have the Royal N mounted in a Orsonic AV101b head shell which is known as one the best, hopefully this will mitigate some of the damping properties of the Silver Meister II body. The biggest difference is stylus profile. Setting up the Royal N was a breeze. My setup includes using Dr. Feickhart's protracter for alignment and then a test record (Ultimate Analog Test LP) + Fozgo meter for channel balance adjustment. The test record is spun at exactly 33.33 which is controlled by my Pheonix Engineering PSU+tachometer, so a very (hopefully) accurate way to ensure that things are setup correctly. I wanted to go a little further into setting the tonearm/cartridge up and I decided to check compliance and effective mass, I use korfaudio.com/calculatorand very good it is too. I found that both the Silver Meister II and the Royal were excellent matches for my SME 3012, the Royal N giving slightly better results for acceleration at the head shell, the stylus excusrion status were pretty much identical with a small hump at about 5hz.
I already have a very very good idea of how a Silver Meister II sounds on my system, so now it's a case of listening and seeing how I like the Royal N with the Replicant stylus profile. So far I have a very wide, fast, vivid soundstage, plenty of seperation between the instruments, excellent detail. Ultimately if things pan out I may end up doing an experiment with a Silver Meister II SPU with boron cantilever and replicant profile. We shall see, stay tuned.....
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Post by rexton on Apr 8, 2023 19:23:01 GMT
So, this happened......
An SME V-12 became attached to my beloved 301. How? Why? Well, my ever faithful steed, the SME 3012 really pissed me off, it's quite a fragile thing and often looses a channel so repair work every few months is nothing new. I decided out of sheer frustration to swap over the V-12 onto the 301 alongside the Royal N II SPU. KORF blog seems to think that they should make a very fine match and they do indeed produce a very fine noise. Why the hell didn't I do this earlier? Using the V-12 does bring advantages such as better tracking, several decades of refinement, reasearch/development, better damping, masses of detail, yada yada yada. Basically a massive upgrade over the 3012. The 3012 is no slouch either and I own too many many SPU's to simply retire the old thing, or worse still, sell it. I have some big plans for the system over the next six months. The first is to send the 3012 upto J7 at Audio-Origami for a full check over and re-wire (it's third). Then the fun starts, I'm planning a new plinth, Permali based, with twin 12" tonearms (SME V-12 and the 3012). The plinth design should be fun and I'm undecided what to do. I'll detail my ideas at some point in the future. In the mean time, here are some more pics of the 301 / SME V-12 combo.
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Post by antonio on Apr 9, 2023 5:32:08 GMT
Those 12" SME's look amazing.
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Post by rexton on Apr 9, 2023 9:07:22 GMT
Those 12" SME's look amazing. Thanks, it sounds a lot better than it looks.! |
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Post by rexton on Apr 30, 2023 17:55:13 GMT
Small update. It's Sunday so we have a JAWS night organised, and some info on the systems.... The decluttering of the collection continues at a sedate pace. I'm selling bits and pieces that I haven't used for a while or simply don't use anymore. I've shifted a few more power leads, head shells and a few other bits and pieces. I've also sorted out some odd bits of speaker cable passed these onto the local scrap metal collectors (they might as well make a couple of quid). The procedes of the sale have managed to cover the cost of my absorption panels and will probably pay for a new FGS stylus on the Silver Meister II SPU. Overall it's been rather a positive experience, less clutter in the house and so far the HiFi hardware habit hasn't cost me a penny, can't say the same for vinyl!!! 
The SME 3012 has been shipped of to Audio Origami for a checkover and in the mean time I'll be planning that plinth design (yeah the one I've been banging on about for years). I just need to see some more stuff to pay for the sheet of Permali! I have a few TT's that I've not used in ages, I think these could do with a new home.  The thought of a few less cardboard boxes in the attic can only please SWMBO. OK, lets get back to listening to some jazz with a decenty single malt......
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Post by rexton on May 1, 2023 18:01:20 GMT
More updates!
Well I've been playing postman pat today. Lot's of boxes to post tomorrow of my old gear going to new homes and some of my old gear getting modded and checked out. I've got a few more bits to flog and then I think I'm done with the small stuff and then I need to think about some of the TT's and speakers kicking around in the loft. The Silver Meister SPU has gone to Northwest Analouge for a FGS and possible cantilever upgrade, and maybe a few other tweaks. The cartridge is now 4 years old and I think it's time it got spruced up. I've not used NWA before for cartridge work so it's a bit of a gamble. The 3012 is winging it's way upto Scotland to Audio Origami and tomorrow I'll be speaking to Permali UK to see about prices and getting some pieces cut to size, this will be a lot neater than me cutting the stuff and probably save me a lot of ball ache! I intend to upgrade some of my equipment rack shelves from Bamboo to permali. I'll probably do the TT and power amp racks in a bit to further damp vibration getting to the Garrard 301. I'm hoping to design a new plinth to take two arms, the SME-V12 and the SME 3012, both arms will live on the 301, the 3012 will be utilised for mono and other exotic SPU duties whilst the SME V-12 will continue to be used with the Royal N SPU. Should be fun.
Anyway, upwards and onwards....
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Post by gninnam on May 1, 2023 18:38:16 GMT
Used NWA to do a retip and a new cantilever on my DL103M - sounds brilliant but the work looks a bit 'messy'.
But, I would use them again as I found them easy to deal with.
Good luck with all your changes
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,399
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Post by Bigman80 on May 1, 2023 19:42:47 GMT
More updates! Well I've been playing postman pat today. Lot's of boxes to post tomorrow of my old gear going to new homes and some of my old gear getting modded and checked out. I've got a few more bits to flog and then I think I'm done with the small stuff and then I need to think about some of the TT's and speakers kicking around in the loft. The Silver Meister SPU has gone to Northwest Analouge for a FGS and possible cantilever upgrade, and maybe a few other tweaks. The cartridge is now 4 years old and I think it's time it got spruced up. I've not used NWA before for cartridge work so it's a bit of a gamble. The 3012 is winging it's way upto Scotland to Audio Origami and tomorrow I'll be speaking to Permali UK to see about prices and getting some pieces cut to size, this will be a lot neater than me cutting the stuff and probably save me a lot of ball ache! I intend to upgrade some of my equipment rack shelves from Bamboo to permali. I'll probably do the TT and power amp racks in a bit to further damp vibration getting to the Garrard 301. I'm hoping to design a new plinth to take two arms, the SME-V12 and the SME 3012, both arms will live on the 301, the 3012 will be utilised for mono and other exotic SPU duties whilst the SME V-12 will continue to be used with the Royal N SPU. Should be fun. Anyway, upwards and onwards.... The Permali shelving idea was something i looked into a little while back. The cost instantly removed any desire i had to take that interest further. Good luck! |
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Post by rexton on May 1, 2023 19:53:25 GMT
I'll be buying a sheet of the stuff so I'll have quite a bit left over, hence the shelves. I may decide to do some discrete mods on the 301 with off-cuts, just depends on what I've left over.
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Post by rexton on May 7, 2023 19:42:00 GMT
Sunday night - Time for an update Another sunday and it's another JAWS (Jazz And Whisky Session). Tonight's tipple is 12 year old Bowmore. Anyway, things are quite on the Western front. The Silver Meister is still being assessed and the 3012 is having a holiday in Scotland. I finally managed to get my absorption panels made up, as can be seen :-
The panels sit right next door to the big Tannoys and have made quite a profund difference. I have come a long way since experimenting with towel racks loaded with blankets and bath towels, which did actually make a marked difference to room accoustics. I had enough spare material left over to make a couple of very rough bass traps which I've installed just behind the main Tannoy speakers, you'll be able to spot them in the background perched on my IMF speakers!!! It's a bit difficult to ascertain what the bass traps have done with the room. I will at some point learn how to use REW. I have noticed less bass bloom and as a consequence noticed a nice improvement in bass detail. A good example of this being the opening track to Charlie Mingus - Mingus, Mingus, Mingus.... Nice definition to the opening solo compared to slightly bloated rendition before the panels and bass traps. I'm in the process of reading some excellent material for beginners over on the GIK website www.gikacoustics.com/how-bass-traps-work/ it's useful stuff and I feel essential reading as my time is short and I really don't want the whole hassle of trial and error placement (altough it's fun but frustrating). I'd sooner have a basic understanding of what I'm trying to achieve and how the various experiments are affecting the rooms performance. It's bound to save time and effort in the long run (famous last words)!!! This passes the time whilst my modified components come back home. I'll have to start thinking about getting that Permali soon..
Stay tuned.
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Post by karma67 on May 8, 2023 5:27:04 GMT
also its important to specify what type of Permali you want as well. |
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Post by rexton on May 8, 2023 8:06:10 GMT
Hi Jamie, yep that's the place. I did intend having a decent chat with someone when the time arises. Any top tips?
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Post by karma67 on May 8, 2023 9:58:50 GMT
Hi Jamie, yep that's the place. I did intend having a decent chat with someone when the time arises. Any top tips? hi andy,yes i was told to go for jabroc but just double check that with him. |
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Post by rexton on May 8, 2023 17:47:03 GMT
Jamie, I'm talking to someone in Oz that has been using several differing woods which measure as well as Bentonite plinths, still early days yet.
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Post by karma67 on May 8, 2023 17:58:01 GMT
ah that'll be warren  |
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Post by rexton on May 8, 2023 18:13:56 GMT
Jonno G - ring any bells?
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Post by karma67 on May 8, 2023 18:25:23 GMT
yeah i know him. except he's in england |
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Post by rexton on May 8, 2023 19:19:31 GMT
Oh FFS!!! Sounds like your upto date with all the stuff they've been doing. |
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RexBlog
May 9, 2023 5:09:59 GMT
via mobile
Post by karma67 on May 9, 2023 5:09:59 GMT
Yep, you gotta keep your ears to the ground in this game! Lol
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Post by rexton on May 14, 2023 20:06:25 GMT
It's Sunday - Another wee update The 301/3012 combo have a combined age of over 110  and have given me pleasure (and quite a bit of frustration) over the last 10 years. The 3012 is knocking on a bit and has from time to time lost a channel, I think I may have finally found the culprit. It looks like it could be the 4-pin cartridge connection at the end of the tonearm. The connector has 4 spring loaded pins which are pressed down when a cartridge is screwed and locked into place. It looks like one of my springs has failed on the pin with the pin being in a permanently depressed position and hence no connection. So, I'm on the hunt for a new one. It's a quick call to SME tomorrow to see if they might have one, if not then it's a case of hunting one down second hand or buying the expensive version from AudioSilente . I've also noticed the the Yoke on the 3012 has a slightly bent anti-bias column so I've managed to source of the older longer versions and finally I've bought some new coupling rubbers as the counterweight appears to sag a little. Hopefully these little tweaks will keep the 3012 going for many years to come. As ever stay tuned.....  |
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Post by rexton on Jun 18, 2023 19:13:28 GMT
It's Sunday - Another update...
It's really raining cats, dogs, and maybe elephants as I sit looking out the listening room window, jazz on with nice single malt looking seductively at me from the corner of the room! The object of my attention has been my Garrard 301, it's the thing that has been recieving most of my attention and spare geld! I've been keeping an eye on the pennies this year, more for fun and an oppotunity to de-clutter and move some stuff on. My loft and garage always need more space!! So, as a consequence I've been getting rid of spare bits of materials and in this instance I found some Sorbothane and Panzerholz. The Panzerholz has been reserved to make a SME spacer for my 3009/SME V-12 for when they get mounted onto the new plinth for the 301 (another story). I'm hoping to also make a special mount for the 5-pin connector that lives on my SME 3012. Originally, I modded the 3012 to get rid of the old SME 4 prong tonearm connector. I now have a 5-pin connector mounted at the end of the tonearm and thus removed a load of connections from signal path, the 5-pin connector is mounted in a plastic mount I made but I now think I'd like to replace this with Panzerholz in a bid to damp resonance getting into the tonearm. Well it's probably pointless but unless we experiment we'll never know.
I've also had an idea to use up some more sorbothane that I found kicking around in my spares box in the garage. I'm going to try and damp the nuts in the equipment rack at key areas, mainly under the pieces of equipment which generate most vibration, the pre and power amp and also under the turntable which I think is probably most susceptable, altough it could be argued that all pieces of equipment are all at risk. The SME 3012 will be finally put back into service, it's had several new components and most importantly my Silver Meister II SPU has been retipped with a FGS stylus. I honestly can't wait! So hopefully the 301 will sound sonically better than ever!
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,399
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 18, 2023 20:15:56 GMT
It's Sunday - Another update... It's really raining cats, dogs, and maybe elephants as I sit looking out the listening room window, jazz on with nice single malt looking seductively at me from the corner of the room! The object of my attention has been my Garrard 301, it's the thing that has been recieving most of my attention and spare geld! I've been keeping an eye on the pennies this year, more for fun and an oppotunity to de-clutter and move some stuff on. My loft and garage always need more space!! So, as a consequence I've been getting rid of spare bits of materials and in this instance I found some Sorbothane and Panzerholz. The Panzerholz has been reserved to make a SME spacer for my 3009/SME V-12 for when they get mounted onto the new plinth for the 301 (another story). I'm hoping to also make a special mount for the 5-pin connector that lives on my SME 3012. Originally, I modded the 3012 to get rid of the old SME 4 prong tonearm connector. I now have a 5-pin connector mounted at the end of the tonearm and thus removed a load of connections from signal path, the 5-pin connector is mounted in a plastic mount I made but I now think I'd like to replace this with Panzerholz in a bid to damp resonance getting into the tonearm. Well it's probably pointless but unless we experiment we'll never know. I've also had an idea to use up some more sorbothane that I found kicking around in my spares box in the garage. I'm going to try and damp the nuts in the equipment rack at key areas, mainly under the pieces of equipment which generate most vibration, the pre and power amp and also under the turntable which I think is probably most susceptable, altough it could be argued that all pieces of equipment are all at risk. The SME 3012 will be finally put back into service, it's had several new components and most importantly my Silver Meister II SPU has been retipped with a FGS stylus. I honestly can't wait! So hopefully the 301 will sound sonically better than ever! I don't think there is a downside to adding Panzer Into the chain, so I say go for it! Well done on the FGS too..... Never heard anything take a backwards step once one has been fitted. |
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Post by karma67 on Jun 19, 2023 18:32:02 GMT
id have to agree,PH is the perfect choice for arm boards and such, it just works but dont ask my why lol
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Post by rexton on Jun 19, 2023 21:38:55 GMT
Yep I've had a Panzerholz tonearm mount for my SME 3012 for several years now and can openly say that it's the best material I've ever had.
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Post by rexton on Jun 20, 2023 20:28:23 GMT
Tempted by the Miyajima stuff......
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Post by rexton on Jun 25, 2023 19:48:09 GMT
Sunday again.... yes you've guessed it, update time.... Jazz is spinning again, 12 year single malt by my side, here's some info on 3rd System. So this is what it looks like..
Garrard 401 sitting in Martin Bastin plinth, a SME V-12, Shure SC35C cartridge with JICO SAS/S stylus and then a Radford SC25 preamp, a EAR 834p (Clone), and a 300b power amp known as "The Italian Job", purely because it was made by some-one in Italy! It's all wired together with Duelund cabling. Speakers are a restored pair of IMF supercompabt Mk II. Valves are all Mullard M8137's. It all sounds bloody lovely. I'm using this system because my main 301 based system has been given a rest whilst mile SME 3012 is having more surgery up in Scotland. So, with nothing else to do I decided to set this system up and have some fun. You'll see a pair of partly made IC's! More on them later. I'll be playing around with this system as I want something fun to do over the summer and into Autumn. So, here's a little mod I made a while back.
A Panzerholz SME tonearm mount. It's not the best looking thing in the world but it works perfectly well and nobody see's the shoddy work once it's mounted !!!!
Finally, a quick snap of a Lenco GL75 bearing I've just finished reworking.
This little System 3 sounds very nice indeed. Stay tuned...
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Bigman80
Grandmaster
The HiFi Bear/Audioaddicts/Bigbottle Owner
Posts: 16,399
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Post by Bigman80 on Jun 25, 2023 22:14:37 GMT
Excellent Andrew.
I still have the odd moment where I feel like plumbing a valve amp in and forgetting about hifi for a few hours.
Feeling quite inspired to do just that after your post.
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Post by rexton on Jun 26, 2023 6:11:10 GMT
Just do it!
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Post by brian2957 on Jun 26, 2023 8:14:39 GMT
What have you done to the GL75 bearing Andy?. It looks fab |
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I've messed around with gold and silver plated copper before and have discovered that I didn't really like either. I'm evaluating the pro's and con's of the best bits of the Royal N & the Silver Mesiter II SPU's and seeing if I can come up with something that takes the best of both and then produces something extra special. Here is a spec's list of both carts. 
The thought of a few less cardboard boxes in the attic can only please SWMBO. OK, lets get back to listening to some jazz with a decenty single malt...... 
and have given me pleasure (and quite a bit of frustration) over the last 10 years. The 3012 is knocking on a bit and has from time to time lost a channel, I think I may have finally found the culprit. It looks like it could be the 4-pin cartridge connection at the end of the tonearm. The connector has 4 spring loaded pins which are pressed down when a cartridge is screwed and locked into place. It looks like one of my springs has failed on the pin with the pin being in a permanently depressed position and hence no connection. So, I'm on the hunt for a new one. It's a quick call to SME tomorrow to see if they might have one, if not then it's a case of hunting one down second hand or buying the expensive version from AudioSilente . I've also noticed the the Yoke on the 3012 has a slightly bent anti-bias column so I've managed to source of the older longer versions and finally I've bought some new coupling rubbers as the counterweight appears to sag a little. Hopefully these little tweaks will keep the 3012 going for many years to come.
