Most extreme Von Schweikert system on the planet?
- Thread starter JackD201
- Start date
What...no tangential arms
The owner is two arms short of an Octopus
Traiplanar U2 - Koetsu Blue Lace
Graham B-44 Phantom II - Dynavector DRT XV-1t
Kuzma 4 Point - Ortofon A90
TW Acustic - MY Sonic Labs Ultra Eminent BC
Schroeder - Jan Allearts MC 1
Da Vinci Grandezza Grand Reference (ebony?)- Grandezza Grand Reference MC
None, no place for an air pump and our high humidity and high airborne particulate levels count out Souther types
Oh, sadness :-(None, no place for an air pump and our high humidity and high airborne particulate levels count out Souther types
None, no place for an air pump and our high humidity and high airborne particulate levels count out Souther types
With A/C and hepafiltration your brother should be able to perform surgery in there.
Indeed that is a poor excuse for not using tangential arms!With so much money sunk into it, it would be just a pinch of salt to accomodate a housing for the compressor...
Pitty, since tangentials are a far better breed...
Pitty, since tangentials are a far better breed...
Don't tell me, tell the owner
That AC is not going to be on 100% of the time. It is the down time where humidity kills. Remember we are in a tropical country. Mold and mildew can grow on curtains and fabric over night. Humidity can be so high there is too much condensation despite extreme attempts at filtration cause water to spit out of air bearings and dust turns into cement on the rails.
I've seen it too many times to recommend an air bearing linear tracker. Under these conditions, I would NEVER recommend a souther type. The whole point is to enjoy music not spend all the time wiping the rails.
A functioning pivot arm will always outperform a broken tangential.
That AC is not going to be on 100% of the time. It is the down time where humidity kills. Remember we are in a tropical country. Mold and mildew can grow on curtains and fabric over night. Humidity can be so high there is too much condensation despite extreme attempts at filtration cause water to spit out of air bearings and dust turns into cement on the rails.
I've seen it too many times to recommend an air bearing linear tracker. Under these conditions, I would NEVER recommend a souther type. The whole point is to enjoy music not spend all the time wiping the rails.
A functioning pivot arm will always outperform a broken tangential.
Last edited:
Don't tell me, tell the owner
That AC is not going to be on 100% of the time. It is the down time where humidity kills. Remember we are in a tropical country. Mold and mildew can grow on curtains and fabric over night. Humidity can be so high there is too much condensation despite extreme attempts at filtration cause water to spit out of air bearings and dust turns into cement on the rails.
I've seen it too many times to recommend an air bearing linear tracker. Under these conditions, I would NEVER recommend a souther type. The whole point is to enjoy music not spend all the time wiping the rails.
A functioning pivot arm will always outperform a broken tangential.
And your life isn't complete until you've seen water/oil spitting out of your air bearing! Remember that happening to a colleague who had a pre-filtered Forsell set up. Those pumps can cool the air down real quick.
Let me put it this way bro, we were tuning the 4.1 channel set up (CDSD/Switchman 3/DAC6 front end) with a multichannel big band SACD and the sound was simply huge. I mean HUGE. We're talking about 6 built in 15" subwoofers between the 11s and 9s with the biggest of JL's subs bringing up the rear. Over power the room? The room is 50,000+ cubic feet! Balance after calibration was spot on and the 7ft behemoths and their little brothers (I never thought I'd ever call VR-9s "little") simply disappear. That alone must be some kind of a feat.
As huge as the stage was, the images were life sized and not bloated out of proportion although I suspect Dusty Springfield's mouth singing The Look of Love from Casino Royale might be the size of a Lincoln Navigator Hahahaha! Anyways, listening to the big band I felt uneasy. It was as if something was missing. After about 3 tracks I figured out what it was. I was missing the chatter and other random noise that I get when I go to a live venue. It felt like I was alone in the audience. That is how close to live the presentation was. NOW. 2 channel analog of full orchestras and the illusion was that of being in a concert hall. When I got home I fired up my system, which I think would never be considered puny by even the most stringent standards, my system made me feel like I was Ben Stiller at the museum playing with the dioramas.
Okay, I'll nitpick a little. As you know from experience, since your VR-5 As are essentially VR-9s less the ribbons and the Diamond Subs which are in turn half of VR-11s, out of the box, the ring radiators are great off the bat but will become more natural and articulate after about 100 hours, the mids slightly nasal and slightly veiled, and the bass lacking in pitch definition. The VR-11s have exactly the same pre-break-in sound. Yes it is already good but nowhere near the potential they are capable of when fully broken-in and the trolley full of Mundorfs and V-cap VFTFs are burned in.
From your experience again, you know that when this happens some 300 to 400 hours into break-in the aerogel mids become stat-fast like when you compared them with your Martin Logans as I also did when I compared transient speed of my broken in 5s and 9s against my Stax 404s. The SEAS magnesium woofers really come into their own at 600 to even a thousand hours.
I'm willing to bet that despite how good they are now, they are just going to get better and better. How much better? THAT is what I am DYING to find out!
Truth be told, I am green with envy. What Jim has accomplished however is an undertaking I feel I can not commit to myself. Assembling the top woofers of the VR-11s alone almost gave me a heart attack when the boys wobbled. These speakers aren't even mine. If they were and I witnessed the same thing, I'd probably be pushing daisies now!
I'm just happy I can come over anytime I like
As huge as the stage was, the images were life sized and not bloated out of proportion although I suspect Dusty Springfield's mouth singing The Look of Love from Casino Royale might be the size of a Lincoln Navigator Hahahaha! Anyways, listening to the big band I felt uneasy. It was as if something was missing. After about 3 tracks I figured out what it was. I was missing the chatter and other random noise that I get when I go to a live venue. It felt like I was alone in the audience. That is how close to live the presentation was. NOW. 2 channel analog of full orchestras and the illusion was that of being in a concert hall. When I got home I fired up my system, which I think would never be considered puny by even the most stringent standards, my system made me feel like I was Ben Stiller at the museum playing with the dioramas.
Okay, I'll nitpick a little. As you know from experience, since your VR-5 As are essentially VR-9s less the ribbons and the Diamond Subs which are in turn half of VR-11s, out of the box, the ring radiators are great off the bat but will become more natural and articulate after about 100 hours, the mids slightly nasal and slightly veiled, and the bass lacking in pitch definition. The VR-11s have exactly the same pre-break-in sound. Yes it is already good but nowhere near the potential they are capable of when fully broken-in and the trolley full of Mundorfs and V-cap VFTFs are burned in.
From your experience again, you know that when this happens some 300 to 400 hours into break-in the aerogel mids become stat-fast like when you compared them with your Martin Logans as I also did when I compared transient speed of my broken in 5s and 9s against my Stax 404s. The SEAS magnesium woofers really come into their own at 600 to even a thousand hours.
I'm willing to bet that despite how good they are now, they are just going to get better and better. How much better? THAT is what I am DYING to find out!
Truth be told, I am green with envy. What Jim has accomplished however is an undertaking I feel I can not commit to myself. Assembling the top woofers of the VR-11s alone almost gave me a heart attack when the boys wobbled. These speakers aren't even mine. If they were and I witnessed the same thing, I'd probably be pushing daisies now!
I'm just happy I can come over anytime I like
If things are sounding that good that early, in 400 hours or so you guys may not be able to handle the level of nirvana that awaits you. My diminutive system sounds absolutely incredible to these old ears so listening to Jim's system is something that I shouldn't do. The fact that you are on the other side of the earth is a blessing. Thanks for the feedback and be sure to take all of us along for the break in ride.
Hi Brother Ding,
I suppose he could but..........
With all the dead in the water linear trackers occupying WS member's closets, I figured I'd go ask Jadis who has had no problems with his ET-2 for a decade or more. According to Phil, the humidity problem as far as the air bearing is concerned is as simple as having a well maintained pump and filter. Dust according to him is the real enemy because the bearing tube will eventually cake up if one is not very careful.
Phil said his secret is that his turntable, first and foremost, has a dust cover. This is something one hardly sees these days. I believe even Linn Sondeks sell them as an option these days. Phil goes a step further. When not in use, not only does the dust cover stay on, the entire rack is covered by a protective cloth to keep dust out.
The problem of Emperor is that the Black Knight and AC-3 TTs are rather large tables and would require even larger dust covers. The arms are all over the place too so putting on and removing them is fraught with danger.
I suppose he could but..........
With all the dead in the water linear trackers occupying WS member's closets, I figured I'd go ask Jadis who has had no problems with his ET-2 for a decade or more. According to Phil, the humidity problem as far as the air bearing is concerned is as simple as having a well maintained pump and filter. Dust according to him is the real enemy because the bearing tube will eventually cake up if one is not very careful.
Phil said his secret is that his turntable, first and foremost, has a dust cover. This is something one hardly sees these days. I believe even Linn Sondeks sell them as an option these days. Phil goes a step further. When not in use, not only does the dust cover stay on, the entire rack is covered by a protective cloth to keep dust out.
The problem of Emperor is that the Black Knight and AC-3 TTs are rather large tables and would require even larger dust covers. The arms are all over the place too so putting on and removing them is fraught with danger.
Hi Brother Ding,
I suppose he could but..........
With all the dead in the water linear trackers occupying WS member's closets, I figured I'd go ask Jadis who has had no problems with his ET-2 for a decade or more. According to Phil, the humidity problem as far as the air bearing is concerned is as simple as having a well maintained pump and filter. Dust according to him is the real enemy because the bearing tube will eventually cake up if one is not very careful.
Phil said his secret is that his turntable, first and foremost, has a dust cover. This is something one hardly sees these days. I believe even Linn Sondeks sell them as an option these days. Phil goes a step further. When not in use, not only does the dust cover stay on, the entire rack is covered by a protective cloth to keep dust out.
The problem of Emperor is that the Black Knight and AC-3 TTs are rather large tables and would require even larger dust covers. The arms are all over the place too so putting on and removing them is fraught with danger.
That's right, Jack. And by and large, most air bearing arms over here that have failed their users do not have dust covers on their turntables. Whether it's an Air Tangent or a Forsell air bearing arm. The people I know who used them do not have TT dustcovers. And worse, one owner had a split type A/C blowing down on an air bearing arm, imagine the volume of dust that should hit the arm. I have replaced just once the air filter on my ET2 in a span of 23 years. I clean the bearing about once a month with Q-tips and alcohol. That's it. And as I told Jack, the dustcover is always down, when playing, and after playing. Then a cloth blanket on it all through the night till the next session.
I talked to the Emperor about this as he was studying some air bearing designs. I told him a long time ago, I had an Ariston table which I put on a VPI base (it looks and functions like your Critical Mass platform, Jack). I removed the Ariston cover and custom-made a huge acrylic dustcover that will cover the VPI Base AND the Ariston which is resting on the VPI base. I then had a couple of sturdy hinges mounted on this huge cover and the VPI base. Voila, no fear of having the cover hit any part of the TT. I suggested to the Emperor and he can do this to his Critical Mass where the TW sits on - if he decides to get an air bearing tonearm.
Below, an shot of my old-fashioned TT with dustcover.
Local lore has it that the number one damage problem with TT's is due to dropping or some other mishap involving hard, unattached covers. Don't know how universal this is but I'm very cautious with mine.
Specially if that unattached cover is about the size of the TT footprint. I would hold my breath while slipping such covers on to the TT, specially if the TT holds 4 tonearms that looks like tentacles of an octopus. LOL. And to do that ritual many times a day, weeks or months? Forget it. Damage not only to the TT is possible but to the tonearm or cart as well. A hinged cover is much safer.
Got a long way to go Ding, the system has got only about a hundred hours on it. Jim left for Honolulu so it's in stasis now.
