Have you installed the Brinkmann yet as comparison, or are you still comparing to the Denon?
Ron’s New System
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
- Start date
I wish there was a "mega-like" button...It'd be a good time to mention that Ron and I spent several hours together this past Tuesday in his listening room. I think I selected most or all of the music from Ron's collection that we heard. We probably listened to more tape than vinyl, but we certainly sampled both. Not a single CD was played that day.
I found Ron's system immensely enjoyable. And over the course of the day, we played at least a few songs we both consider roughly top 10 of all time. Ron mentioned that he was nearly moved to tears during Bridge Over Troubled Waters as I recall. While I encountered the same emotion when Ron surprised me with a master tape of Whiter Shade of Pale.
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I was absolutely bowled over. One of my all-time favorite pieces and in my opinion just a perfect song. I've probably listened to it a thousand times. And then to hear it sound like this ... Like I'd never heard before ... An amazing and emotional experience. It can't be described other than to say that off the tape, it sounded like it had been recorded on Monday. Versus any vinyl playback I'd ever heard that sounds comparatively low fidelity and almost muted. Whew. I believe we also played Ron's vinyl copy for good measure. For reference, Ron's 2-track master tape is referred to in this article by Art Dudley:
Listening #9 Page 3
It took a while to locate the production master for the single—the original four-track tapes haven't surfaced since 1967, and are presumed forever lost—but along the way someone turned up a box from Advision Sound Studios in London, dated "April 1967" and marked, simply, "Whiter Shade of Pale...www.stereophile.com
I know that Ron has countless hours of enjoyment ahead in his listening room. The 4 hours we spent felt like 4 minutes. A great day, with great music, and great company! Thank you again, Ron!
Obligatory pics follow.
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Considerably sooner from here:
| Brinkmann Balance + 12.1 Tonearm (ex demo, as new) | £14,995 |
| Brinkmann RoNt III tube power supply (ex demo, as new) | £3800 |
| Brinkmann M3X HRS isolation platform (ex demo, as new) | £3300 |
Well we know from your Musica Nuda recording that your current turntable set-up is lacking somewhat so keep an open mind.
Ron, how are you going to do this with tape? This is just the example of one classical piece. And I am not academically asking if the tape of each sounds better than the corresponding LP, my question is what if I want the piece for which a good quality LP is available, but corresponding tape is not?
ps: The Furtwangler and the Szell courtesy the general providing the opportunity
ps: The Furtwangler and the Szell courtesy the general providing the opportunity
The Ferenc Fricsays are Beethoven ab fabulous… lovin the Szell and the Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt is the reference for the 9th… super nice Beethoven orchestral selection!!! (Let’s not mention which well known Fuhrer was in the audience for the Furtwängler 9th
)
Lovely collection. Fricsay is also fine for Mozart and Bartok. IIrc Ron likes the Egmont but not the chorus on the 9th. For a better example, do you have high desire girl-guitar LPs sans tape?
So it is tape in an absolute sense, not in reference to any specific vinyl comparison. I would have thought you at least were referencing your own vinyl playback at home if not what you heard recently at the show.
Do you expect to listen mostly to your tapes and not much to your new vinyl rig or new streamer?
It'd be a good time to mention that Ron and I spent several hours together this past Tuesday in his listening room. I think I selected most or all of the music from Ron's collection that we heard. We probably listened to more tape than vinyl, but we certainly sampled both. Not a single CD was played that day.
I found Ron's system immensely enjoyable. And over the course of the day, we played at least a few songs we both consider roughly top 10 of all time. Ron mentioned that he was nearly moved to tears during Bridge Over Troubled Waters as I recall. While I encountered the same emotion when Ron surprised me with a master tape of Whiter Shade of Pale.
View attachment 111947
I was absolutely bowled over. One of my all-time favorite pieces and in my opinion just a perfect song. I've probably listened to it a thousand times. And then to hear it sound like this ... Like I'd never heard before ... An amazing and emotional experience. It can't be described other than to say that off the tape, it sounded like it had been recorded on Monday. Versus any vinyl playback I'd ever heard that sounds comparatively low fidelity and almost muted. Whew. I believe we also played Ron's vinyl copy for good measure. For reference, Ron's 2-track master tape is referred to in this article by Art Dudley:
Listening #9 Page 3
It took a while to locate the production master for the single—the original four-track tapes haven't surfaced since 1967, and are presumed forever lost—but along the way someone turned up a box from Advision Sound Studios in London, dated "April 1967" and marked, simply, "Whiter Shade of Pale...
I know that Ron has countless hours of enjoyment ahead in his listening room. The 4 hours we spent felt like 4 minutes. A great day, with great music, and great company! Thank you again, Ron!
Obligatory pics follow.
Thank you very much for the kind words, Brian! It was great finally to spend some quality time with you!
You might be unhappy with the Eleanor Rigby on the video, but I'm quite happy with the Eleanor Rigby in the room.
I completely agree -- I fully stipulate -- that the Denon set-up is in no way a fair comparison to the tape set-up.
You are applying your values, not mine. You are assuming that I want to be able to play any recording of any performance I find.
-- Approximately 70% of my listening is rock and pop.
-- I am not a connoisseur of classical performances. If the performance is at least good (Reference Recordings performances do not qualify), and the recording is transparent and resolving and not bright, I am good.
-- I focus on suspension of disbelief and emotional engagement, and those are variables which are independent from performance nuances. (One could be in a live concert hall and hear a disappointing performance.)
-- Putting playability to one side, I have, on tape, three different performances of Symphonie Fantastique, two or three different performances of Beethoven 5, two or three different performances of Beethoven 9, two or three different performances of Night on Bald Mountain, and three different performances of Pictures at an Exhibition. So on my favorite classical pieces I even have alternatives on tape.
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Separately, I discovered that Coriolan Overture No. 62 kicks off the first reel of my Beethoven 9 tape. I really like that overture! It was great! It reminds me of Egmont!
That means I'm almost up to 10 classical pieces I really like!
That means I'm almost up to 10 classical pieces I really like!
Some LPs played back on the Denon are a tie with tape sonically in terms of transparency and tonal balance and resolution. I assume that the Brinkmann set-up will elevate those LPs to a level of transparency and resolution exceeding the tape.
What I am finding is that even if the tape and vinyl are arguably a tie, and even if the vinyl is a little bit better in certain sonic attributes than the tape, the seemingly consistent ability of tape to offer a spaciousness and relaxed-ness that I do not hear from vinyl may still cause me to prefer the tape for my own personal listening.
That spaciousness and that sense of relaxed-ness is very addictive. Also, listening to tape has made me more aware of even low level surface noise on vinyl. Surface noise at any volume does not contribute to suspension of disbelief.
It doesn't hurt that the Studer A820 is a class act and a joy simply to operate. (It reminds me of operating my now-vintage Yaesu FT-1000D amateur radio transceiver, which was a Rolls-Royce in its day. That radio gave good knob.) I wish I never sold the mint condition Mariah Carey machine!
Of course the AS-2000 also is a class act and a joy simply to operate.
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When we compared same pieces at dcc with his Studer, with the SME V arm the BB was not having same level of tone and leading edge, was quite laid back. With the SAT arm, it had jumped up to very close. At MIke's I remember I preferred one Led Zep to his Studer on the Saskia Dava
Bill says he prefers some tapes and some LPs. One guy upgraded his Studer 820 to c37 and is now happy. Others add in the Doshi preamp. So, it is not that tape is slam dunk either. One should have the best recordings of their favorite music, depending on the media, optimize playback path for that media, and also have the ability to discover new music.
PUBLIC SERVICE ADVISORY: Just because something is tape tells you literally zero (0) about its sound quality!