General, are you sure you don’t want to add some acoustic panels or tube traps? That room does not look sufficiently high-end without them.
Three no trumps when vulnerable
- Thread starter zerostargeneral
- Start date
The 7” ViV is so good. I wish I could use mine with my current turntable. Another one of those pieces that’s too cheap to get any attention.
Dear PeterA,
The wooden panels were built at the same time as the Mayflower and the Globe theatre. King James the first ignored acousticians advice on tube traps, he insisted on the aesthetic over the acoustic.
The Bard concurred and the room was born.
Kindest regards,G.
The wooden panels were built at the same time as the Mayflower and the Globe theatre. King James the first ignored acousticians advice on tube traps, he insisted on the aesthetic over the acoustic.
The Bard concurred and the room was born.
Kindest regards,G.
Dear General,
Those gentlemen clearly knew what they were doing. The craft and the proportions look exceptional.
Your room really looks fantastic and seems a very comfortable setting in which to relax and enjoy your music on what must be a wonderful sounding system. Thank you for giving us a glimpse of your universe.
Thank you for your reply! Very interesting!
I am happy for you that you are enjoying the new set-up!
Dear General,
Given the rarified atmosphere here, I feel a level of formality is appropriate. Could you please expand a bit on your comment about the tonearm/head-shell/active cartridge/no RIAA combination and why it tracks so well? I presume the active cartridge has the RIAA compensation built in. What is the Swing head-shell? Does it have a pivot at the mount for offset angle and zenith? And I am curious about such a short tonearm with its tracing arc.
Finally, I understand about side force and dirt causing groove damage, but I want to learn more about the effect of different styli profiles. Which are good and which are bad, and why? Thank you.
Sincerely,
Peter
PeterA, Sir,
The cartridge is actively powered by the phono corrector. The power travels along the earth wires(blue and green) of the internal tonearm wire. The cartridge reads only current and does not require RIAA equalisation.
The Swing head-shell remains straight to the naked eye and there is no offset. The head-shell is gently sprung to allow absorption of side force.
Because the eq is almost non existent the overall sounds more like tape.
The stylus is Shibata on a boron cantilever.
The noise floor measures at -130 db.
The tracking errors are less than 0.3%.
The whole thing came about when the Dutchman asked if I could get mono to rival Red Sparrow stereo.
During lockdown I encountered an engineer that explained both the Sparrow and how to surpass it.
An amount of time and a bucket of cash and here we are.
kindest regards,G.
The cartridge is actively powered by the phono corrector. The power travels along the earth wires(blue and green) of the internal tonearm wire. The cartridge reads only current and does not require RIAA equalisation.
The Swing head-shell remains straight to the naked eye and there is no offset. The head-shell is gently sprung to allow absorption of side force.
Because the eq is almost non existent the overall sounds more like tape.
The stylus is Shibata on a boron cantilever.
The noise floor measures at -130 db.
The tracking errors are less than 0.3%.
The whole thing came about when the Dutchman asked if I could get mono to rival Red Sparrow stereo.
During lockdown I encountered an engineer that explained both the Sparrow and how to surpass it.
An amount of time and a bucket of cash and here we are.
kindest regards,G.
I still don’t understand about the RIAA. It is encoded in the record so that bass signals encoded are much smaller amplitude than they need to be lest the needle jump out of the groove. There has to be equalisation or the frequency response will be heavily tilted upwards with increasing frequency.
My thoughts too, Brad. I'm also curious about the head-shell spring adjusting as it moves toward the inner groove as the skating force increases. Perhaps it compensates as it goes along like the SME spring-loaded bias. The advantage is that it is at the headshell, closer to the cantilever/suspension than far away at the tonearm pivot.
Also, how does the tracing error of the 7" arm compare to longer arms? It seems the tracing arc is radically different (more curved) from what the General was used to with the linear tracking arm, ie zero error. I would like to understand more about his observation that his set up is the "best tracking device known to (him)".
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7” ViV has higher tracking error but you can’t hear it. The arm has no offset angle so as I understand it the skating force is close to 0. Also, the arm is underhung. The stylus falls in front of the spindle not on the other side of it. Bizarre arm that sounds magical. The bearing is a magnetic fluid that looks like motor oil.
Have at it; "The essential concept behind the new cartridge is to operate an electrodynamic cartridge as a displacement-sensitive current-generator rather than as velocity-sensitive voltagegenerator; the latter being the normal approach".
DisC article_for Transform Media.pdf (phaedrus-audio.com)
Kindest regards,G.
DisC article_for Transform Media.pdf (phaedrus-audio.com)
Kindest regards,G.
I keep coming back to this post and looking at the painting. I'm not usually short on adjectives but it has me. Is there gold-leaf? Who is the artist?
Dear Tima,
Your taste in art chimes with me, the modernist Russian that created this has never divulged the materials employed.
Bulgakov the master and margarita embodiment is visceral in the rebellious, revolutionary sublimation of the repression and condemnation of artistic expression.
Kindest regards,G.
Your taste in art chimes with me, the modernist Russian that created this has never divulged the materials employed.
Bulgakov the master and margarita embodiment is visceral in the rebellious, revolutionary sublimation of the repression and condemnation of artistic expression.
Kindest regards,G.
Very astute Sir,
However when vulnerable I would prefer to avoid conventionally opening two minors. Equally I would be happy with pass pass after declaring three no, on this occasion the rubber and match are concluded without roughing the courtiers.
The ensuing double could hurt when the tally is observed post haste.
Otherwise thank you Gregadd for your refrain.
Kindest regards,G.
However when vulnerable I would prefer to avoid conventionally opening two minors. Equally I would be happy with pass pass after declaring three no, on this occasion the rubber and match are concluded without roughing the courtiers.
The ensuing double could hurt when the tally is observed post haste.
Otherwise thank you Gregadd for your refrain.
Kindest regards,G.
Love how equipment is neatly blended in, in a non-showy-trophy pieces looking style as the room is a trophy in itself. Single full-range driver system has my respect, bravo!
Agreed. It takes quite a room to humble some of the equipment in this space.
Having heard this system, I can say the transient response is unlike anything I've experienced previously. There are a lot of elements and synergy required to create such a sound and I'm sure the General would be able to break this down further for those interested. I can however comment a little on the turntable in use. Whilst a 401 is probably the humblest link in the chain, this unit is rather more special than it may initially appear.
The turntable pictured up thread is what’s termed a 'push button.' The very first iteration of the 401. In short it is the realization of the Garrard engineers prior to troublesome issues like accounting getting in the way of a sound ideas. Firstly, the motor has more torque than subsequent mid or late production 401's. In addition, the 'Push button features a strobe light which engages when you depress the pitch control (Hence the name). This appendage and several other small differences (Thrust bearing etc) add up to something special in terms of sound and interest. The push button is the rarest 401 by far, very few were made.
(Historical context tangent) It's true 401's do share much of their DNA with the 301. The difficulty for the 301 was that it was designed in 53' and released ion 54' Three years prior to the majors pushing the new-fangled format of 'STEREO' which led to many changes in the 301 (Stiffened chassis / change from grease (Loose tolerance) to oil (Closer tolerance) bearings. Various motor casing and winding's ensued in an effort to keep up with the demands of Stereo transcription over the course of production.
All of these changes serve as a precursor to the 401.. the 'push button' is the embodiment of what the engineers learned before the accounts dept hacked away in cost cutting exercises. Whilst the letter below certainly has a 'sales' motivation, the opening sentence does illuminate the company’s position:
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