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Analog can be very frustrating. This week I finally took my second-hand AMG Viella TT to a dealer who also does setup work. It had never performed perfectly and typically the tonearm won't track and just slides across the entire record. The only way I could get it to play when I bought it three years ago was with a cheap moving magnet cartridge and that wasn't consistent. I gave up on it for a long time but tried to get it going again months ago only to be thwarted even worse. The distributor works with this guy who sets up a lot of tables so they recommended that I have him address the known issues, check out the table in general, and then dial everything in, assuming that is possible. He immediately found a potentially major problem with the tonearm, but then fixed it. After mounting my Airtight cartridge (that I told him I was worried had lost its stylus) and setting up the arm, he discovered an even bigger problem that forces the tonearm to shoot across the record that he cannot fix and doesn't even understand how it could be happening. He then discovered that not only my Airtight cartridge but also my Lyra cartridge were stylus-less. Fuck me. I think the Airtight was killed by my cleaning lady years ago on my VPI table. The Lyra stylus might have been lost when I was trying against the odds to get the table going more recently but I'm not sure it was even there at that time because it would not track the groove at all. Result? Bought a like-new used arm from the distributor and a used cartridge from the dealer. He showed me how jacked up the tonearm was, and I have never abused it and kept the cleaning lady away from this TT better than my last. So never buy anything from Stephane Prunet on audiogon because he had to know about the defects. I also bought cleaning fluid and fired up my Clearaudio Double Matrix cleaner. Now I'm going to listen to the beautiful, beautiful music...

Westem Electric 43A An interesting web about WE amps

That was fast! Beautiful! So happy to see it working! It looks better as a turntable than a giant, very expensive paperweight. Any chance the cartridges can be retipped? BTW, those headphone stands on your subwoofer are beautiful too!

Test Tone @ Home live right now: https://mixlr.com/illuminator/

"For those with deeper packets..."

Especially the closest one.

Last night's set is up: Had a lot of fun with this one. Psy-chill, ambient, trip hop, synthwave and and a not insubstantial amount of deep house.

I just started playing Pillars of Eternity yesterday – what a great game! It's a spiritual successor to classic isometric party-based RPGs like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. It's a free download on the Epic Store until December 17.

I have a Van den Hul modified Koetsu that I stupidly did not bring with the table because I thought one backup was enough. It's not my favorite cartridge and he is in Pleasanton, so two round trips was enough for me. I will probably put the Koetsu back on the VPI eventually.

I think I will look into the Airtight but not the Lyra Skala at the moment. I was planning on asking you about your experience retipping recently. Most companies now just take the old cart as trade in for a new one.

Quote: “I’ve been using over-ear headphones daily for around 16 years now, and every single pair I’ve used have come with a case that covers their entirety.” Yeah? Do you carry the box around? What shitty headphones are you buying?

Nothing says Christmas like a dead, rotting King on a skull thrown.

Test Tone @ Home live right now: https://mixlr.com/illuminator/

Last night's set is up:

Test Tone @ Home live right now: https://mixlr.com/illuminator/

RIP Charlie Pride. He became a huge Country Music star at a time when a Black Country singer was unheard of. He did it with a positive attitude and a bucket load of class. They wouldn't even put his picture on his first two albums. Covid-19 sucks ass!