postjack

Currently tracking the Grado Reference Sonata at 2.0g. Which is the maximum recommended by Grado. It now absolutely sounds like all the reviews said it would. Luckily I googled up a thread from the Steve Hoffman archives where someone was having similar Sonata troubles, namely a glaring midrange and occasionally peaky treble. They suggested cranking up the VTF. So I went from 1.5 to 1.8, and that made it better. So just for kicks I put it at 2.0. And the bass now goes crazy deep, and the midrange is finally lovely and liquid, without any of that nasty glare. I tweaked the alignment one more time using the Technics Baerwald Arc Protractor, and ran it through all the applicable tests on the Hi-Fi News Test LP, and it seems to be performing marvelously. Based on my experience with Platinum Statement, and also per GE's recommendation, I'd hypothesize that best way to go with a Sonata would be to get the low output Statement version and pair it with a powerful and dead quiet (solid state?) soundstage. I would love to hear a Sonata Statement with say a battery powered unit like the Sutherland Ph3D.

[me=postjack]squeezes mr. nice's belly[/me]

I've been trying to figure this out as well. So far as I can tell it has something to do with belly squeezes and midrange euphony.

http://www.kabusa.com/wirewin.htm I know a few DIY folks around here are fans of the Mogami cables. While browsing the KAB site I saw this. Not sure how long he has been doing it, but it looks like good cables at a good price, if all of one's DIY friends are busy with other projects. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

deepak = Captain English Christmas Boy

they hit their stride somewhere in season 2. i'm glad you are enjoying it, to me its just an amazing show.

AAD Lets break it down A - so far so good! A - still good. D - BAD which is why wave, FLAC, or 24 bit files won't sound as good as the master tape.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/2261243-post1.html edit: scroll down to where it says "Part II" for the new part/comparison review a year and a half in the making. I think it is a great read, and everyone should take the time to look over it. Thanks Zanth for a superb write up, if you are every back around here.

Nope, not yet.

Yeah, looks fancy shmancy. Reports have been mixed regarding the quality of the vinyl itself. Some are getting flat, quiet vinyl, some not so much. But I've been on a lucky streak with new production vinyl recently, nothing but winners. Here's hoping it holds with this and In Rainbows.

Welcome to head-case, foo_me!

In A Frozen Sea: A Year With Sigur Ros - Limited Edition Vinyl Album Collection Includes Agaetis Byrjun, ( ), Takk, and Smaskifa; seven LPs encased in a hardcover book.

nah, you aren't the anti-christ. Thats EdipisReks job. But I hope you're skin is thick enough to absorb the fact that I still have a really hard time believing that you sold those for $1650. Hell I sold my near mint HP2 for $50 more then that. In fact, even if the buyer came on here and said "I am the buyer, I paid $1650 for them", I would still not believe it.

Also, welcome to head-case mr. nice!

I don't get it, they are just a pair of RS-1s. They look just like mine.

congrats, purty phones.

Another night of intense battling once again finds me deciding that the Baerwald alignment is best for this cart, with a tracking force between 1.5 and 1.6 (haven't decided which I like more yet). Just for fun I switched out the PH-1 with the Bellari VP129. Gone was a bit of midrange hump, but in full force was a woolie bully sound. Here is the Grado wool I was looking for! Like throwing a blanket over my speakers The PH-1 in low gain mode must load the cartridge in such a fashion to minimize this hazy sound (this is good). The haze was noticeable when running the low output platinum with the PH-1 in high gain mode, but it was not overly distracting like the bellari + high output sonata. To be fair, the Bellari didn't have time to warm up. I'll leave it plugged in tonight and try it again tomorrow (going to sleep shortly). Thus marketh the third night of the Postjack Sonata Wars.

yeah, until january anyway. Then we have November for two weeks, then April for 4 months, then its August again for 8 months two weeks.

basically i school fools, like all day 4 eva.

listening to the new radiohead album in MP3 made me once again realize how much I dislike lossless. mostly its that bloaty bass muddy soundstageless sound it creates that drives me bonkers.

You should try flats!

I haven't read of any real RS-1 aficianado trying out the new style RS-1, but the reviews I have read say it is a touch more neutral then the previous buttoned incarnation. However, this could just be a "no button = Alessandro = neutral" effect.

As frustrating as the cartridge alignment process can be, its very rewarding and exciting when you learn something new about your cartridge and table. I realized last night that what I was experiencing with the Sonata wasn't so much brightness as it was a lack of body with a midrange and treble glare, a surefire indicator that something is wrong alignment wise. This is a cart known for its fun midrange and bass, as well as being known for its wooly grado sound (i.e. not brightness). So going over some alignment guides on the internet, I decided to check out the azimuth. I put the cart on a record and, sure enough, the cart was definitely tilting to the right. This surprised me since there is no way to adjust azimuth on the 1200's tonearm. Regardless, I gripped the headshell and tipped its towards the left, and it did in fact move ever so slightly. Now the cart is riding evenly on the LP. I tuned the VTF back down to 1.5g, and the bass and midrange came alive on the Hoffman Stadium Arcadium. I'm not prepared to say I've finally fully got this one perfected until I do some more listening, but there is a good chance I have. Sitting and listening intently last night, I realized that vinyl has been a challenging test for my ears, brain, and patience.

okay I lied, the battle continues. new results: baerwald = good technics jig/stevensonesque = bad this cart needs a good amount of overhang or it will hate on your ears with the treble badness. whew, that was scary for a second there.