I've been suprised by the amount of people who have told me how much improvment can come with adding an aftermarket cable to the SME V arm. Got a great deal on the cable from GTT A&V at RMAF. I'll post when it gets here.

A place for you Vinyl junkies to store your remote/keys/whatever:

http://hipcycle.com/housewares/vinyl-record-bowl.html

could I put soup in that?

as long as you don't mind that it all leaks out of the spindle hole

Electrical tape will fix that!

could I put soup in that?

If you do I'd recommend the record 'Chicken Soup With Rice' by Carol King.

Listened to a few favorites this morning

Ooooh, that looks nice.

^ +1

no record clamp?

^ +1

no record clamp?

That was just a beauty shot. Can't see that pretty UK Island label with a clamp

What clamp do you use?

The colossus has a VPI platter and threaded bearing spindle as well, and I happened to find a good deal on a Black Diamond Racing, Carbon fiber clamp. I was quite surprised to listen to the difference of clamp vs. no clamp.

Anyone use the Periphery Ring Clamp? I've always been curious about it.

What clamp do you use?

The colossus has a VPI platter and threaded bearing spindle as well, and I happened to find a good deal on a Black Diamond Racing, Carbon fiber clamp. I was quite surprised to listen to the difference of clamp vs. no clamp.

Anyone use the Periphery Ring Clamp? I've always been curious about it.

The stock VPI screw on clamp

My friend used to use the periphery ring clamp and it works very well. It's a bit nerve wracking putting it on and off with a few drinks in you though

I think the periphery ring clamp is great and I have used it with plenty of drinks in me.

I use the Herbie's Supersonic Record Stabilizer to good effect

A molded and hand-machined non-magnetic composite of fluorocarbons and metallic particles formulated for use with Herbie's turntable mats to enhance overall turntable performance. Stabilizer is not a clamp or conventional record weight

it's designed to add a moderate amount of virtual mass to the record without clamping. 163.5 grams (5.8 oz.)

Edited November 14, 201114 yr by DigiPete

Mine has pixie dust from virgin pixies only.

I use the standard VPI clamp also which seemed fine. I suddenly feel like I'm not trying hard enough.

Going to make a video of the Loricraft cleaning a record. It is a beauty to watch in action and doesn't require earplugs

Is anyone still playing with cassette tapes?

I'm listening to one just now on a WM-DD33 walkman. Aside from the fact that it's got a faulty Dolby circuit and is going back to the seller for a refund, it's a hissy little delight.

I have about 25 hours on the Zyx Bloom and I thought I'd share some of my thoughts. The cart sounds very nice. Immediately noticeable is the incredible amount of soundstage depth I was hearing. This was a dramatic difference from the DL-103 which sounded too flat and 2-demensional (though maybe not a great match for my arm even with a 3g headshell weight). The other thing with the Zyx is it is wonderful tonally, especially in the mids and treble. Cymbal hits are well defined with perfect decays. On the Denon they just tended to sound like "splash splash" with smearing and no clear delineation. Vocal sibilance is also entirely gone, except for a few really bad records. My guess is that the Zyx has an easier time tracking hot/loud parts, allowing the music to sound more clear and natural.

Loaded at 100 ohms

I think I am a Zyx convert

This DIY turntable made by an portuguese enthusiast reproduced the best sound I heard till this day. Vinyl is just lovely, if only I wasn't so attached to the practicality of digital.. Excuse me the image dumping.

Edited December 7, 201114 yr by Spychedelic Whale

That's an RBT Unico, Rui Borges turntables. He is a professional turntable builder with quite a few years of experience.

Check his website : http://www.ruiborgesturntables.com/Ingles/indexingles.htm

I need some advice from the turntable experts. I recently moved to an apartment. One of the pluses to it is that I'll finally have room to use my turntable. I started playing with it yesterday, and noticed that the stylus has been bent 90 degrees. Here is a fuzzy picture (had to use a flashlight) but the blurry shiny thing going to the right is the stylus.

This happened because the large nut that holds the tonearm had come lose and the entire arm slewed during the move.

The cartridge is a Reson Reca, which is basically a modified Goldring 1042.

I'm wondering how to fix this. Is this just a stylus problem, or do you think that it damaged the cartridge too? Can I just try to bend the stylus straight again? Can I fix it by replacing the stylus? Should I find a local turntable expert and have that person look at it and try to fix it?

Damn this is a bit frustrating. I thought that I would finally be getting back into analog. Oh well, I've already waited 11 years, I can wait another couple of weeks.

Thanks for your help and advice.

Cheers,

-ken

I'd try to bend it back straight, but I'm afraid it will break. If it does, then get a new stylus, I guess you can get a new one, but if it's pricey and costs close to a whole new cart, maybe getting the whole thing is a better idea. The Goldring 1042 is a decent sounding MM cart which should sound quite similar to the Reca.

Bummer,.. that thing is really bent!

I don't think I'd even try to bend that one back. The odds of getting the stylus to line up again is nil. A stylus that isn't point straight down can really mess up a record fast.

The Goldring version of the stylus could be replaced (kinda expensive though). I think you could do better on the used market though.

Anyone here have any recent experience with the new Clarity vinyl series? There are a few albums I am interested in but at $75 a pop I don't want to commit if these versions are just meh. There seems to be a lot of chatter out there about the Clarity vinyl being the shizzles but I am wondering if this is just more audio lemming oil.