Vinyl News

[3db]

I'm in my 2nd ProJect table after losing the first one to a flood in the basement. Its a ProJect Xpression III an its so much better in every way than the old ProJect XpresssionII that I had prior. They come equipped with an Ortofon 2M Red here in Canada.

 

[afterlife2]

Hi Has anybody here ever buy a Jico Sas needle for a Shure/AT cart? If so how do you like it? Ed Saunders is another guy I keep seeing too.
Any thoughts on this cart too: http://www.turntableneedles.com/AT92E-Cartridge-wHyperElliptical-JICO-Brand-Needle_p_4081.html

 

[ahblaza]

Hi Has anybody here ever buy a Jico Sas needle for a Shure/AT cart? If so how do you like it? Ed Saunders is another guy I keep seeing too.
Any thoughts on this cart too: AT92E Cartridge w/HyperElliptical JICO Brand Needle

I've heard nothing but good with Jico Sas, the AT92E also looks nice, I have AT cartridges and they are great trackers of the groove so to say, I'm currently using an AT440MLa and am very impressed with it, it was somewhat bright out of the box but within a few hours, not harsh at all. I really like the AT's, with the Jico Sas it may be even better, I don't know and at this point I'm not going to change anything.
Cheers Jeff

 

[afterlife2]

I've heard nothing but good with Jico Sas, the AT92E also looks nice, I have AT cartridges and they are great trackers of the groove so to say, I'm currently using an AT440MLa and am very impressed with it, it was somewhat bright out of the box but within a few hours, not harsh at all. I really like the AT's, with the Jico Sas it may be even better, I don't know and at this point I'm not going to change anything.
Cheers Jeff

Jeff are you getting any sibilance with the AT440MLa when you first got it?

 

[ahblaza]

Jeff are you getting any sibilance with the AT440MLa when you first got it?

None that I was aware of.

 

[afterlife2]

That is the problem I'm having. I was thinking because they are new maybe that's why I'm getting Sibilance with most of my LP's. That's why I'm looking at other carts. I'm tracking them on what it says on the box and setup the turntable anti-skating too on my Belt drive TT. I also have a Direct drive and the same thing happens. I looked at youtube and mostly tried what they said. and to no avail. You can see the carts I have in my sig.

 

[TLS Guy]

That is the problem I'm having. I was thinking because they are new maybe that's why I'm getting Sibilance with most of my LP's. That's why I'm looking at other carts. I'm tracking them on what it says on the box and setup the turntable anti-skating too on my Belt drive TT. I also have a Direct drive and the same thing happens. I looked at youtube and mostly tried what they said. and to no avail. You can see the carts I have in my sig.

I have had a lot of Shure cartridges through my hands over the years for myself and others. I have never found any Shure cartridge to be sibilant.

The less expensive offerings tend to roll off at the top end, but they are NEVER bright.

Shure had and has excellent quality control

The next thing to remember is that all the important bits are in the stylus assembly. The body just has the static coils and wiring.

So if you put a JICO stylus assembly in a Shure body, it is no longer a Shure cartridge, but a JICO cartridge.

I did purchase a JICO replacement for an older V 15 that a Shure stylus was NLA. I was going to give the cartridge to somebody.

However the JICO stylus assembly in the Shure body, sounded nothing like the original. In fact I thought is awful. So the cartridge went in the bin.

The bottom line is that if you want to hear your Shure cartridge, you need a Shure stylus assembly.

A Shure stylus is available for your cartridge.

I have experience with the Audiotechnica cartridges, I bought one for a son in law, and it was a good performer.

However, your cheapest way out of trouble is the genuine Shure stylus listed above.

 

[afterlife2]

Thanks for reply TLS Guy. Do you know what may cause my sibilance? By the way I have the original needle that came with my M104E that you linked. I doubt is even has 500 hrs on it. All the other carts are new with less than 3 hrs on them. Maybe I should get a new headshell? I bought mine from ebay for 12.00 each.

 

[3db]

Please note: I despise vinyl due to its inherent flaws, but accept the current situation of the formats. Due to this it is extremely likely I will be purchasing a turntable within the near future.

sucks to be you??

 

[macddmac]

I was lucky enough to find a NOS stylus for my old Pioneer/ ADC setup. I upgraded to the series 3 from the 2. Seemed like it never missed a beat.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for reply TLS Guy. Do you know what may cause my sibilance? By the way I have the original needle that came with my M104E that you linked. I doubt is even has 500 hrs on it. All the other carts are new with less than 3 hrs on them. Maybe I should get a new headshell? I bought mine from ebay for 12.00 each.

I'm a little unclear as to the exact nature of your problem.

Does this sibilance affect both turntables and cartridges?

You seem to have two models of the Technics direct drive turntables. Do they both have the same arms?

Unfortunately there is a lot that can go wrong with LP reproduction and it often does.

According to your complaint, your principle problem is sibilance. This points to a problem in the 4 to 5 kHz range.

Now there are problems outside the turntable that can cause problems.

The RIAA equalization of your receiver may not be accurate.

In your case you have speakers, that would emphasize any sibilance generated. I assume though that this problem is confined or an order of magnitude worse with your turntables.

Now the big problem with all mechanical systems is resonance.

The most likely cause of your problem is resonance.

In this area the cartridge arm combo is crucial. Decca realized this back in 1958 and that is why all through the sixties the Decca ffs system was bases in integral cartridges and head shells.

Now low mass high compliance cartridges like the Shure and your AT cartridges, require low mass low inertia arms to get the arm cartridge resonances to fall into line.

I'm not sure which of the arms you have on your turntables. However most of the Technics direct drive turntables usually have the high mass S-shaped arms, designed for rough handling low compliance cartridges for commercial and DJ use.

There are Technics arms designed for low mass high compliance cartridges.

The SL 500 had interchangeable arm tubes to accommodate a wide range of cartridges.

There has been a tendency of the "Golden Ear" crowd to favor low compliance relatively high mass moving coil cartridges. SME have reacted to this with their arms being of higher mass than times past.

Personally I favor low mass high compliance cartridges, in low mass/low inertia arms. My absolute favorite is the Shure V15 xmr combination with the old SME series III arms. This arm was designed with the Shure V 15 series cartridges in mind. This combination gives the best trackability, best performance from real world disc pressings and very low record wear.

High compliance cartridges do not track difficult discs as well and cause greater record wear. While they may sound spectacular with some reference hand picked pressings, in my view they come up short in the real world.

So after all that you might want to look at some lower compliance cartridges, if you have the arms I suspect you have.

There were Technics Direct drive turntables that came without arm, and I think some were issued with SME arms. One of those would be a real find.

 

[3db]

I despise vinyl due to its inherent flaws, but accept the current situation of the formats.

Mods, can you delete this troll post ?

 

[afterlife2]

Thanks for all info TLS Guy.
Does this sibilance affect both turntables and cartridges? Yes. None with my CD's.
I'm using a Onkyo TX707 receiver.
I may get a used Pioneer PL series turntable. What do you think about them? I am also considering a AT440MLa. Most people say it tracks nicely.

These are my tables:
TECHNICS SL-QD2
TECHNICS SL-QD2 taerb03 - YouTube
Audiotek MTX-910(Manual only)
AudioTek MTX-910 Vintage Turntable.GREAT BUY!! (07/02/2009)
Audiotek MTX-910 is a rebranded version of this:
Revolution Turntable Lab - SL-1200MK4

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for all info TLS Guy.
Does this sibilance affect both turntables and cartridges? Yes. None with my CD's.
I'm using a Onkyo TX707 receiver.
I may get a used Pioneer PL series turntable. What do you think about them? I am also considering a AT440MLa. Most people say it tracks nicely.

These are my tables:
TECHNICS SL-QD2
TECHNICS SL-QD2 taerb03 - YouTube
Audiotek MTX-910(Manual only)
AudioTek MTX-910 Vintage Turntable.GREAT BUY!! (07/02/2009)
Audiotek MTX-910 is a rebranded version of this:
Revolution Turntable Lab - SL-1200MK4

You seem to have pretty decent turntables, especially the sl QD 2 with the straight Titanium tone arm.

Since this affects both turntables I'm wondering if the RIAA equalization is correct on your Onkyo.

How do you use two turntables? Do you use the phono input for one and a preamp for the other?

Have you extended any turntable leads. Are the turntable leads original.

This all gets very difficult as loading of cartridges is another critical element.

The leads have capacitance and so should the phono input. Turntable manufacturers try and make the capacitance of their leads compatible with most cartridges and phono preamp inputs.

One thing that bedevils all this, is that there were no agreed standards. Worse few turntable manufacturers specify the capacitance of the cables, few cartridge manufacturers specify the correct loading capacitance, and few receiver or preamp manufacturers specify the capacitance loading of their inputs.

SME use low capacitance leads, and a shunting capacitors at the RCA plugs. The user can change the value of these caps, but it is a little tricky and requires good soldering skills.

Peter Walker on his Quad 44 preamp put dip switches on the top so the consumer could easily alter the capacitance loading of he input stage.

The worst of this is that this is NOT snake oil and getting it right really does make a difference.

I think more detail on your set up is called for.

 

[TLS Guy]

I have done a little digging on this capacitance issue for you.

Your Shure cartridge requires a load capacitance of 400 to 500 pf.

AT cartridges seem to be in the range of 100 to 200 pf.

Ortofon have a quite a wide scatter, but most in the 200 to 300 pf range, and as high as 400 pf for some models.

Obviously there is severe potential here for inaccurate HF response.

I may have to make you some short adapters, with 100, 200 and 300 pf shunt capacitors. You can then see how big an much capacitance you have to load the cartridge with to solve your problem.

This is a huge problem for vinyl enthusiasts and a problem must do not have the skill to resolve.

 

[afterlife2]

TLS I can't thank you enough for taking the time to help me.

How do you use two turntables? Do you use the phono input for one and a preamp for the other? I use one or the other on the Phono only on the onkyo.

Have you extended any turntable leads. Are the turntable leads original. The audiotek cables is inside the table and can't be detached, while the technics uses detachable rca L/R plugs as well as the AC cord. I'm not sure If it's the ones that came with it. I pulled them out of a box with spares.

These are the headshells I got on ebay for the audiotek:
Shure M104E attached
NEW SILVER Universal Turntable Headshell Head Shell SME | eBay
and
Shure M97xE attached
NEW Turntable Headshell Technics Ortofon Stanton Gemini | eBay

 

[TLS Guy]

TLS I can't thank you enough for taking the time to help me.


These are the headshells I got on ebay for the audiotek:
Shure M104E attached
NEW SILVER Universal Turntable Headshell Head Shell SME | eBay
and
Shure M97xE attached
NEW Turntable Headshell Technics Ortofon Stanton Gemini | eBay

Since you have the problem with both cartridges, I think we should increase the load capacitance.

I think it reasonable to assume you have a load capacitance of at least 100pf to 200 pf currently. So if 220 pf is added you will have 320 to 420 pf load capacitance.

I have been to my parts bin and don't have them on hand. I can get them from Digi-Key who are about 100 miles or so from here at Thief River Falls.

They are the largest electronics parts supplier in the nation.

I think that is the place to start.

If you want to go ahead, PM me your address.

 

[afterlife2]

You got PM!

 

[ahblaza]

You got PM!

SIBILANCE BE GONE Count on it my friend, Mark has helped me on several topics and issues and recommendations Our tables are quite similar, we both use Cecil E. Watts Dust Bugs... Let us know the outcome.
Cheers Jeff

 

[afterlife2]

Meet The Beatles' Massive Vinyl Box Set November 13

The rush of late September album releases can only mean one thing: It's the end of the Grammy Awards eligibility period.

Beatles fans, dust off your record players. The band's original studio album remasters, which were released on CD and iTunes to much fanfare in 2009 and 2010, will make their stereo vinyl debuts on November 13 as part of an elaborate box set.

The titles include the band's 12 original U.K. studio albums, as well as the U.S. version of "Magical Mystery Tour," and "Past Masters, Volumes One & Two." The Beatles' first four albums have never been released in North America in stereo on vinyl.

Each 180-gram album will be available for individual purchase, or fans can own one of 50,000 copies of the box set, which will be housed in a retro travel case and include a 252-page book by radio producer Kevin Howlett. There will be chapters dedicated for each album, plus rare photos and audiophile-geared details about how the vinyl records were prepared.

The Fab Four's catalog of albums -- including those titles not part of the stereo reissue series -- sold a combined 626,000 units in the U.S. the first week they were reissued on CD in 2009, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The biggest seller of the reissue series that week was 1969's "Abbey Road," which moved 89,000 copies and debuted at No. 1 on the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart. The "Stereo" and "Mono" boxed sets debuted at Nos. 15 and 40, respectively, on the Billboard 200.
http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Stereo-Vinyl-Box-Set/dp/B0041KVW2K/ref=sr_1_10?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1348799255&sr=1-10&keywords=the+beatles+vinyl+box+set

The Stereo Albums (via Apple/EMI)


"Please Please Me"

"Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" are presented in mono
(North American LP debut in stereo)

"With The Beatles"

(North American LP debut in stereo)

"A Hard Day's Night"

(North American LP debut in stereo)

"Beatles For Sale"

(North American LP debut in stereo)

"Help!"

Features George Martin's 1986 stereo remix

"Rubber Soul"

Features George Martin's 1986 stereo remix

"Revolver"

Original album

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"

Packaging includes replica psychedelic inner sleeve, cardboard cutout sheet and additional insert

"Magical Mystery Tour"

Packaging includes 24-page colour book

The Beatles (White Album)

Packaging includes double-sided photo montage/lyric sheet and 4 solo colour photos

"Yellow Submarine"

"Only A Northern Song" is presented in mono. Additional insert includes original American liner notes.

"Abbey Road"

Original album

"Let It Be"

Original album

"Past Masters, Volumes One & Two" (double album)

"Love Me Do" (original single version), "She Loves You," "I'll Get You," and "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" are presented in mono. Packaging, notes and photographic content is based on the 2009 CD release.
More Info:
Meet The Beatles' Massive Vinyl Box Set | Billboard