Pani ... New ART-9 up and running ...

great post pani about the Jensen transformer.  $500 US for the makings of a very nice SUT (plus chassis components) seems like a very good deal.  lots of retail markup on those very simple devices.  
let us know how it works out!  
-
oregon papa- thanks for the music references.  i found the Gabor Szabo recording on video search and then ordered the LP, sounds great! 

Hi Pani,

I'm not sure what to make of Mr. Qvortrup's statement.  After looking at the descriptions of the various SUTs listed at the Audio Note UK site it does appear that his reference to "primary impedance" refers to something other than the reflected load impedance.  The descriptions appear to imply that his various SUTs have "primary impedances" ranging from 1 to 64 ohms.  But I have no idea whether that means DC resistance, impedance at some frequency when some resistance is placed across the secondary, or what.  Also, those listings all state that:

It is important to appreciate the utmost importance of getting the impedance matching between the cartridge coil and the primary of the transformer as close as possible.

But what constitutes an optimal match is not stated.  The ART9 has a specified DC resistance and a specified 1 kHz impedance of 12 ohms.  (The two numbers are the same because the impedance presented by the cartridge's inductance at 1 kHz is very small).  So his 30 to 40 ohm recommendation is about 3 times that value.  I have no idea what his basis for recommending that ratio may be.

Finally, my impression is that whatever he may mean by "primary impedance" is not specified in the case of most other SUTs.

In any event, after reviewing the detailed specs on the Jensen SUT I see no technical issues that would arise using it with the ART9.  And FWIW, as you may be aware the Jensen line-level audio transformers are used with fine results by many audiophiles, and I believe are also used internally in some well regarded high end components.

Good luck.  Regards,
-- Al
   

Pani ...

Even though I loved my Clavis, I agree with the rising top ends of the Lyras.

I recently spent an evening listening to a VERY high end system that most likely retailed for 350-450k.  Three turntables, one of which was sporting the Lyra Etna. Everything about that system was HUGE, including the sound. It was spectacular in every way. However, the slight brightness on the top end was still there. While listening, I attributed the slight brightness to perhaps cartridge setup. I could be dead wrong here, but it sounded like that rising top end again. Personally, I think most audiophiles would really love it. In fact, most do. Its perceived as "transparency," or "detail" in the upper registers. To me, it just doesn't sound correct. 

And by the way ... Robert (Mister Record) was over the other night and made a good point. He said ... Instead of talking about transparency, inner detail, sound stage, black backgrounds, or any of the other descriptive words in the audiophile lexicon, how about we just start using two words: "correct" or "incorrect." Made sense to me.

Frank

Frank- You have me thinking about the Art-9 here. I run an Amadeus GTA. Which WTL table do you use? Cheers -Don

^^^  Don ...

I have the original turntable and arm that they were selling when Well Tempered first hit the market back in the '80's. In fact, the table has one of Bill Firebaugh's very first arms on it. I bought the arm from an aerospace engineer who bought it directly from Bill Firebaugh after attending a demo at the engineer's audio society meeting. When I bought it, it was still new in the  box. Then, I subsequently bought just the table from an audio dealer who was selling the tables at the time.  I guess you could call the table I have "The Classic Well Tempered Turntable." 

 Over the years I've modified it some what:   

1.  The tone arm has been rewired with Cardas pure copper wire.

2.   A heavy brass clamp is bolted around the arm's dampening fluid well. The well is made of thin metal and rings like hell without the brass clamp. Adding the clamp was like installing a huge Herbie's tube dampener on it with the same results.  

3.   I had a specially machined brass counter-weight made to replace the aluminum one that was on the stock arm. 

4.   When I had the brass counter-weight machined, I also had a new brass bolt and nut machined as well. Its what holds the tone arm in place and fits from underneath the table.

5.   I put one layer of heat shrink along the entire length of the arm to reduce any micro vibrations there. I tried two layers but it over-damped the arm and dulled the sound.

6.   The stock belts have been replaced with a custom belt built by originlive in England. Amazing what their belt did to improve the sound.  I  highly recommend an originlive custom belt to any owner of a belt drive turntable. 
 
http://www.originlive.com/turntable-belts-replacement-new.html

7.   I'm using a Von Gaylord "Legend"  IC between the turntable's Cardas junction box and the ARC PH8.  

http://vongaylordaudio.com/beta/cabling/

Ray Leung is the engineer behind all of the Von Gaylord products. He's a genius and his electronics, speakers and cabling reproduce tonally correct reproductions of the actual musical events. I'm a big fan of his cabling. In fact, I'm a big fan of Ray. He's an exceptional gentleman and knows his music and sound. 

So, with all of these mods, some which were inexpensive, and some that were expensive, I think I'm getting the best out of my turntable at this point. I'd sure like to try one of ARC's Reference phono stages though. 

And just one more point ... I have tried a variety of after market platter mats. So far, just the bare acrylic platter sounds best. I'm tempted to try one of Herbie's platter mats though. I think he has a generous return policy if you don't care for the results. 

http://herbiesaudiolab.net/ttmat.htm

If you take the time to wade through Herbie's customer reviews, there are a couple of guys using Herbie's mat on their WTT and claim its a major improvement. I may pop for one soon. 


Take care ...

Frank