Ready to try vinyl

If the government really wanted to do the population a favor, they should can all this bullshit manufacture of the useless flu vaccine–have had it administered twice and caught the flu with even worse symptoms than ever–and find a cure for Elpitis: the dreaded psycho-acoustical condition that brings new meaning to the word bipolar for many of us. (If I am not mistaken, Dante mentions Elpitis affliction as a punishment in the third level of “Hell” and Moses thought about it for one of the Egyptian plagues but at the last minute opted for frogs.)

Why, there I was perfectly content with my perfectly beautiful Audiomeca digital gear when I spot in a closet a Paul Desmond LP that missed the shipment to the Salvation Army many moons ago. I reach in the cover–mind you, with the same care and finger dexterity that I had learned since I started collecting (insert a few more moons here)–and pulled out the black disc. I could swear that as I gazed into the grooves I heard angelic voices and had a bright beam of light wash over me because (as in a trance) I immediately went to the garage where a (cheap) Technics TT–I kept it because I had intended to use it as entertainment for my then-newborn son to watch toys spin on the platter–was quickly put into service using other ancient relics: a Sansui receiver with a phono input and a pair of AR3s.

Well, that was the end (beginning) for me! Desmond’s sax sounded like a...well...sax? Working against me and my resolve was also that the record was in good shape so the dreaded “pops” were not a turnoff. My Elpitist progressed through a B&O, another Technics (it was at this juncture that I discovered Audiogon’s “Oracles of Analog,” an enthusiastic bunch that really fucked me up even worse), an MMF 7 and, finally, a TNT V with a ZYX Airy 1000. Instead of going to fashionable stores to purchase CDs, I am now being spotted in dimly lit backrooms of second-hand shops searching through cartons of LPs or worse, bidding my life away in the click-and-gotcha byways of EBay. Once or twice a year my wife allows me (after swearing that I have taken my medication) a pilgrimage to the holy shrine of New Jersey–the Princeton Record Exchange–where I spend a day and four wallets scavenging for 12-inchers.

Oh no, it doesn’t end there. Sorry. Then there are the so-called “tweaks,” my dear. The LP cleaning machine, the LP covers and dust jackets, the fluids, the brushes, the cabinet(s) that can actually store thousands of these thingies (yes, trust me, it gets to a thousand by the end of the rapture’s first month)...please! Oh, and let’s not forget the phono amp since you outgrow the receiver phono input as the disease accelerates and invades the glands which control common sense.

Welcome and ready to...try vinyl?

" ACCURATE AND HIGHLY CONSTANT SPEED ", ( where everything the same ) do the difference between a belt drive system against a DD system, where the DD system beats the belt drive system.

As I've followed Raul's arguments regarding DD versus belt drive turntables, I was reminded of a story Lloyd Walker tells:

At one of the CES shows, three gentlemen entered Walker Audio's room in which Lloyd was demo'ing his turntable and engaged Lloyd in a very sincere and very animated discussion about belt drive turntables not possibly being able to maintain the speed consistency needed for true state of the art performance. They raised all of the same theoretical arguments Raul presented (and rather than repeat all of these, I encourage you to read the various posts from Raul above). The substance of their point ultimately being that only a servo controlled direct drive turntable could maintain speed accuracy and resulting pitch consistency for true state of the art performance.

In the course of the discussion, all had agreed that sustained notes on a piano were one of the most revealing tests of speed consistency and consequent lack of pitch variation. So, Lloyd puts on a classical piano solo recording on his turntable and they begin to listen. Sounds pretty good, but the three gentlemen continue to argue that without servo control, no turntable can maintain pitch constancy.

At this point, Lloyd is getting a little frustrated. So, he pulls a pair of scissors out of his kit and, right in the middle of the music, CUTS the silk belt. The music continues to play. And for the next 30 seconds the piano performance continues without a motor driving it all and with perfect pitch stability. (End of story)

Personally, I'm a bit of a skeptic. So after hearing this story, I decided to test for myself on my Walker Proscenium turntable (after all, the belt is only a strip of silk tape and is easily replaced). Well..., Ivan Moravec continued to sound just luscious on some delicate Chopin for at least 35 seconds before I could detect any change in pitch here.

Cheers,

An arpeggio of gratitude towards Rushton for that lovely and amusing story. (Are you sure it wasn’t Moravec’s gravity-defying Chopin performance that kept your table spinning?) I am but a half-step away from making an appointment with Señor Walker and his table

Regards,

Direct Drive Website. This is a very nice website with lots of fun info and a DD Museum:

http://de.geocities.com/bc1a69/index_eng.html

So, what's the new to vinyl dude getting? A $70,000 Walker?