"HELP" tired Koetsu

Perhaps I have drawn some conclusions about stylus shape and step up devices over my 30 years of fooling with tables and the related parifinalia. I need to find out more.

What is your take on the wood Grado's Twl, just to get a reference point that I know. I assumed that all the damn noise i heard from it was from the stylus shape. This was not there with my old micro ridge/boron coil. I see that the Shelter has an elliptical diamond. That sort of makes me wonder. I loved the EMT and it was of all things conical like the Dennpn 103.

The othe problem I have is(other than being broke)that my record collection needs something( I am boored with most of it too, which is why I got a CD in the first place, and new records are spendy as well). What do you do to keep things quiet? I use a Nitty Gritty but it isn't magic. Perhaps I am just more sensitive to the noise after 3 years of CD listening. I still may bail!

Twl. Is that the current equivalent of the 103c? which was a rather poor tracker even in the FR-64 tonearm.

Maxgain. Your wood grado should not be noisey.As a matter of fact I think they are very quiet.Does the noise sound like surace noise, phono gain noise or white noise?

Twl, isn't that what Sumiko was trying to do with the Celebration? That thing LOOKS like an old Supex to me anyway.

And as far as the "old" thing I had buddies that were into Decca's if that dates me!

I have an old Ortofon SPU/GT, including the original box( the cantiliver is tweeked a bit) hanging around that I dug out of the back of an ancient Hi Fi store I worked at back in the 70's, if antiques are interesting to anyone.

Well I may get some flack for this, but you couldn't give me a Grado. Never liked them.

The stylus shape of some cartridges can make a noise difference, but my experience has always been that the phono section is more problematic in that area than the stylus shape. All records will put out some kind of ticks and pops, and the key is to have a phono section with a high overload margin, so it doesn't overload when all that wideband hash from the pops hits it. If the phono section doesn't overload, all you hear is a small click. If it overloads, you hear an amplified "explosion" as it amplifies the overload down the chain. This is one reason why alot of people like tube phono sections, because they don't have near the overload problems of alot of SS units. Naim has a very good phono section with a high overload margin, and they give very quiet operation with clicks and pops. That's the trick that most people don't know about. I had a conical stylus with my last DL103R, and 103, and have eliptical now with the Shelter, and noise was about the same. I am using a modded MFA tube preamp with a good phono section and NOS tubes.

For cleaning, I made my own record cleaner out of a lazy susan, with some cork coasters on it to protect the record. I then got a paint pad with those little nylon bristles for cutting in on wall painting. That works great for getting into the grooves. I use a 25/75 mix of alchohol/distilled water for the solution. For vacuuming, I got a used Bissel rug and upholstery cleaning machine at a yard sale for $2, and modded the nozzle to be correct for vacuuming the record. I protected the nozzle with industrial Velcro strips, like a Nitty Gritty does. I rotate the record on the lazy susan while applying the fluid with the paint pad, and work it all the way around. Then I turn on the Bissel, and vacuum it all off. Works great. Then I flip the record over and do the other side. The whole rig cost me about $12. It does as well as the Nitty Gritty or VPI, but doesn't look as cool. But it cost a whole lot less, and it works.