Used Morch DP-6 or modified Origin Live Silver?


Hello vinyl-philes,

Thanks largely to this forum we've shattered the piggy bank and will soon be the recipients of a Teres 265 + Shelter 901. Now I'm stuck for a tonearm. TWL and others warn against unipivots for this cartridge. We understand and agree, so we've come down to the two arms mentioned above. Either one will just about bust the budget, so going up in price is not viable at this time.

Morch DP-6 (used, $800 + phono cable)
- offers adjustable azimuth (does it matter?)
- offers adjustable vertical damping (does it matter?)
- horizontal damping controls stiff cartridges (right?)
- ease of setup? ease of use? reliability?

OL Silver with TWL's mods ($800 + $1.79 fishing weights)
- no adjustable azimuth (does it matter?)
- no adjustable vertical damping (does it matter?)
- TWL's HIFI mod controls stiff cartridges (right?)
- ease of setup? ease of use? reliability?

Has anyone compared the sonics of these two arms with a low compliance cartridge? Your observations would be especially welcome.
dougdeacon
Do I get any residuals for the "Silver Bullet" part or do those go directy to Coors, or maybe Bob Seeger, or The Lone Ranger? What, public domain? Ha!

Doug, the oral appliance definition of retainer actually fits me more closely..I ain't no lawyer! :-)
David, I think that the "Silver Bullet" name is a cool name for it anyway.
Fair enough. Given the rather meager contributions I am able to make here, name approval by the designer is more than sufficient to sate my needs! :-)
BREAKING NEWS!!!
Doug's LOWFI Mod Passes Initial Tests!

Well, I got my Shelter 901 yesterday. Since I bought it used here I really wanted to try it out ASAP. Of course there were a few hurdles to overcome:

- no Teres TT yet (two more weeks)
- no Origin Live arm yet (ordered a Mk I yesterday, thanks for the heads up on the Mk II Tom)
- no Stephens & Billington stepups yet (due next week)

What's an audiophool to do? I did what any of you would, I installed it in my old rig. Try to read the next bits without laughing louder than I did. Here's the setup:

- 25 year old H-K/Rabco ST-8 TT with its short, featherweight arm, aluminum platter that rings like Big Ben, rumbly AC motor bolted to the plinth mere inches from the platter bearing, phono cable so dry it's about to crack, RCA plugs barely hold on

The counterweight was too feeble to balance the Shelter, so enter Doug's mod. I cut a length of lead solder and taped it to the bottom of the counterweight with electrical tape. Pretty snazzy rig for a $1500 cartridge. Thanks, Twl! ;)

Ready to go? Well, sort of. With no stepups available, I had to make do with the MM phono stage of my (all tube) c-j preamp. Had to crank the gain well past the noise threshhold. When I drop the stylus you hear a nice mix of tube rush and TT rumble. Oh well, how's the music in this uniquely non-synergistic setup?

*&^%$##@!(*&&^@^$#(&!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS CARTRIDGE IS INCREDIBLE! We put three hours on it last night. Saved the best for last, Firebird/Dorati/Mercury (Classic Records 45rpm). Shame on me for not holding off until the front end is completed, but I couldn't wait. At the end, after we picked our jaws off the floor and pulled the cats off the drapes, Paul said, "I thought CDs were meant to have more dynamic range." Hysterical laughter from me.

Even mounted in this pitiful and inappropriate setup, the 901 never lost control. I cringed before the first couple of crescendos in antipation of mistracking (or even multi-groove backflips). Nope. Sailed through without a hitch. Bass drum whacks can rearrange the furniture, but they don't prevent the Shelter from playing high strings, cymbals, triangles, etc. as cleanly as it does when all is pppp. Fabulous.
"At the end, after we picked our jaws off the floor and pulled the cats off the drapes,Paul said, "I thought CDs were meant to have more dynamic range." Hysterical laughter from me."
don't really understand why the cats had to be removed from the drapes but it was hilarious. Your entire story was very amusing.