maclogan
Responses from maclogan
| Good sounding Deutsche Grammophon recordings Any DG analog recording converted to digital and output onto CD sounds mediocre. Abbado's recording of Simon Boccanegra comes to mind - the vinyl version is marvellous. Some of the DDD CDs are also poor - I found the highly-regarded Brahms 4 by Ca... | |
| What benefits to expect from tonearm upgrade Some years ago I upgraded (so I thought) my resident cartridge for a well-reviewed and highly recommended replacement. What was all the fuss about the latter I wondered - it sounded dull and uninvolving on my RB300. The I upgraded the RB300 for a ... | |
| 4-500 $ cartridge for Project Debut Carbon ? The Project Debut is not a bad turntable - for the money. But it is not a great tt. In my experience an average cartridge on a great tt beats a great cartridge on an average tt any day.So examine your sound quality and financial priorities. | |
| Set up Michell Technoweight Checks with a stylus pressure gauge reveal that the markings on my Michell Technoweight are but a vague and unreliable approximation. I wonder too about the floating arm phenomenon. Anti-skating corrections apply to an arm/cartridge combination be... | |
| is it safe to clean records with isopropanol ? Mechans wonders why isopropanol is regularly used in preference to ethanol. The principal reason is that ethanol has a higher vapour pressure (and lower boiling point) than isopropanol so it will evaporate faster from the record surface, perhaps l... | |
| A Very Long Primer on Record Cleaning Fluids Justin Time may have known something about the chemistry of solvents and surfactants when he wrote this. But he didn't know very much about what goes into the mix that we call "vinyl", and he is apparently ignorant about what happens during the pr... | |
| is it safe to clean records with isopropanol ? There are no "plastic stabilizers" (I presume you mean plasticizers) added to the "vinyl" used for LPs. There are no "bonding agents" whatever they may be. The idea that an aqueous solution containing no more than 25% isopropanol in contact with a... | |
| AR-XA Cartridge with Plinius 9200 integrated? Your amp has an input impedance of 47 kohm. I don't know of any moving coil cartridge that sounds any good into 47 kohm so I'd steer clear of mc. The first thing I did when I bought the Plinius 8150 - a precursor to the 9200 - many years ago was t... | |
| Anti Skating adjustment Lewm might agree with himself, but he now needs to explain how a non-adjusted cartridge/tonearm can skate across the surface of an ungrooved record. If he doesn't believe this he can try it. He needs to acquaint himself with the physics of frictio... | |
| Michell Tecnoarm My TecnoArm is indeed on the bright side when used with a bright cartridge. But it is mellow when used with a warmer cartridge.I can't comment on the effect of tonearm wiring because I've heard no alternatives for comparison. But the i/c cable bet... | |
| What Do You Hear When You Adjust VTA? A VTA/SRA self-appointed "expert" once listened as I played around with the VTA adjuster on my new tonearm. He was most careful to have the arm moved up and down two or three times before he finally announced where the sweet spot was. "Anyone can ... | |
| how do you determine anti-skate settings? Re Almarg's allegation that anti-skate should not be set using a blank LP track: the frictional force that is a component of the skating phenomenon is between an offset stylus tip and a moving record surface. But he/she forgets that skating occurs... | |
| Arm upgrade for Gyrodec SE, could use some help For what it is worth, the Michell TecnoArm is miles better than a stock Rega RB300. Expensive? It is the equal to the SME IV on a Gyrodec, and the latter costs 4-6 times as much.I haven't heard any of the other arms suggested so I can't comment fu... | |
| record cleaning findings/puzzle Inpenninovations states that only the alcohol from the alkyl portion of the phthalate ester used as a plasticiser will dissolve it. This is chemical nonsense. Use enough methanol even and you'll dissolve any long-chain alkyl phthalate. In any case... | |
| record cleaning findings/puzzle To Hifitime: I repeat - the small molecule plasticisers that alcohols may dissolve out from PVC products are not present in the PVC used in LP manufacture. To find out what plasticiser is used in records, re-read your Canadian site reference. This... |