If you really want to get the most out of your fluxvalve cartridge, you need to use a fluxvalve Unipoise tonearm.
Funny
The whole Grado thing leaves me puzzled, and I really, really tried to like them. The Platinum wasn't terrible but it didn't thrill me the way the DL-103 does even with its sometimes rather obvious shortcomings. The sound of a Grado to me is just uninvolving, it doesn't make me want to listen further into the music. (It mostly made me want to shut off the stereo or listen to a CD..
I'll further add it left me wondering: "Is that all there is??? Where is that vaunted analog magic?"
Grados are very arm specific. They prefer a light damped unipivot. They perform well also in Alphasons and linn arms and SME arms. In jelco based arms they become very 2 dimentional as well as Roksan arms. Anything above 12-13 gram arms and they become a little dead. Technics 1200...fugetaboutit.
Might be a good match in SME 3009 Series II Improved and the Series III, mine are all the 3009 Series II and there they definitely don't appear to be a good match.
The Platinum Reference, and before that an 8MR on the standard Series II without damping. Later arms like the Improved sometimes had optional damping trays fitted, the Series II didn't. This arm seems to work better with low and moderate compliance cartridges at highish tracking forces. I have several of these arms so it isn't a case of one specific arm..
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You guys are living on another planet. I sold off the AR turntable with the Grado FTE cartridge, because I bought a $59 BIC turntable that has a lower mass arm and it shuts itself off. Also the needle doesn't skip when I walk across the floor in Army boots. (Big problem 1980-83). The arm is lower mass by feel; I'd have to buy a $100 toy to measure it. Instead of other arms, I bought another BIC turntable at a yard sale for $25 in case this one develops problems in its 35th year. After my mother's 5g (?) RCA record player with ceramic cartridge ripped the highs off some really nice Mercury and Colombia LP's, I won't run anything but 78's under 1.5 g tip force.
I picked up a Technics SL20 turntable 5 years ago for $3 that needs a belt. Maybe now that I am retired I'll make one and try it out.
I picked up a Technics SL20 turntable 5 years ago for $3 that needs a belt. Maybe now that I am retired I'll make one and try it out.
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Took a long while to get there at sub light speeds..
My dad played a lot of records with the very heavy tracking M3D, (>4gms on his Garrard) and very few have any significant damage due to this cause, mostly minor ticks and pops on the lead in groove where the stylus landed hundreds of times over the 50yrs he owned them until he turned them over to me a couple of weeks ago. I suspect the noisiest disks he gave me were damaged by being played dirty repeatedly. Maintenance plays a huge role as well as the quality of the cartridge involved. I'm not sure that high tracking forces per se are the enemy, but high tracking forces, low quality cartridges, and poor maintenance of stylus and records certainly are. (That said I prefer things that track at under 4gms..
)I have records that I played incessantly on a turntable with a ceramic cartridge tracking at 4 - 5gms and you'd never know listening to those records today. I was a very careful teen I guess..
WRT record quality there is one exception, an RCA LSC my Dad gave me that sounds so terrible on one side that I can't help but believe it was defective from the get go.. The other side plays fine except for periodic thumps, it appears to me that this disk was made of recycled plastic or was mis-handled during the stamping process. It is theoretically possible that this record was at least partially damaged by a defective stylus but it doesn't sound like it. This is the only record I have ever encountered with the gross levels of distortion I heard during very loud string passages. The particular side was of music that my Dad probably rarely if ever played. I'm puzzled as to why my parents didn't return it.
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Interesting 4gm weight did not damage your records. On the record player that wiped my highs off, I replaced the RCA cartridge about 1966 as it went dead, and the amp buzzed when I touched the terminals. One of my early diy projects. So besides looking at the stylus with the toy microscope, I'm sure bad needle isn't what ripped the highs off those LP's. It was as low end as you could go in a 33 RPM player, though, Mother bought it with Top Value stamps. It was way better than the 1 lb cast iron tone arm on the 78 rpm player she was replacing, though.
I've got a Gerrard 640s turntable in the basement with a Shure M75cs that my friend gave me when he abandoned LP's. I never hooked it up, I always found the Gerrards rumbled annoyingly. The number is smaller than a Shure M97, I guess that means it is not as good a cartridge. I think I paid more for the M97 cartridge than I did the BIC turntable.
I bought the AR turntable for $50 in 1970, sold it for $35 in 1981, felt pleased. Had to put a new motor on it about 1976. It is amazing to me that this cheesy looking BIC turntable works better in all respects, but it is amazing what you can do with a little plastic. Pity they went bankrupt so fast.
All my RCA red seal records came really good, but the Camelot ones had noisy vinyl. I got a bad Colombia once that was stamped off center on the back. Buxtehude, the only record of his I have ever seen for sale new or used. Pity he was as bass mad as JS Bach. Found a living artist I like that has done Buxtehude last month, Lionel Rogg, may break down & buy something new. LPs I didn't like the sound of from the unwrapping were ATCO and Capitol, but they had the artists you couldn't do without. Noisy vinyl, I thought Capitol blanks must have been plated in an open sided shed out in the Mojave Desert somewhere. Tons of pops & clicks that were there from the factory. Bought a new Abbey Road last year, it is better plating & vinyl.
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The highish tracking force of 4gms didn't damage any of my records, but as I indicated I was fastidious and replaced the stylus at the first sign of deteriorating performance.
I've just run across another one of my dad's records with terrible distortion over most of the side. Sadly I am forced to conclude that the M3D was responsible for this damage, most likely the stylus was beyond worn out when this album was played. It's a Columbia stereo recording of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite MS6328. It's a total loss , along with the RCA LSC-2433 I mentioned in a previous post. I'm bumming because it seems that some of the records I most like in his collection are worn out.
The lesson here is that perhaps high tracking force in conjunction with a damage stylus will do very rapid damage. I've had cartridges that were clearly on their way out and were quickly retired and no audible damage occurred.
This probably means I will stick to cartridges that track no higher than 2.5gms which is the force I use with the DL-103..
From my perspective purchasing new audiophile vinyl seems a safer bet as I go through this collection.
I've just run across another one of my dad's records with terrible distortion over most of the side. Sadly I am forced to conclude that the M3D was responsible for this damage, most likely the stylus was beyond worn out when this album was played. It's a Columbia stereo recording of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite MS6328. It's a total loss , along with the RCA LSC-2433 I mentioned in a previous post. I'm bumming because it seems that some of the records I most like in his collection are worn out.
The lesson here is that perhaps high tracking force in conjunction with a damage stylus will do very rapid damage. I've had cartridges that were clearly on their way out and were quickly retired and no audible damage occurred.
This probably means I will stick to cartridges that track no higher than 2.5gms which is the force I use with the DL-103..
From my perspective purchasing new audiophile vinyl seems a safer bet as I go through this collection.
Beogram 3000 Thorens - vintage
I'm sold on vintage systems, and have just had to cartridges restored completely. The SP1 from B&O which was the first stereo-cartridge manufactured in Europe, and their later SP9 Gold - which was considered their best achievement at the time.
Both from the 60s.
Here's the deck with the SP1 mounted on the professional 12"-arm. It's a Thorens TD124/II in a B&O plinth, and with the B&O arm they developed at the time.
I'm sold on vintage systems, and have just had to cartridges restored completely. The SP1 from B&O which was the first stereo-cartridge manufactured in Europe, and their later SP9 Gold - which was considered their best achievement at the time.
Both from the 60s.
Here's the deck with the SP1 mounted on the professional 12"-arm. It's a Thorens TD124/II in a B&O plinth, and with the B&O arm they developed at the time.
Very nice Beogram 3000. Did you repaint the TD-124 chassis or did the B&O version come in that color at some point?
I had an SP series cartridge which I was given in the 1970s. It was pretty good until the well used stylus wore out. Unfortunately I no longer have it.(It had a saddle on top for the standard 1/2" mounting centers and was pretty early, although probably not an SP-1)
WRT to my comments about the LSC-2433 I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I acquired another one, and it was just as bad, apparently this recording was released with a serious defect. I tried playing it with the Zu DL-103, the fluxvalve, and an AT-120E.
The Fluxvalve stylus was purchased on eBay, there are lots of reproduction stylii for this cartridge there - it was a significant improvement over the one that was on the cartridge when I got it. That said it wasn't great.
I had an SP series cartridge which I was given in the 1970s. It was pretty good until the well used stylus wore out. Unfortunately I no longer have it.(It had a saddle on top for the standard 1/2" mounting centers and was pretty early, although probably not an SP-1)
WRT to my comments about the LSC-2433 I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I acquired another one, and it was just as bad, apparently this recording was released with a serious defect. I tried playing it with the Zu DL-103, the fluxvalve, and an AT-120E.
The Fluxvalve stylus was purchased on eBay, there are lots of reproduction stylii for this cartridge there - it was a significant improvement over the one that was on the cartridge when I got it. That said it wasn't great.
I am surprised by how well the SP1 performs on that arm, really enjoy listening to it.
There were some damaged areas in the paintwork of the original chassis, so I had it sandblasted and repainted. Chose that color as I thought it would go well with the palisander - B&O went with the stock color for the Mark Ii, back in the day.
There were some damaged areas in the paintwork of the original chassis, so I had it sandblasted and repainted. Chose that color as I thought it would go well with the palisander - B&O went with the stock color for the Mark Ii, back in the day.
You mention how careful you are so perhaps this has never happened to you but if you get lazy and let dust collect on the tip it will mistrack in a highly audible way. Often one playing in this condition will permanently damage an LP where even after cleaning there is a distortion similar to mistracking. I've not had this happen too often but I do remember a few times where there was so much dust on the tip that it took some effort to remove it. I believe that the dust lifts the tip up so that the effective tracking force is much lower.
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The tale has a bizarre ending, I acquired another copy of this particular recording and it had exactly the same problem. Turns out this particular recording was cut incorrectly and some copies made it out the door this way.
I actually am pretty meticulous about keeping the stylus and cartridge (open body) clean. This is the only record that has this problem.. I try hard to keep my records clean, but am not nearly as successful as I would like.
Yes, I read that but you said that the record was from your dad so you don't know the history. It doesn't seem to apply to this particular record based on your new finding but it can and does happen.
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