Ever wanted to know, what your phono cartridge sounds like dead flat??


This new "GaN Technology" Class-D Integrated phono amp from Technics can equalize your cartridge flat for you using a test record that comes with it.
https://forum.audiogon.com/posts/2116404

Cheers George
128x128georgehifi
Interesting! He says it can get the frequency response very flat, at least relative to the test record.  But then he says it can't help with the channel separation being no better than 30db. I wonder! The channel separation issue, if I understand it, has to do with the movement of the needle for each channel at a 90 degree angle (or whatever angle it is) relative to the other channel. Each channel inherently ends up coming in to the other channel, attenuated and reversed in polarity due to the mechanical arrangement. Seems to me this is something dsp could potentially address to some degree.
Each channel inherently ends up coming in to the other channel, attenuated and reversed in polarity due to the mechanical arrangement. Seems to me this is something dsp could potentially address to some degree.
It says it can also fix the "cross talk". You know when you hear very quietly in the background the next phrase as the record does the next rotation, it’s the stylus picking up the next rotation groove through the vinyl V wall before it gets to it’s proper groove. (I think they call it adjacent groove talk)
As well as giving a "flat frequency" response.
But to me the "channel separation" is a more difficult one, as I don’t think the dsp knows what’s the reference is for this to give it better separation.

Cheers George
Who cares?  It's not designed to run "flat."  Just designed to run "flat" against the RIAA EQ plot.  It doesn't matter how it sounds in ANY OTHER configuration.


I always led to believe the "riaa" is the "reference" curve for all phono cartridges, they all try to get close as possible to it. Might as well go back to tone controls then, if they don't try to follow it.

Cheers George
Some sour grapes, might try Guiness Stout or 2 or 3.  Sounds like another well engineered unit from Technics.  Thanks for sharing George.
One of the other members over at the amp/preamp forum found far more info in a second part for you vinyl guys, you have to hit the translate.
https://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/topic/special/1298192.html

https://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/topic/special/1300097.html
Cheers George
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After reading about Technic's reason for why stylus cross talk happens and how the cross talk canceler works in this new amp.
I believe "maybe" I was told the wrong explanation of what causes stylus cross talk all those years ago when I was young and impressionable by Neville Thiele (rip)  and Otto Major (rip) all those years ago

https://av.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/topic/special/1300097.html

Cheers George 


Interesting they use this very high end vinyl play setup.

This is the turntable/arm and cartridge they used with the Technics and ref calibration record.

" The analog player is a self-made machine with the reference turntable Technics "SP-10R" mounted on a laminated board. The board is a one-make product made by a friend (deceased) in the United States by a trader, and is a heavyweight class using Panzerholz plywood, which is not distributed in Japan.

The tone arm is the "AC-3000MC" made by the former Audiocraft, which gained popularity with one-point support.

The headshell made by Mysonic is equipped with an MC type phono cartridge called "PLATANUS 2.0S", which is the debut work of his own brand Platanus by experienced builder Tetsuya Sukehiro."
https://av.watch.impress.co.jp/img/avw/docs/1300/097/cal02_s.jpg

https://av.watch.impress.co.jp/img/avw/docs/1300/097/001_s.jpg

https://av.watch.impress.co.jp/img/avw/docs/1300/097/aa05_s.jpg


Cheers George
The reason I bought my first Dynavector Karat D3 years ago was because it had an almost perfect flat frequency response.
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Since all LPs are subject to RIAA correction filters, both in the making and in the decoding, the "flatness" of the response, if you are talking about at the output that drives the amplifier, is really a measure of how accurate was the RIAA emphasis and de-emphasis.  Most cartridges, if set up correctly are reasonably flat from low bass to the 16kHz to 20kHz range, once the RIAA curve is accounted for.   A phono stage is not supposed to be "flat", it is supposed to adhere to the RIAA curve. bpoletti said as much in his post above.  George, I am guessing you know this, but tone controls have nothing to do with RIAA correction.  "Crosstalk" refers to the amount of recorded L channel signal that gets into the R channel, and vice-versa. It's inevitable that some of that will happen given the nature of vinyl reproduction of a stereo signal using a phono cartridge.  Crosstalk has nothing to do with "pre-echo", the faint bleed through of upcoming musical signal. 


Without having heard the Technics unit, I have to think that "cancelling" crosstalk might sound unnatural, like some of those early mono LPs that were re-mastered for stereo, where the engineer decided that the entire bass and drums should be in the R channel only, and the piano and vocalist should be entirely in the L channel.  That never happens in real world listening, and it doesn't sound natural on such LPs.  So, it remains to be seen whether the Technics thing is a breakthrough or something you might want to switch off.  All of that said, we as audiophiles are lucky that Technics is still in business and able to produce such interesting products, for good or ill.  For sure, I am thankful for their current turntables.

"The analog player is a self-made machine...."  Is this science fiction? I guess it's a machine translating Japanese into English.  My son is a scholar in Japanese, and sometimes even he has difficulty translating Japanese into English in such a way as to preserve the intended meaning.  Since he lives and breathes in Japanese, it is also a bother for him to do that.
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audio2design, Reading your post, I am not quite sure what you mean.  Are you talking about the effects on frequency response of cartridge loading at the input to the phono stage (resistance and capacitance, mainly)?  If so, those primarily can throw off the hf response for sure, but aren't we assuming that loading is proper in this case?  I was.  After that, it's all about the accuracy with which RIAA pre-emphasis was imposed on the music signal during the making of the LP and then how accurate is the de-emphasis imposed by the phono stage circuit.  Any tube or transistor is inherently ruler flat in the audio range.
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Without either accepting or doubting your premise, I thought the premise of the OP's post has to do with RIAA. Period.
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