@tomic601
Jim, after much thought, and almost buying an Mp-500, I stumbled across a Soundsmith Zephyr III demo (less than 50 hours) at Hi Fi Heaven for $998 (regularly $1,500). Free shipping, no tax.
I didn’t want that one to get away, so snagged it.
EDIT: and just got a notice on my phone that my arm is in town as well. So should have that Monday. |
OK, with the cartridge purchased, it’s time to finally listen to some vinyl....
Todd Rundgren - Wizard a True Star. Bearsville 1973 |
@boxer12 Glad it’s working out well & you’re enjoying it. It really is a great table & arm! Thanks man, I’m thrilled with the outcome thus far, even with the old Grado Red installed. ‘Now *this* is what vinyl can sound like’ I said to myself last night. |
Neil Young and Crazy Horse - Everyone Knows This is Nowhere. Reprise reissue, 70’s. |
Fairport Convention - Liege & Lief. Island 1970 |
@uberwaltz Just plopped this album down on the Avid lol, great minds and all that. Im telling ya, that Kottke sounded simply amazing on the SOTA. As if I was listening/hearing it for the first time. |
I think it will be another huge leap with the Soundsmith. Interesting story. Bought from Hi Fi Heaven, demo, very low hours as advertised. Don’t know a lot about them, so did a little research today. Seems they are known for ‘bait and switch’ tactics. Got an email today, ‘sorry but we are sold out of those demo models, but we can give you a new Zephyr ES model for $98 more, let us know’. Damn, I thought, like clockwork. Not liking a business who operates like that, I sent an email back requesting a full refund. A few minutes later the salesperson tells me he has received approval to sell me the new Zephyr ES version for the original amount of the ‘demo’. I accepted, and he said to expect a tracking number soon. Unbelievable. After that purchase, I won’t buy anything else from them. They still have the ‘demo’ on their site for sale. Beware. |
@uberwaltz I ponied up and bought an Origin Live Encounter Mk3c tonearm for the Avid.... we will see. Fantastic! The one that was listed here? Was that an Encounter? And yea, I was incredibly surprised the arm came as fast as it did, and Sunday delivery by DHL. I wasn’t expecting it until mid week this. |
Brian - good on ya, glad it sounds so good with the Grado !!!! Thanks Jim, and thanks for all your help and guidance. Really appreciate it. Sade - Promise. CBS 1985 |
Sawallisch conducts Schubert. 5LP box set - The Complete Symphonies. Staatskapelle Dresden. Philips European pressing 1977ish. Really nice set.
Not sure how many I’ll play from this.
Symphonies 1&2 |
Change of pace...
Jerry Garcia - Reflections. Rounder Records 1976
Edit: Damn this sounds great on the new TT |
@spiritofradio
@bkeske I love my iMac. Perfectly functional but I’ve been left way behind on updates and some new stuff I might want is non starter. In fact, it is old enough that I have been quite literally laughed at by the millennial elves on the support line. Photo display sure looks good to me. Good luck with the transition. I dread it but I know the time for it is coming for me too.
James, It finally arrived last evening. Of course, before I left for Christmas at moms (I just arrived) I wanted to use Migration Assistance to move everything onto the new iMac last night. After two failed attempts (not sure if it’s because I’m going from Mojave to Monterey, or what), finally pulled my Time Machine drive from my old Mac Pro box, and installed it in a 2 bay enclosure I bought just for this purpose going forward. So, rebooted to recovery mode, and will try to install everything from my old computers Time Machine drive. Left for moms as it was still analyzing everything before the file transfer. Fingers crossed it’s done when I return. What a pain, years and years of business files and emails on the old machine, hopefully that works.
@boxer12 On my way down to moms, mostly listened to Lambchop on my drive. Interesting band.
Merry Christmas all! 🎄 Glad mom is back in her apartment for Christmas and not in the hospital.
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Continuation....
Sawallisch conducts Schubert. 5LP box set - The Complete Symphonies. Staatskapelle Dresden. Philips European pressing 1977ish.
......Ended up listening to symphonies 1-6
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@mammothguy54
Thanks Joel. Yes, it is nice, two weeks ago I wasn’t sure it would be the case.
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Jeez, you guys are making me feel guilty. I haven't brought my Gary Fisher out of the basement for years now ;-) |
The Beatles - Rubber Soul. Columbia reissue 1976 |
John Mayall - Jazz Blues Fusion. Polydor 1972 |
Shakti w/John McLaughlin. Natural Elements. Columbia 1977 |
Have not listened to this in a long long time, did a complete clean....
The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s. Apple reissue 1975 |
Oh man Uber, I was just thinking of cleaning that one next.... |
Hilary Hahn - Paris
- Prokofiev - Concerto For Violin And Orchestra No. 1 In D Major Op. 19
- Chausson - Poème Op. 25 For Violin And Orchestra
- Rautavaara - Deux Sérénades
Mikko Franck conducting Orchestre Philharmonique De Radio France
Deutsche Grammophon 2LP 45rpm 2021
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Speaking of carts, it looks like the Zephyr is suppose to be delivered tomorrow. Also the couple sets of Audio Envy interconnects I ordered a couple weeks back look to be delivered tomorrow as well.
I also ‘sucked it up’ and ordered an Ortofon 2M Mono cart today to install on another head shell for my mono LP’s
I think after that, I might be done for at least a few days 😁 |
Grateful Dead - Aoxomoxoa. WB reissue 1973 |
Yep Uber, I saw you run one. After reading a few reviews, that looked to be a good way to go vs the competition. Thought about ordering a Soundsmith Otello in Mono config, but LP Gear had the Ortofon for $319, free shipping, so figured that was a pretty good deal. |
(‘The Byrds’) - Preflyte. Together Records 1969, recorded in 1964.
Interesting LP I’ve had ’forever’. Essentially The Byrd’s, but only the members listed on the album cover, not the group name. Later releases in the early 70’s were labeled ‘The Byrds’ on the cover and titled Preflyte. May have originally been part of a set called ‘The Achieve Series’. This was also a promo release version. |
There is a headshell adapter to play cassette tapes... 🤣😂😆 |
Hot Tuna - First Pull Up, Then Pull Down. RCA Victor 1971. Live |
@slaw Remember Brian, you are going down the rabbit hole.
You have mostly new components that need break-in. lol, I think I got deeper than originally planned. But, that’s why they call it the rabbit hole. If the cart, and interconnects, sound better after 10-20 hours, I’m OK with that, as it sounds pretty damn good now. BTW, playing the Karajan/Mendelssohn without the clamp 😉 Between the table, arm, and cart, I think my classical collection will all have new life as well if what I’m hearing now is any indication. Not one bit of ‘over loading’, smearing, etc. it’s handling the big stuff with ease. Full louder portions of orchestration is maintaining great clarity and separation/imaging. And my ol Vandy 2CE Sigs sound better than ever 👍🏻 |
@tomic601 Junkies - Pale Sun , Crescent Moon That may be my favorite Junkies album. Hard to pick a favorite of theirs, but really like the harder edge of that one. |
@mammothguy54 You have a great new cartridge, please do enjoy your rig this weekend. Thank you sir, I plan on doing exactly that :-D |
Ahmad Jamal - Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival 1985. Atlantic 1986 2 LP set.
.....holy crap, I’m smiling...damn.... |
Can you smile with your mouth hanging open in disbelief?
😜 |
Sade - Diamond Life. CBS/Portrait 1985
Another good test for SQ
Oh yea, and the Grado hum is gone 😁 |
@slaw Always wanted to try a Grado, the hum issue pushed me away. I like(d) my Grado. The hum can be annoying, but was way more annoying with the old table. Those two didn’t play well together. Went away a lot with the SOTA/Jelco. But not completely. I certainly won’t poo poo Grado though, they have their sound, but was really happy with my Red. For the money not too shabby, at all. Ive heard, depending on the model, Grado will build/reduce the power output for you, which I would think could quiet things down. It’s interesting, my old Grado output was 5mv, the Soundsmith is 2.4mv, and really works just fine with my phono stage at the same setting @ 42db of gain. I thought I may have increase it, but nope, actually right where Peter recommends. I had my doubts, but no, it works fine at 42. Darn thing is quiet. And really pretty spectacular. |
OK, I need to check out some big orchestration. Put this rig to a test.
Karajan conducts Mendelssohn. Symphony 1 & 2. Berlin Philharmonic. From the 5 Symphonies box set. Deutsche Grammophon. 1981 German pressing. |
Boulez conducts Berlioz’s Lelio. The London Symphony Orchestra and Choir. Columbia 1971 |
Same set as last night....
Karajan conducts Mendelssohn. Symphony #3. Berlin Philharmonic. From the 5 Symphonies box set. Deutsche Grammophon. 1981 German pressing.
Very nice ‘morning symphony’. |
The Allegri String Quartet. Britten - String Quartets No. 1 & 2. London 1976
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Ahmad Jamal - Rossiter Road. Atlantic 1986
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A daily learning curve. Between LP’s of the Hindemith set, I slid my fingers to the bottom edge of the SOTA, and realized the sub-assembly was sitting just slightly below the exterior plinth in the arm side, flush on the opposite side. Why all of a sudden?
Then it hit me. The Soundsmith Zephyr is twice the weight of the old Grado by about 5-6 grams, which was mounted when I balanced the table originally. Sure doesn’t seem like a lot does it?, but to the SOTA, it is. Removed the arm/armboard, took out some shot in the reservoir until the arm/Soundsmith ‘leveled’ the sub-assembly again, and good to go. Re-checked everything, re-weighed the cart, etc. Funny thing is, I just checked the platter this morning for level, and it was, at/within the platter.
It ain’t Kansas anymore Dorothy 😁 |
2nd new snag which arrived today….
Budapest String Quartet : Ravel - Quartet In F Major & Debussy - Quartet In G Minor, Opus 10. Columbia Masterworks reissue, 2-eye grey. Early-mid 60’s.
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@boxer12
So sorry to hear man. I lost a brother, it’s no fun, to say the least, but from personal experience, very hard for a mother.
Hang in there, and my deepest condolences to you and your family. |
Szell conducts Haydn. Box set - Six London Symphonies. The Cleveland Orchestra. Columbia Masterworks 1973 |
Szell conducts Brahms - The Four Symphonies. The Cleveland Orchestra. Box set. Columbia Masterworks. Date unknown, but the 2 eyed stereo label. I’m thinking late 60’s.
Man o Man, this is one of my favorite sets, and on this new rig it is absolutely blowing me away. Incredible. |
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Roberto Benzi conducts Saint-Saëns - Symphony No. 3. The Hague Philharmonic W/Feike Asma, organ. VOX early 60’s
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All this talk about Charles Lloyd.....I have one Lloyd album (as a band leader), I purchased way ‘back in the day’ at Moles Record Exchange in Columbus, as I liked the psychedelic cover 😁. Now I have to play it.....
The Charles Lloyd Quartet - Love-In. Recorded live at the Fillmore Auditorium, San Francisco. Featuring Lloyd, Keith Jarrett, Ron McClure, and Jack DeJonnette. Atlantic 1967, the summer of love....obviously. |
The Modern Jazz Quartet - The Modern Jazz Quartet & Orchestra. Atlantic, reissue from 1961 original, late 60’s-early 70’s. |
@slaw Sometimes, as with my Rock 7, items with springs take some settling time over days/playing time. That could be it too. Perhaps Jim could share his insight regarding the SOTA. I have a feeling this table sat for a bit unplayed after the previous owner purchased a Sapphire Star to replace it. I know 5-6 grams is a lot in regards to cartridge weight, but was somewhat surprised it made that big a difference in the overall mass. But, it seems, even the little things count. Obviously I’m a bit anal in regards to detail, it’s part of my nature, so have been scrutinizing every little detail right now, (I’m aware of), wanting to make sure everything is ‘correct’, albeit, that slight imbalance probably had no real or audible effect, as at the platter, the bubble level was fine. Now, I’m already thinking ahead to the mono cart, which is also lighter than the Zephyr, but luckily, the Jelco came with a separate headshell ‘weight’, which I’ll probably use on that separate headshell. But won’t get too concerned if it is slightly out of balance when using it. |
