I am hearing a rumor that you are getting new loudspeakers :)

jtinn April 06, 2012 02:19

Go Dawgs!

jazdoc March 27, 2012 21:57

Marc,

i stand by my past comments as far as the NVS and my other previous tt's. in fact, the more i listen to the NVS-Telos-Anna and then compare it to master tape, even 1/2" master tape, the more my opinions (and that is all they are) are confirmed.

i respect Albert and his approach to the hobby and his method of developing his viewpoints. but Albert hears things his way and in his particular system. i owned a pretty darn good Dobbins SP-10 Mk3 myself. it was a fine tt. i heard Albert's SP-10 Mk3 in his system a couple of years ago. it's a fine tt.

as far as the SP-10 Mk3 beating the NVS in the bass; i really cannot say what Albert hears in his system.....other than Albert also prefers the SME 312s to the Talea 2 in the bass. i've heard the 312s, and if that is 'better bass' than the Talea 2, then Albert and i simply hear differently. which is just fine and the way this hobby goes sometime.

does my NVS have better bass than my Dobbins SP-10 Mk3? well' it's more like the bass on my master tape. it's quicker, more articulate, has more complex texture, and more dynamic...it's real. so, yes. OTOH my Garrard had this 'rounded' sort of emphasis to the bass. was it real? no. did i like it? yes. could i understand someone preferring it to master tape bass? yes. so really....what exactly is better bass? beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

i have no opinion about the Timeline and all 'that'. i'm more interested in how my tt sounds compared to my master tape. that is the consistent standard i've compared my tt's to, besides each other.

after some years of investigation of tt's/arm's/cartridges i could not be happier with where i've ended up. if Albert is too, then great.

mikelavigne March 27, 2012 21:41

Charles1dad,

i'm guilty of not seeing enough live Jazz in Seattle, and need to put more energy into it. it's just so easy to walk on out to the barn.....

but for dynamic energy 'live' has got it over even the best reproduction.

mikelavigne March 27, 2012 20:52

hi Whart,

thankyou for the thoughtful rec, it does sound really good.....however.....

tonight is the NIT game i came here to see, and there are actually 2 games, so it will likely go till Midnight. and then Wed nite we are planning a Broadway show (Book of Mormon?) and thurs hopefuly another game if UW wins tuesday. then back to the left coast on Friday morning.

so no more live Jazz this visit.... :(

mikelavigne March 27, 2012 20:48

If you are free on Tues nite, March 27, an interesting group of musicians will be at BB Kings on 42 St. While it is ostensibly a celebration of the Million Dollar Quartet, Rob't Gordon has put a band together that should be killer- Rob Stoner, Dylan's bass player from the Rolling Thunder revue will be playing- Rob is one of the most musical bass players in the business and an absolute joy to listen to.
And, it ain't a bad room, but it's apt to be crowded.
Enjoy.

whart March 27, 2012 14:09

"There is nothing like live acoustic music"
Agree completely, I go often to local jazz venues. Nothing is a better template for trying to voice a system`s sound IMO.Won`t match the dynamic energy and scale but can come very close to the 'natural' tonality I`ve found.

charles1dad March 27, 2012 12:44

Hi Mike, can you give me your take on an NVS matter. You've progressed from Rockport to NVS, and in parallel had been running modded/replinthed Garrard 301s and Technics SP10 Mk3s, as well as the Dobbins Beat. from all of this you feel the NVS surpasses by some margin your previous standard, and the vintage newcomers (slight contradiction in terms I know since they are from the '50s to the '80s). Obviously you are a major DD (and to a lesser extent, idler) fan.
What I can't figure out is that Albert Porter, who has his own modded SP10 Mk3 and the new NVS, has checked speed stability via his Sutherland Timeline on both, the SP10 runs rock solid speed perfectly, but the NVS shows up second place in this comparison. He also still feels the SP10 beats the NVS in the bass.
I can only assume this is due to the fact that the SP10 motor still beats all newcomers incl. the NVS, as it has always done in comparison to all other tt's before it.
How can a state of the art, rel. cost no object new millennium design still fall technically behind an item from 40 years ago, and since speed stability is the ultimate holy grail for DD afficionados, doesn't a heavily modded SP10 represent the final journey, not the NVS?

spiritofmusic March 27, 2012 08:18

i'm in Manhattan (NYC) with my son this week to watch University of Washington play in the NIT. we got in this afternoon and had a free night tonight, so we went to a Jazz Club, Smoke, for 'Big Band Night' with a 16 piece jazz band. no cover, great acoustics and a very entertaining enthusiastic band.

there is nothing like live acoustic music.

mikelavigne March 27, 2012 01:30

Enrico,

regarding the Kieth Monks, i did think about it. i looked at their website and tried to find some feedback. this was in December. i decided that the Loricraft looked like a safer bet as it's not 'automatic' and does not have as many moving parts. the Loricraft allows for use of multi-stage chemical treatments which i've found to be advantagous. i had already owned a Loricraft PRR3 for 5 years with zero issues.

regarding the 'thin' pressing issue on the Audiodesk the main problem has come from the later DG pressings, and other Classical pressings. many are not very heavy. what happens is that you need to dry those by hand a bit since the squeege does not remove enough water prior to blow dry. if you don't listen to classical the problem is minimal. it's maybe 30% of classical, but 10-15% of the rest. i could live with it if i had to.

mikelavigne March 12, 2012 23:14

I meant Keith Monks...sorry
E

enricovesce March 11, 2012 22:56

Thanks Mike for your kind and exhaustive response... what made me consider the AudioDesk was exactly the possibility to cleaning a fairly large record's collection while listening to music with a press of a button (and your enthusiastic report), now I'm concerned about the thin record problem, does it happen with all of them or just a small percentage? Also the motor failure... I suppose you didn't have that problem with the Loricraft, did you? One more question: did you consider Loricraft as well?
Thanks again
Best Regards
E

enricovesce March 11, 2012 12:31

hi Enrico,

i do still enjoy and like my Audiodesk RCM. however, i have learned about it's limitations so i added a Loricraft PRR4 Delux RCM too.

the Audiodesk is limited to a one step wash and blow dry. so you cannot use different chemicals and enzyme cleaners.

the Audiodesk has trouble with the thinner pressings as the sqweegy that wipes the water off is marginal for those thin pressings.

the Loricraft does a better job of getting every tiny spec of dust/dirt since it uses the thread and vacuum. you could have 2 Audiodesk units with one with ultraclean water for rinse only, but i still think that the Loricraft is marginally better at that.

i think having both is ideal, since when i want to do a quick easy clean and not stop listening i can throw the Lp on the Audiodesk, press one button, and go listen while it's being cleaned. also; there is some dirt where the Audiodesk with the ultrasonic process cleans deeper than the Loricraft and the chemicals.

if i had only one RCM it would likely be the Loricraft PRR4 Delux due to the thin pressing issue. but if you want to clean and listen at the same time to many Lps the Audiodesk makes it much more fun. 2 years ago when i purchased that large classical Lp collection the Audiodesk made it a wonderful experience of discovery and not the dauting task it would have been with the Loricraft.

finally the Audiodesk is somewhat less reliable than the Loricraft. i did have one motor failure which required repair. i'm still happy i own it but just FYI.

good luck with your decision.

mikelavigne March 10, 2012 20:27

Sean,

it was a fun evening, glad you enjoyed it. enjoy those Lps.

best regards,

Mike

mikelavigne March 10, 2012 20:12

Hello Mike,
I remembered that you picked up the Audiodesk RCM a couple of years ago and I was wondering if you are still satisfied with it and consequently recommend it.
Regards
E

enricovesce March 03, 2012 06:04

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the recent tour of your system. The NVS/Telos/Anna was making great music. I have ordered a few of the LP's we listened to that I did not have. Can't wait to try them out.

Sean

sarcher30 March 02, 2012 18:13

hello Jim,

i don't know about that (having impeccable taste that is), but it's nice of you to say it anyway, thank you.

i do agree with the British researchers about music and it's affect. how sad it would be if music did not have an ability to alter your state of mind. i know i would be (more) lost and adrift without it.

as to listening style, i have 'a' style, whether i 'have style' is whole nother question. :)

mikelavigne February 29, 2012 00:43

"Listening bias is strong. There was a recent study in the news where British researchers found that wine tasting was influenced by ambient music. The adjectives used to describe the same wine changed based on music chosen. So, here we are. Music taste and listening style (quaint old man with his cognac and cigar versus Maxell man and his martini glass being blown over). To each his own...."

I very rarely quote someone, but true dat, as they say in New Orleans. Mike Lavigne has impeccable taste.

talk2me February 28, 2012 13:47

Hello mike thanks for writing down your expiriences.
Not everything is measurable either .

greetings h-j

andromedaaudio February 20, 2012 17:50

Henk Jan,

i've been gone and then very busy. i've started to answer your question a couple of times but something always interupts. anyway; sorry for the delay in answering your question about cabinet difraction and how cabinet shape might affect the performance.

first of all; i don't really know about cabinet design and the technical side of your question. as a speaker builder yourself, i'm sure you know quite a bit more than me on this subject. all i can do is to tell you about what i've observed and cause and effect as far as my intuition goes.

i do generally observe that any speaker with a broad, flat front around the tweeter/mid-range drivers seems to struggle with image focus and tonal correctness. i think when mid to high frequencies get launched by a driver that any adjoining reflective surface will add it's voice to the message. how can it not?

i observe that speakers with cabinets that angle away or that are rounded seem to be more free of those negatives.

there are so many varibles on speaker design that i suppose it is hard to isolate specific cause and effect for particular speaker performance characterisitcs one might hear. if i was designing a speaker and wanted to make sure the tweeter and mid-range were free of cabinet surface and shape problems; i'd likely experiment with different type materials and shapes until i heard what i wanted to hear.

as far as felt, or leather, or some type of absorbant material on the surface around a tweeter; i'm skeptical about that idea......for the same reason that i avoid any absorbtion in my room surfaces. absorbtion reduces energy. that means there is less music. it might be cheaper to apply felt to a cabinet to tame a rough sounding tweeter than adding a curve to the cabinet, but i expect that it will limit ultimate performance.

i loved the way my Kharma Exquisites handled the high frequencies, they had a curved cabinet around the tweeter. so does my Evolution Acoustics MM3's.

speakers do need to be built to price points and there are many trade-offs as well as aesthetic considerations. and i have heard speakers with relatively flat fronts that seem to image well and be tonally correct.

mikelavigne February 20, 2012 01:53

further Anna thoughts....

did i say this cartridge is full of energy?

i guess i did. :)

you have not heard a String Quartet or Cello Lp until you've heard it thru the Anna. and i'll give the Telos and NVS their rightful share of the credit too. foundation, body, tender soaring string tone, and every tiny musical part of a string quartet comes alive right in front of you. the music gets personal and captivates.

bass. big bold ballsey bass. it packs a whallop. and the attack is explosive and precise. yet there is perfect focus. there is a wonderful bloom, and unlimited decay, yet never overshoot or rounding, and not a trace of edge or roughness.

i'm having trouble typing and listening. listening wins.

mikelavigne February 20, 2012 01:20

hi Sean,

regarding the Anna. late January the Anna did arrive. Joel came over and installed it. it sounded great as i mentioned. but i only had it installed for a few days and then was out of town for a week so i loaned the Anna to Joel to play with in his system and learn it's tricks. i figured he would find it's ideal settings in his own system. then i returned and picked up the Anna from him and he was then out of town for awhile. so i re-installed it on the Telos.....and to the Anna's credit it sounded fine, but i strongly suspected that it was not perfectly dialed in. knowing Joel would return i did not chase ultimate set-up. not that i could get there on my own, but i knew that Joel could and would.

not that the Anna sounded wrong in any way. only that the amazing energy i first heard was somehow not fully manifest. the information but not quite all the life.

and today Joel did return and nail down the Anna set-up. it's now more broken in than initially, Joel knows it better.......and i must say that it is a force of nature. breathtaking. alive. yet so sure of itself and sooooooo effortless. the music just leaps from the grooves.

tonality is quite advanced from the A90. much more color and richness, a sweetness of tone....but not any sort of thickness or blunting. just halographic color with infinite shading.

the A90 is a particularly dynamic and alive cartridge. the Anna is another level of dynamics entirely. the Anna has such an ease and unforced kind of power and control; like a mega watt amp but with the finesse of a tiny watt SET. so the music is just so relaxed but with all the tension and explosiveness you might imagine. the music moves with more synergy and and natural flow. more real.

mikelavigne February 20, 2012 00:55

Hi Mike,

Now that you have had the Anna for a couple of weeks do you have any further thoughts? Is the tonality the same as the A90? Are the dynamics about the same or better?

Thanks,

Sean

sarcher30 February 19, 2012 04:42

Hello Mike,

Thanks for the second recommendation. I bought an Absolute Fidelity component power cord for my PD MPD-5 and it was a nice improvement.
Cheers!

Vicente

vn101606 February 06, 2012 00:36

hi Fred,

you will love the Anna, it is a game changer.

the Anna has .20mv output, whereas the A90 is .24mv output. in my case the darTZeel at the 64db setting i had it on for the A90 also seems great for the Anna. if i were to have occasion to open up the darTZeel i'd likely try the next higher setting and see how the gain/noise is with the Anna. you never know until you try.

it's not that 64db is not already fine, but that just maybe higher output might be better. i suspect it's the same with the Yipsilon. maybe they can send you the higher gain SUT to try when you get your Anna.

mikelavigne February 03, 2012 20:40