#at7v

[audio-luddite]

Audio Technica AT7V more

I had not listened to a couple of my albums for years so I dusted them off for a sipn.  Russian and Russian / French music.  Actually strong French components to a lot of Russian Music.

First one London / Decca FFRR, Stravinsky Firebird, Ernest Ansermet Conducting.  I think the recording dates from the 1960s the golden age of analog.  This is the full ballet and not just the Suites.  It is an amazing recording.  For some reason I have two copies.   If you are familiar with the music the introduction has a fairly Spooky double-bass introduction of the theme.  The little 7V had no troubles there.  As it goes on there is a fair bit of drama and intense music.  There are several famous parts like the infernal dance and the final wedding procession.  Big music and popular with TV documentary sound tracks.

I heard some things I had not noticed before.  During some of the big intense numbers there was a sparkle like string pizzicato.  It was straight across the width of the orchestral image. Subtle it was. The brass was very brassy and well it sounded good.  There were some things that could have been wear on the record, but I will reserve judgement.

The French connection is it was debuted in Paris and commissioned for the Ballet Russe based in Paris. Stravinsky was very Russian.

The second album was Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition.  Philips LP Edo de Waart conducting.  This is a big concert chestnut orchestrated in France by Maurice Ravel (French guy) from a piano score by Mussorgsky. It gets huge in places. I did not have many “I have not noticed that before” experiences.  Solid and enjoyable.

Bottom line no real weaknesses here.  Big impact of the big drums when called for.  I would characterize the overall sound as accurate.

These were a full orchestra pushing hard.  Arguably the hardest task for a phono cartridge.  Sound does not get more complex, or big. The image of the orchestras were wide and solid.  Depth was adequate, but I have come to think that depends more on the recording venue and method than the playback.

To be sure I have heard “bigger” sound.  I have heard more spectacular too.  I would not swear it was better though.

So this little beast did fine.  Not just for Jazz and chamber music. Classical works too as does Blues and that soft rock stuff.  A real value at $210 USD at LP Gear. 

Is this my new boss cartridge?  Maybe.

[audio-luddite]

TK7E and AT7V

I wonder why there are 7s in the names?  I put the TKN22 stylus in the TK7 and did another lap of my usual suspects.  It was the familiar sound I was used to.  Nothing bad at all.  Smooth well resolved and all that.  Did several hours of listening.

During that I was feeling that I had not given the AT7v an even chance.  I ran it light in tracking force and it was shimmed on the twisted Chinese luxury crap head shell.

So while I was appreciating the old beast. ( I bought it in 1989 ) I pulled out the 7V and remounted it on the generic and straight head shell I got and added a 1 gram lead weight shim as well. The head shell with the TK7 is pretty heavy and I wanted it to be fair. The shimmed arrangement with the twisted thing was comparatively loose and well it did not deserve such support.

The next day I spun through TOTO and Cowboy Junkies and a Jazz album.  Then I swapped out the TK7 for the AT7 and did those again.  The AT7 was now at 1.9 grams tracking as well measured with the digital tracking scale thing.  Recommended is 2.0 grams.

My first try I liked the delicate detail and everything was nice but... No Bass.  I figured it was perfect for people with those LS3/5as.  I did not ponder why at the time.  But the tribe says the AT7 and the TK7 are blood brothers and sound really similar. In point of fact the stylus on the AT7 is a small elliptical as is the TKN22.  Also the engine of the AT7 is more than superficially similar and dates back to the same era as the Signet.

So a solid head shell, more tracking force and the bass is back.  Deep and solid.  On the Cowboy junkies Trinity LP side 4 “postcard blues” the toe tap on the riser is there and the resonance in the hall is great. On the other albums the Bass is solid and quite present. I have to say it is really really close to the old Signet.  It is smoother than the 440 Mla. 

I apologize and take back all the not good things I said about it. The AT7v is a very good unit. I have not done a full orchestral LP yet, but on jazz, and blues, and soft rock it is the equal of my old beast or even dare I say better?

On the LA 4 album the tiny bells are super clear.  On the “out of the Blues” Boz Scaggs album the guitar picks are clearly heard and the same is evident on Eric Clapton’s Slow hand reissue. It will be in the phaser for a while I think.

I especially like that what I am hearing agrees with reviews and reports from others who have compared the AT7 and the AT440.

Best thing is I think they still make these.

[audio-luddite]

Phono Cartridges.

I am trying to step back from it for a bit.  I went years and years with no changes in my system.  I was happy with it and I had lots of music to play.  I have gobs of CDs and a phalanx of LPs.  I collected CDs as it was the future back then.  I even duplicated many of the LPs.  I still read magazines and knew that there were problems with the medium, but hey nothing is perfect.

15 years ago I had basically the system I have now, well the bones of it.  I had the Sony TT, the Audio Research Preamp, and my black box Dynaco 416.  I put most of that aside for an AV system.

I have a nice 7.1 surround system and after a time went to the  trouble of getting a phono preamp so I could feed LP music into the big 7.1 receiver.

My system then was the Sony 2251 TT with a Grace 707 arm and the Signets Tk7e into a NAD phono preamp into the big ass Pioneer THX receiver into a pair of monster front speakers and if I wanted I could use the surround rear and side channels.  Thing is I didn’t like it.  Something was missing.

I like to build things.  My nice tube preamp was sick. The shop I took my stuff for repair has a lot of used “classic” equipment.  They had a similar vintage SAE preamp for cheap so I bought that while the tuber was being fixed.  I dragged the big black amp out of the crawl space and decided to build some new speakers.  So I did.  I have described them before so If you are interested go do some homework.

My music only system became the Sony TT, the Audio Research tube preamp, the black box Dynaco 416, and my weird invisible speakers.

This creative activity triggered a renewal of my “enthusiasm” or addiction if you prefer.  I had to start listening to  my LP collection.  Purely in the name of science to validate my new speaker design of course.  It was fun.  At the same time I was looking at getting a turntable for my son-in-law as he had a few albums, but no way to play them.  Just browsing, nothing serious.

Now I had investigated alternatives to the Signets as it was old and styli were getting scarce.  I bought a recommended “equivalent” the AT 440 tried it, did not like it and put it away for a long time.  I had two turntables then.  One was the beautiful Transcriptors Skeleton from Ireland. Shiny metal and plate glass. It also had a Grace Tone arm.  But it was getting hard for me to use as I am an old bugger now and the way I had to hold the tonearm was awkward for me so I could not use it.  The Sony was easy to use.  I put the 440 on the Skeleton and put it up for sale.

The best offer for the Skeleton was lower than I wanted so I took off the 440 and put on a cheap ringer I had.  Still got almost 2 grand for it.  So I had some cash and was still looking for stuff.  The trouble starts when you find it.  That was the Harman Kardon ST5.  As I had the 440 kicking around I put it on and it was magic. It just worked so well. Everything about the 440 that bugged me was gone. The ST5 had other problems which I worked on because the 440 just worked so well.  It sounded better on that machine than my Sony and the Signets.  I got some new anti-vibration feet. Dynamatted the chassis and made a vibration isolating platform.

The wagon had started to roll down the hill.  I found another turntable as I did not stop looking. It was a Pioneer tangential tracker branded as a Phase linear.  It was rarer than rare, and good and affordable and I had that cash and ..... I bought it. I now had three turntables.  It came with a Shure Cartridge of unknown history, so that had to go.

I needed at least one more cartridge.

So I started to look at different cartridges that were still in production. Two cheap ones popped out and a less expensive good one.  I bought three.  And I bought headshells so I could play swap them out.

It has been fun.  I probably should not have bought the AT 7v, but the Grado has been illuminating as has the little Vessel.  There is a definite ranking of performance, with one huge caveat.

Everything in the chain effects the sound you get.  For example the AT 440 was a pain in the Grace 707 tonearm but absolute magic in the HK ST5.  That was due to the capacitance in the tone arm wires.  The 440 needs to see low capacitance.  Give it that and it sings. 

If you read reviews of phono cartridges, the turntable, and the arm wires, and the phono stage all impact how the tiny magnetic device acts mechanically.  If you have the same equipment as the reviewer then the review is legitimate for you.  If not then not.

The type of music you listen to matters as well.  I can see the AT 7v being superb for jazz in a single ended triode system running into small near field speakers like say Rogers LS3/5As.  No Bass is required and the lovely detail and delicacy is perfect.  No wonder it is popular in Japan.  I can just see an old man in a Kimono playing Miles Davis while trimming his Bonsai trees.

If you listen to Rock the Grado green is a good choice and you do not have to look any further.  Cerwin Vega or JBL speakers with SAE or Crown amps are fine. Each has its place.  So one or the other can be better depending on many things.

My system is a jack of all trades.  I can play jazz and rock and country and baroque and late classical and romantic and modern.  I need my front end to work from top to bottom.  Significant weakness is not permitted. It shows up.

That narrows my options a bit.

I can still play with a them. The 440 is doing OK for the Jazz and Blues I have tried.  I have to try a solid symphonic piece or two. The stylus for the AV7 may fit the Signet so it might improve it or not over the TKN22.  Actually the only one I have not fiddled with recently is the Signet.

Oh, I will probably sell the Sony.  It is still a phenomenal unit.  But I like the way the Phaser works.  It is more convenient for this old guy and it sounds just as good.

[audio-luddite]

Head Shells arrived...

I got excited.  My wife the opposite.  A couple packages in the mail.  In one a Grado Cartridge and a cute digital scale to set tracking force.  In the other two “quality” headshells.  That should have been a clue.

The headshells looked fine and had nice wires, but they attach to a tonearm with a slip on fitting that is secured by a tiny pin.  In both of these guys it was not straight.  It left the cartridge twisted out of place.  Cheap Crap from China.  Of all the bits of assembly getting that part straight is the easiest.  Well maybe not easy for Uigurh slave laborers.

I shimmed the cartridges to make them as level as I could.  But shit it looks funny.  I wrote to the online dealer and commented they should be more careful with these.  The subtext was hey send me straight ones.  But his response was they were getting a shipment in of Japanese made units which are good, but pretty expensive.  Ummmm.  I could send them back, but it is my dime to send them.  

Yes I know you can comment on their site and slag them.  I have some sympathy for small businesses.  I also know that there are hordes of people who comment on stuff they never bought.  I would just get drowned in the noise.  I am coping though it looks really weird.

Thing is if a average customer does not notice this problem it means a potentially expensive phono cartridge will work like shit.  They have to be straight you know.  The dealer is in Quebec and sells good stuff,  they also sell crap.  So next time I am going somewhere else simply because I cannot rely on them.

OK on to important stuff.

I mounted my Signets TK7e with an off book ATn12s stylus.  It fits and is a nude Shibata type.  I have a Tkn22 which is the “correct” replacement as well but it is a bonded diamond.  I also shimmed the Grado to its twisted headshell.  I listened to the Signets.

Old friend.  I guess Audio Technica has a sound.  It is all I have listened to for a long time.  The Signet is an upmarket AT and of all my LP listening the most years have been with it.  So it was familiar.  As it was now on the Phaser so there were new things.  I can and will fiddle with the VTA and SRA and that stuff, but now get going.

I put on Cowboy Junkies Trinity LP side one. I last listened to this with the AT7v which I thought missed some Bass. The Ambience was still there of course and the metallic sheen of the percussion. The background singing of Margo’s brother is clearly there and in a different space.  I put that on the Phaser for finding.  It sounds very much like the AT7v.

Then I flipped to side 4 (two 180g LPs) for Sweet Jane, Postcard Blues, and Walking after midnight.  Lou Reed thought this cut was the best version of his song so that tells you something.  Again very much like the AT7v. Then one of my favorite geek parts in Postcard Blues.  The foot tapping on the riser.  Really low bass.  The AT7v misses it, not old Mr Signets.  You are back Boss.

Next my wife was getting impatient with me “always listening to the same stuff” so I put on Hector Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique whole thing on DG.  Sounded pretty much as I remember.  Solo wood winds stood out.  Some of the percussion was different.  Better defined, which again has to go to the Phaser.

Then I did Holst’s Planets on Philips. Sounds familiar. Did not notice anything in particular.

Finally I did Emmylou and Willie “one paper kid.”  I like this song and the recording is really simple.  Emmylou to the right and Willie to the left. Guitar, harmonica and not much else.  Again the Phaser separates the singers in space.  The AT7v and the Signets sound almost the same, but I think the Signets is just a bit clearer.

Given the rush to get going I should do the microscope thing and get the beast dialed in.  I feel like the Signets is really very much like the AT7v in all its good ways.  Except it has Bass.  That is fair as that is what I missed in the 7v.

The 440Mla is still on the HK ST5.

The next thing to try is the Grado.  I am really anxious to see how that goes.

[audio-luddite]

Desk still not cleared away.

I spent much of the weekend with family stuff so not much going on stereo-wise. I showed the Phaser TT to my daughter.  She hinted I may becoming a collector.  God I hope not!  I object to people who assemble so much stuff they cannot enjoy any of it.  I had not bought turntables in DECADES.  In two months I bought two.  There is another one out there that is very pretty.  Stop, slap that wrist.

I have space to set up one TT even after the rack goes up.  Well I could set one up in the AV system too, but I would never use it.  When I was at my daughters house I asked her where she was going to put “the Turntable”.  She has already figured it out.  Her husband was a bit surprised.  She is looking for a particular shelf / table.  She just got another and found LPs fit in it.  I have earmarked the Harman Kardon for her.  It is pretty easy to work  Delicate touch not required.

The Sony is an instrument.  I am leaning towards selling it.  It would be local.  I do not want to deal with the shipping hassle.  I have had it forever.  Other side is it is nice to have a spare.

So things are in flux.  I have some headshells coming so I can swap cartridges fast. I can play audio reviewer.  I also have another cheap cartridge coming.  Supposed to be very good for under 500 bucks. It was way under 200 bucks!

I am fascinated with why cartridges sound different.  Detail and resolution are from eliminating distortion or masking sounds.  I will have to swap out the AT7v for the 440Mla to see if it is the TT or the cartridge.  I think it is both.  Same family, but quite different.

The math is wild.  The voltages applied to the cutting head apply a force resulting in an acceleration of the cutter. It is not a simple displacement proportional to the voltage. That in simplest terms is a phase shift as input and output are trigonometric functions.  The stylus in the groove is accelerated by the displacement of the walls.  That generates another voltage based on the velocity.  That is another phase shift. If at that point everything is perfect (not actually, but assume it is) then the signal to the speakers does this again when the air is pushed.  The fun part is that this shift can be different at different frequencies.  Well I have already gone past my University Math.  Just say that nothing is right and live with it.

I have been reading reviews of these beasts and some other brands.  It is interesting that the terms and descriptions are not technical.  LIfe and bloom and richness are used again and again.  I suppose there is no viable test process for straight on accuracy.  No step from the master recording to pressing the album to playing on a TT to listening through a preamp and speakers is free from distortion.  It is what you like.

One review of a lot of cartridges used what I consider crap speakers and a good, but not high end turntable.  If the guy likes them and what they do to the sound well more power to him. His opinions do not help me.  In the end it is just what you like.  Do you prefer a Pinot Noir or a Cabernet?  Is one the best?

I am protected by limits to what I can spend.  Short of a Lottery win I will not be spending 4 figures on LP playback.  Even then I doubt I would ever do that.

For the hundreds of dollars I have spent recently there is a difference and some improvement.  I hear things I did not hear before.  Some things sound more real.

The really cool part is this is all in the front end.  My amp and speakers are just loafing along eating it up.  Not even close to those limits.

[audio-luddite]

Phono Cartridges old and new

I have a new cartridge and OLD cartridge and a NOS cartridge.

I make no apologies about how I approach stereo stuff.  I investigate how a manufacturer does things and decide if I like the idea. I observer how well the idea works. They all do things differently.  I will prefer the equipment if I like the idea behind it.

I have had a few phono cartridges in the past. I started with Shure having the M95ed, and the famous V15 iii.  Both were good. I had a set of Grados, and I cannot remember the model number probably because they were not memorable.  I had an empire or two usually because it was attached to something I bought.

My favorite one is the old one, a 1980s Signet TK7E.  It has its fans and is remembered fondly.  I have seen one on sale for over 600 bucks.  It is no longer made and replacement styli are not easy to find.  Signet was a luxury brand of Audio Technica.  Sort of like Toyota and Lexus.  This Signet was a quadraphonic type.  That means it was engineered to respond accurately to 45 khz.  In the 80s that was going to be the new big thing and they managed to make it work on vinyl.

Any cartridge that can respond well to 45 khz has an easy time at 22.5 khz and hell I cant hear even that high anymore.  Though I could when I bought it.  Enough to say that it is better than many out today.  Arguably better than a lot of multi-thousand dollar examples including most moving coil types.

I like the idea behind it.  There are two teenie tiny magnets mounted on the cantilever.  They move and that generates the electric current that makes us happy.  Very simple and elegant.  Very direct.  Direct is important.

Grados in contrast vibrate a plate that lays against another plate and that generates the signal.  Shures have the cantilever in a tube that somehow connects to its electrical device.  Most every manufacturer has an indirect link between the wiggles on the disk and the electrical generator.

One thing about Moving Coil types is they almost all have a direct physical connection between the cantilever and the coils.  That is why you cannot replace the diamond or the cantilever without microscopic skills and equipment.

My NOS cartridge  (new old stock) I bought it new but did not use it much until recently.  It is an Audio Technica 440 mla and uses the same two little magnets on the cantilever.  It is very good but had quirks related to impedance reactance.  It does not like too many picofarads.

I just bought a new Audio Technica AT7v.  It is a boutique cartridge with an excellent reputation in Japan.  It appears to be very similar to the Signet, which intrigued me.  It is new, just not very common around here.  Apparently you can use the same Stylus assembly as the AT150MLX which is a pretty expensive unit and the legend there is that it is based on the Signets TK7 in some fashion.

Generally speaking phono cartridges do not wear out.  The needles on the cantilevers do.  Replace that and it is new again.

The TK7 has an available stock of styli in a store I use called LPGEAR.  That stylus is not identical to the original.  It is compatible and it does work.  The Brochure I have with the Signets (yes I kept it) shows that several different styli were available.  They all promised different aspects to performance.  One was a boron cantilever.  The current replacement listed is called a TKN22.  I have one of those and it is an aluminum cantilever.

LP Gear listed that the stylus for the AT7v would fit the Signet.  It was an “alternate.”  The description for the AT7v mentions that the stylus for the AT150 MLX will fit the AT7 so it may fit the Signet too!  Ooh that sounds fun.  The ATN150 stylus is boron just like the old Signets.  Thing is the stylus assembly all by itself is 600 bucks.  There is a slightly less expensive version with a nude shibata diamond with an aluminum cantilever for 200 ish bucks.

The LP Gear store has a lot of information and I do trust it.  As I have the AT7 and the Signet I can try this out. If they cross fit then I may buy a spare stylus or two.  Swapping styli is dead easy compared to swapping full cartridges with all those fussy wires.