#audio techica

[worldlibertytv]

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[audio-luddite]

Lots of music.

About ten years ago I bought a new bicycle.  It was all carbon fiber and cool and high end.  I had a good bike, but I was going to try to up my game and found a good deal. It was still expensive.

Once I spent the money I rode it a lot.  Not unusual, but it was winter here and the weather is pretty epic for rain and wind.  I was just so enthusiastic I had to ride as much as I could.  The previous year I had gone 3500 km and with the new bike I cleared over 6000 km.  It was partly to justify the money I just spent and partly because it was so much better.

In the last week or so I have been spending hours every day listening to my stereo.  Pulling old albums off the shelf and giving them a spin.  I am really enjoying it.  Reason is I just spent some money on that turntable.  If I ignore it how can I justify it?  Oh and there is that plague thing and being home a lot. Enthusiasm comes from strange places.

So part of this is justifying my money, part is exploring my collection again after a long time, and part is do I notice any differences? 

I have been intrigued by linear tracking turntables for a long time.  They should be better in fundamental ways. That is to do with geometry and how vinyl records are made.  There are other advantages, but there are also flaws and foibles in the complexity of the mechanics.

There are very simple linear tonearms that use air cushions so they are supposed to be “frictionless”.  Nothing is frictionless. Very low drag, but the lateral motion is driven by the teeny tiny cartridge cantilever pushing against the inertia of the arm. Inertia is no big deal if the lateral motion is uniform and steady which it aint.  I prefer some mechanical assistance.  I like the Rabco Solution as it is elegant, very simple, and should be reliable as long as I do nothing stupid.

My #1 system with the Sony and Grace and Signets (all antique) is really good, and was especially good once I got the anti-skate properly adjusted (That was a trick I tell you) and a cork mat for the platter.  The bloody thing just sings. Everything comes in focus and there is joy in the world.

Take that as proof that ant-skate is really critical to get right.  Add to that is the true value of it varies with the friction in the groove which varies with the intensity of the signal and therefore the best you get is close and never perfect.

Linear tracking turntables do not have or need anti-skate cuz they just don't skate.  Therefore logic tells us that this focus thing should be fine always.

I have temporarily retired the Sony.  Mostly it was inconvenience of having the HK set up on a small coffee table in an awkward place.  So all this recent listening has been with the HK.

Small and subtle differences are bubbling up. In Famous Blue Raincoat where Ms Warnes is singing background as well as lead that track is much more clearly apparent and separate.  When L Cohen is sharing lead and background in Joan of Arc those are also much more clear and separate.

The timbre of instruments is different just a wee bit.

I am crediting the turntable rather than the cartridge as the Signet is no slouch. It is supposed to be roughly equal to a few notches above the AT 440 in the current Audio Technica family. The stylus though on the Signet is a modified elliptical rather than the “microline”.  Be that as it may these are interesting differences.

Are there any negatives to the HK.  Yes there are, and I hope they are treatable. This machine dates from a time when they should have known better about sound isolation.  The bearing is mounted on a sheet metal base.  Actually everything is mounted on that. It is fairly hefty, but overall this unit weighs half of what the Sony weighs and sheet metal is sheet metal.  The Platter has less heft than I would like, but it has a fairly thick massive mat.  If you tap the top of the plinth or the lid when closed there is a strong bung sound through the speaker.  The platter runs quiet when you are not tapping stuff and seems well damped.  There is probably a path into the arm by the base plate for sound.  In an ideal world this plate would be thick and heavily damped.

So I am going to add new feet to the beast to replace the old dried out probably once reasonably good damping material on the original feet.  We will see what some Sorbothane will do there.  It may help with the base as well as foot fall sensitivity.  I will probably also try some dynamat or equal underneath the base plate.  That stuff is good at taming sheet metal.

While I play with all this stuff I will run through more records. Everything old is new again.  It is fun.  That actually is the point is it not?