Just bought a Hashimoto HM3 SUT on fleabay

bimasta said:
Why must it be so damn hard? And mjw21a only scratches the surface (an apt but unfortunate metaphor when discussing LPs). I know it's part of the appeal to many, and the famous cartoon says it well "What draws me to vinyl is the expense and the difficulty" (a poor paraphrase from memory). But the mere thought of what's required to wring the best from my MC201 — and only then know if I like it — makes me think lovingly of CDs.

I only have 7 tonearms currently, ranging from ultra-light to fairly heavy; only 4 SS phono preamps and 3 tube; and a meager 3 MC step-ups, one the AI SUT discussed here, superb but, according to Ateal, lousy for the 201; one the MC stage in a fine Tandberg full-function preamp; the third an EMT/Thorens active head-amp — yet the possible combinations, not to mention loading possibilities, amount to - - I'll leave that to a mathematician. And the time it will take to try them all, I'll leave to a mortician.

I remember when a Garrard changer with a nobody-knew-what cartridge sounded sublime, and Mom blissing out on her plug-n-play KLH 20, playing everything from Shostakovich to Purple Haze. "Progress" has made almost everything easier, and the progress in vinyl playback has been astonishing. But what happened to the easy part?

I see young newbie hipsters at GW buying stacks of Al Martino records so badly scratched they'd rip my Gyger out of its tiny laser-drilled socket, and they don't know scratches matter, and I'm sure they love them totally, "so much warmer pop-tic-scrunch than my MP3"... and I envy them.

Sorry for the length of this pointless cri de coeur.
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I hope you didn’t think from my posts that I was denigrating the MC 201 or the 40 Ohm version of the AI SUT as that wasn’t my intention.

I think it was clear that I have not experienced the MC 201 through the AI SUT so I cannot even comment on that combo, let alone state it is lousy. I can only report a disappointment I had in the MC 201 when using an Audio Technica SUT some years ago and also a disappointment i had in using the FR1 with a 40 Ohm tap on an SUT.

I think mjw21a has something with the whole tonearm mass thing. I am using the MC 202 with a tonearm which has an effective mass of 21g, including headshell but excluding cartridge weight.

I think what we need is for mjw21a to give the FR1 and MC 201 a test drive through the 3 Ohm tap of his FRT4 and report his findings. :)
 
ateal said:
I hope you didn’t think...
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Not at all, and I'm sorry I made you feel the need to explain, when I understood what you were saying perfectly. It was just part of the flow of a funny/sad story I felt like writing, venting some frustration as I try to narrow everything down to a "final" system — a final 12 cartridges and final 2 of everything else. Most of the carts are NOS so they'll last awhile, only 3 need retipping and they're very worth it, then they'll endure too. And of course "final" doesn't mean I won't pounce on something exciting if it arises.
ateal said:
I think mjw21a has something with the whole tonearm mass thing. I think what we need is for mjw21a to give the FR1 and MC 201 a test drive through the 3 Ohm tap of his FRT4 and report his findings. :)
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Great thinking, especially the :)

If mjw21a is up for it, of course... he may be having too much fun with his gorgeous new Hashimoto, I know I'd spend a month just looking at it ...
 
I'll get to trying eventually. The best sounding arm I've used the most carts on was an FR-24 Mk2. Although an early FR arm it seemed to bring the best out in every cart I tried with it. I've a more sought after FR-14 as my main arm on my S.A.M Aldebaran now though I swear the FR-24 is better. Course it was mounted on an Ariston RD110 SL so a different table too.... I never should have let that table and arm combo go. So many factors.

Anyway, looking forward to trying the HM-3's with Audio Technica ART9 and Fidelity Research FR-7 carts :)
 
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mjw21a said:
I'll get to trying eventually. The best sounding arm I've used the most carts on was an FR-24 Mk2. Although an early FR arm it seemed to bring the best out in every cart I tried with it. I've a more sought after FR-14 as my main arm on my S.A.M Aldebaran now though I swear the FR-24 is better. Course it was mounted on an Ariston RD110 SL so a different table too.... I never should have let that table and arm combo go. So many factors.

Anyway, looking forward to trying the HM-3's with Audio Technica ART9 and Fidelity Research FR-7 carts :)
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Hey Matt, did you receive yet. Any feedback?
 
ateal said:
Hey Matt, did you receive yet. Any feedback?
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No, I've not done this as yet. The fellow who will be installing my modded 12" tonearm and Mayware Formula 4 Mk3 to my JVC TT-71 is currently moving house. With some luck I've be able to try before Christmas. I have since recieved and SDS IsoPlatMat and SDS Record Puck as well as tonearm IC's using Van Damme XKE wire and Amphenol RCA's to use with it so I'm hoping for some pretty decent results. The platter has been damped with Dynamat Extreme so expecting great things of this when done.

I've also some Mu Metal shielding coming which I'll be adding to the Hashimoto HM-3 as I need to kill all possible hum issues. I may get Geoff at Aurealis Audio to rewire it with his own grounding topology whcih will probably kill the hum issue I have with it.

Basically jsut getting all my ducks lined up.
 
Funny, I'm looking at getting a pair of those Hashimoto HM-3s myself, and the seller is not far from me. I'm changing my phono stage, stepping up a bit (no pun intended) and will need an SUT once I find the phono stage I am looking for. I'll be running an ART7 into it, which has a lower output than the ART9. It sounds nice through my Phonomena II+, but the gain in this phono stage has to be set all the way to max, and it's too noisy from the hiss. Been meaning to get it back to them to take a look at it, but haven't had time.
 
Wildcat said:
Funny, I'm looking at getting a pair of those Hashimoto HM-3s myself, and the seller is not far from me. I'm changing my phono stage, stepping up a bit (no pun intended) and will need an SUT once I find the phono stage I am looking for. I'll be running an ART7 into it, which has a lower output than the ART9. It sounds nice through my Phonomena II+, but the gain in this phono stage has to be set all the way to max, and it's too noisy from the hiss. Been meaning to get it back to them to take a look at it, but haven't had time.
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I expect the HM-3's would be perfect with an ART7. Seeing as how it's no good for the ART9 I'll be matching mine with either my Philips GP922 or Accuphase AC-3 cartridge. The only carts I posses of low enough output to match. The ART7 should better either of them, though it won't be a night and day difference ;)
 
The ART7's output is only 0.12mV, which is tough for a solid state phonostage to handle without hiss being audible. A turns ratio of 1:20 should be enough to give you a considerable reduction in hiss. 1:40 would be a bit better still in terms of hiss but the load on the cartridge will be only 29 ohms and the ART7's coil impedance isn't particularly low at 12 ohms, so whether or not it would sound any better isn't obvious. Suck it and see :dunno: If you try it with at 1:20 and 1:40 I'd be interested to know which you prefer.
 
l I have the Valab LCR -1 Phono stage I use a Techniques SH305S SUT with 3 step up settings 3,15&30 Ohm . I match the step up setting to the cartridges coil impedance then set the gain on the phono stage for the best gain structure . Now I am playing a Jewltone JTR-3 Ribbon cartridge @ 3 ohm & .04 mv I set the Valab @ 52 DB . The combo is quite and dynamic .
 
rothwellaudio said:
The ART7's output is only 0.12mV, which is tough for a solid state phonostage to handle without hiss being audible. A turns ratio of 1:20 should be enough to give you a considerable reduction in hiss. 1:40 would be a bit better still in terms of hiss but the load on the cartridge will be only 29 ohms and the ART7's coil impedance isn't particularly low at 12 ohms, so whether or not it would sound any better isn't obvious. Suck it and see :dunno: If you try it with at 1:20 and 1:40 I'd be interested to know which you prefer.
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Would your MCL help with that?

The output of the ART7 is a little less than the XX2 Mk. II that it replaced. With either one, though, I have gain set to 60dB on the phono stage and the hiss is clearly audible across the room. I am just wary of taking a gamble on nearly $600 for transformers, only to still end up with the hiss.
 
Just put together some UTC transformersDSC_0591.JPG also. Real nice in the middle, a bit rolled off on top but detail abounds in the midrange. These are wired 1:16, about 180 something ohm's
 
Wildcat said:
Would your MCL help with that?

The output of the ART7 is a little less than the XX2 Mk. II that it replaced. With either one, though, I have gain set to 60dB on the phono stage and the hiss is clearly audible across the room. I am just wary of taking a gamble on nearly $600 for transformers, only to still end up with the hiss.
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Would the MCL reduce the hiss? Yes, it certainly would. To be absolutely honest, any step-up transformer will reduce the hiss.
 
Well, I managed to reduce the hum to levels which are inaudible with music playback in my "B" system though I had to retire the Sheer Audio MM-88 in favour of my recapped Realistic 42-2101A. I must say with the Philips GP922 cart it made the most realistic in your living room performance I've ever heard, though sound stage width suffered due to the basic little phono stage.

I think I'll sell the MM-88 to fund purchase of a Lounge Audio LCR Mk3 for this system. Should give me the required sound stage width.

My reaction was simply that I now need a HM-7 for my main system If it can yield the same results, then the difference is nothing short of a total transformation.
 
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