Redboy's setup from the audio underground

The latest shiny penny... :)



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Would that be the Decca?
What can you tell us about it?
Yeah, it's a Decca ffss mkI stereo cartridge on a Decca ffss tonearm. The turntable is a Rek-O-Kut L34 and the Decca arm was nearly a perfect drop-in.

The arm's a fiddly thing and the cartridges are notoriously tricky to get dialed in right. They're also very fragile, and this one is maybe fifty years old.

The tonearm cable is jury-rigged to be just barely functional, and I probably should have cleaned the contacts on the cartridge and arm before installing.

VTA is probably not quite right and I haven't gotten around to measuring the tracking force.

That said, it sounds pretty okay. Quite promising...
 
Is that a solid plinth or just a base?

I'm still listening to my old K&S Musicmaster "Point One Five" TT. I ditched the Shure SC35 cartridge and bought a stylus for a 380 Stanton/Pickering "Fluxvalve" cartridge.

Once I dialed in the 380 Stanton, I had more top-end and way more bass.
The Shure was all rolled-off...

I had tonearm arm hum issue. The Shure has a plastic shell/body. The 380 has a metal body/shell. When I swapped, the hum went away.

Dunno why, but the Velvet Touch tonearm is metal.

Now the TT can really boogie, and is really musical. I do need address some idler/platter noise, which my be as simple as tightening a spring.

I had thought the TT was fairly quiet...but I really got humbled on the TT noise issue when I visited a friend up north with a brand new SOTA TT with a Shelter cart and all the upgrades.

Now that's a quiet turntable...

But mine's not really that bad to be objectionable. It's a musical beast that gets my feet tapping, in spite of some ever so slight platter growl.

Mike
 
Well if looks could talk...

That plus all I've read on those carts. I really think you get it, or are at least headed down a good path.
 
Is that a solid plinth or just a base?

...But mine's not really that bad to be objectionable. It's a musical beast that gets my feet tapping, in spite of some ever so slight platter growl.

Mike
Mike, that's the original ROK plinth, a basic box. It's not a quiet thing, but I have ideas for the table, too. Right now, I've got motor noise, cartridge noise, and heater noise in the amps - the whole system needs some work in the noise arena.

Well if looks could talk...

That plus all I've read on those carts. I really think you get it, or are at least headed down a good path.
We'll see. I's probably just one more short detour down Diversion Lane...

nicely done redboy. gone a long ways since you had your tannoys in there.
Thanks. It has changed a bit since then, but the Tannoys were very nice. I kinda miss them, sometimes. :)
 
Nate,
Really looks good. It is inspiring to see how you try so many different and unique paths. Hope to hear some day. I'll bet it's outstanding!

Thanks,
Andy
 
You know.......I'd beg to meet you some day and hear this system but I'm afraid I'd end up coming home and putting all that I have on CL.
 
My system changes a lot because I'm ever distracted by shiny pennies,
QUOTE]
LOL
At first I was awe struck by the turntable, then the amp, pre, and those horns are gorgeous! So so nice! And all the more impressive because you built so much of it.
 
Thanks for the comments, fellas!

My contentment with the system vacillates quite a bit. On any given day I might find the sound and setup to be either glorious or irksome. At the moment, it's sort of ...meh.


Oh, and Bill? You should set your hero standards higher... :)
 
No, but I desperately want to install a dedicated line for this junk. I get a lot of noise.

Funny story (or at least it is now)... I installed a line about a year ago. Wired it backward, starting from the outlet and moving to the box. Fished it into the box and went to plug in the breaker and DAMMIT if the box wasn't full already!!!

Much cursing ensued. I closed the box and walked away, and haven't been back since.
 
clean power makes a big diff

I have a funky incoming power line in my building, and with various tube amps and tuners was getting all sorts of noise, some of which I thought was buzz coming from an amp or somewhere in the equipment. Bought an inexpensive power conditioner with 8 outlets, and voila! I was surprised how well it works. You'll notice the silence right away, especially if, as you said, you're listening mostly to jazz at moderate volume levels. That's what I play a lot of too, and the power situation was a big fix for me.
 
A couple recent updates...

For the past few days, I've been listening to a stereo SET 45 amp that I built for specialidiot, and it's really nice!

I need to get my rear in gear and just build one for myself already.







I also moved the Decca arm and cartridge to the Skele208...


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