Post your turntable setup...can't get enough of those spinners!

Discussion in 'Vinyl Nutjob World: Turntable and Related Gear' started by shaizada, Sep 28, 2015.

  1. EeePee

    EeePee Acquaintance

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    I got stacks of various coins under my table legs. Start at the foundation thought process.

    Can't fix the 1940 built building though, and this brick place is way falling apart. Messing up some pretty nice wood floors.
     
  2. Daveheart

    Daveheart Friend

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    My dad bought two of the MLa and two MLb when Fry's had them on sale for ~$120. I wish they still had stock; those are great carts.
     
  3. EeePee

    EeePee Acquaintance

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    I paid $183 on Amazon and was like, sweeeeet. Smack your Dad for me, while calling him a lucky dog.
     
  4. Hypoluxo

    Hypoluxo New

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    New guy here. This is my beloved Oracle Delphi turntable along side my Spectral DMC-5 preamp, both of which I've had since around 1985. The Oracle has a Stax UA-9 arm. It used to carry a Fidelity Research MC cartridge (don't remember the model number), that to me produced the sound of angels. Ok, maybe I exaggerate a little. It is now running an Ortofon Blue MC. Amazingly, the Oracle survived a multi-year stint in the attic when I fell out of high-end audio for a while. Yeah, shame on me. Fortunately, it was nursed back to complete health by George Merrill who originally sold it to me so many years ago.

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  5. shaizada

    shaizada Friend

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    Nice post! Is there a speaker setup hiding as well? :) Please share more....I like how everything looks in your picture. How configurable is the phono section in the Spectral preamp you have? MM, MC? How does it sound?
     
  6. Hypoluxo

    Hypoluxo New

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    Hey Shaizada,

    Yes, the phono section of the Spectral will handle both MC and MM. I've always used it with an MC input. Whenever I change cartridges, I take it up to George Merrill to set the loading. George has always done me well.

    There is a speaker setup, but it is not what I want to have at the moment. I have a couple of KRK Rocket 8 powered monitors, and I am not a fan of them. They have a slight upper midrange honkiness that ranges from somewhat tolerable to grating depending on the music selection. The will be replaced soon enough. I expect them to make decent boat anchors.

    I've enjoyed following your posts on this thread.
     
  7. shaizada

    shaizada Friend

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    Welcome to SBAF by the way. Very refreshing to see a down to earth, seemingly logical and sensible new member :)
    You are lucky to have access to George Merrill like that. He is a national treasure, IMHO.
     
  8. Hypoluxo

    Hypoluxo New

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    I appreciate the kind comments coming from someone so well regarded here. I'm enjoying SBAF. You guys seem to hit a sweet spot between delving into the technical minutae (which I can appreciate having an electrical engineering background) and just wanting good gear to play great music on. I find myself in that same position. I enjoy the technical aspects for themselves, but in the end, I just want gear that allows me to enjoy music the way I want to enjoy it. Sometimes that way is based on convenience, sometimes it is based on critically authentic reproduction. But for me, the enjoyment of the music is always the end goal. Though, I'm happy there are people who lose sleep over the technical aspects. I gain from their insomnia!

    I've known George since the early 1980s when he had Underground Sound here in Memphis. He is the archetype of the disheveled mad genius working in his basement. We had two very nice audio shops in Memphis way back in the day. Modern Music carried McIntosh, B&O, Tandberg, Nakamichi, and a few others. George carried NAD, Spectral, KEF, Magnapan, AR, etc. I'm going back over 30 years, so my memory is a bit fuzzy on all that. Modern Music had some great guys there, but they always came off as a business first. George always came off as the guy who managed to make a living following his true passion. Modern Music is long gone. George is still hanging around. Long live George!
     
  9. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    Very nice setup!
     
  10. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat Friend

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    Long-time vinyl lover here...presently have three turntables, but I am going to sell two of them as they don't get much play presently.

    My main squeeze: Michell Gyro SE with SME V arm and Koestsu Urushi Vermilion MC cartridge using a Bob's Devices step-up transformer into an E.A.R. 324 twin-input/output phono stage. Preamp and power amp are Conrad-Johnson CT-5 and LP70s. This photo is about 4 years old, I should update it (next to the Michell is my Rega P5 that I am planning on selling). Speakers are Dynaduio Contour S3.4 with Esotar 2 tweeters (upgrade over stock Esotec tweeter).

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    Lower view showing the counterweights under the platter
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    The Koetsu Urushi Vermilion
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    The E.A.R. 324 (Tim de Paravincini design)
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    Fortunately, I never threw out any of my vinyl, and have accumulated a lot more since getting back into "high-end" in 2008. Still have my rock LPs, but primarily listen to jazz and classical these days.
     
    Last edited: Sep 9, 2017
  11. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat Friend

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    The main rack, for those interested; Sanus Euro II stand. Shown next to the Michell is my Clearaudio Concept that I was using as a mono vinyl rig; uses a Grado Sonata mono cartridge.

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  12. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat Friend

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    Full system shot...with the big Dynaudio Contour S3.4 floorstanders.

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    Dynaudio Esotar 2 tweeter upgrade (self-installed). BIG improvement as this one driver covers everything from 2 KHz on up. One of the finest soft-dome tweeters ever made by anyone (many other mfrs, including Eggleston, Wilson and others used Esotar tweeters back when Dyn made them avaiable as OEM drivers).

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  13. shaizada

    shaizada Friend

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    Killer setup Puma and welcome to SBAF! Nice to see you post here.
     
  14. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat Friend

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    Thanks, Shaizada. Good to be here.
     
  15. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    Welcome @Puma Cat !! I've read many of your posts elsewhere. Especially before I got a 324! Great to see you posting here now!!
     
  16. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat Friend

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    Thank you, Bazelio! Good to be here.
     
  17. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    I stopped by this guy's house yesterday to listen to his system, featuring the Dobbins Garrard 301. It was my second or third time hearing an idler, and definitely the best experience out of the three. If you've never heard an idler, it's quite different from your usual suspects in the belt driven category. The attack really is something else; some might say unrelenting. But the precision in resolution is probably unbeatable. Stringed instruments and cymbals in particular had an impressively fleshed-out texture that was just extremely well executed. Soundstage depth, however, was limited compared to the best systems I've heard elsewhere which I noted to the owner. Turned out, he also had a copper colored metal platter which we swapped in, and it had an immediate positive impact on stage depth. After a couple songs, I felt it was a mandatory upgrade for this Garrard 301, even though it still left me somewhat disappointed overall. The total chain was Garrard 301, Reed 2A, Ortofon A90, Allnic phono, Allnic pre, Dartzheel amp, Dynaudio speakers. At the end of the day, I can see how this table could be endgame for certain folks. It simply does things that most belt drives can not do as well. For me, though, the somewhat forward, unforgiving, non-effortless overall sound and presentation would steer me away. But perhaps other system pairings would be more favorable. Either way, the table, the system and the room were a feast for the eyes, if not always the ears...

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  18. Puma Cat

    Puma Cat Friend

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    Would love to have those Dyns and the DarTZeel...
     
  19. Daveheart

    Daveheart Friend

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  20. bazelio

    bazelio Friend

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    Reed 2A. Very nice arm.
     

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