System #29 (Clarity)

[risabet]

Vinyl remodelled!

I've added a Cinemag 3440a transformer (DIY) wired in a 1:9 step up ratio with a 212 ohm load. The t-former and the OL PSU are isolated on a custom built sand box and are both covered with VPI Magic Bricks. The t-formers have restored the PRaT that I felt was missing and the dynamics have improved. The improvement for the $100.00 and the time invested is the greatest bargain in audio.

 

[MiTT]

I've added a Cinemag 3440a transformer (DIY) wired in a 1:9 step up ratio with a 212 ohm load. The t-former and the OL PSU are isolated on a custom built sand box and are both covered with VPI Magic Bricks. The t-formers have restored the PRaT that I felt was missing and the dynamics have improved. The improvement for the $100.00 and the time invested is the greatest bargain in audio.

Risabet, love reading about the updates and upgrades on your system. You are a true advocate of this great hobby. Always good to have another tube & vinyl guy around. Great system!

 

[Joey_V]

Risabet, love reading about the updates and upgrades on your system. You are a true advocate of this great hobby. Always good to have another tube & vinyl guy around. Great system!

Here here... I raise my cup of orange juice this Sunday morning to you Risabet! Truly an audiophile.

 

[twich54]

Robert, I love your Classic Linn table, I too am using a Benz Micro "ace" and believe it performs well beyond it's price point, agreed ? !

 

[risabet]

Robert, I love your Classic Linn table, I too am using a Benz Micro "ace" and believe it performs well beyond it's price point, agreed ? !

Absolutely agree! The Benz is a really good cartridge, quite forgiving but not soft or slow. I was running it directly into the MC input of the pre-amp and was pretty happy. Decided to try the transformers after good reviews on AA and the price was right. The transformers provide a night and day difference, when loaded aroung 200 ohms the cartridge comes alive and the music really steps. PRaT is improved dramatically and the soundstage is much nicer. Tonal balance is still on the warm side which is fine with me, but the bass is in a whole new league. Deeper, tighter, faster. I love it.

 

[Robin]

Wonderful Musical Clarity System...

Robert,

I should begin by apologizing for not commenting earlier on you beautiful audio system. Your system, like mine seems to be constantly changing and evolving... I love all of your up-dates and insights into audio, especially your observation that nothing in this hobby is ever simple... I also appreciate how you plan for your next audio purchase / up-grade. Your TAD 1000 tubed amplifiers look fantastic in your set-up and form your accounts they sound as good as they look in your system. Your record collection must be as impressive as you wonderful audio system? I am more than a little bit envious of your impressive / excellent audio system, tubes with phono as you know are my aspirations as well...

 

[risabet]

EH 6CA7 for the new TS 6550

I recently replaced the TS 6550s with a matched octet of EH 6CA7s. After about 40 hrs I can report that the 6CA7 beats the 6550s in every way, but the most improvement is in the midbass. The bloom and detail is much more realistic than with the 6550s and, I think, more importantly, the harmonic relationships are better revealed. The fundamentals of instruments are more integrated with their overtones so the music is more holistic, as if cut from a whole cloth.

A definite improvement IMS the 6CA7 has better midbass and treble than the 6550. The bass, the strong suit of the 6550 IMO, is just as good with the EHs but the improved midbass gives a subjectively more tuneful, harmonically rich sound.

 

[risabet]

Robert,

I should begin by apologizing for not commenting earlier on you beautiful audio system. Your system, like mine seems to be constantly changing and evolving... I love all of your up-dates and insights into audio, especially your observation that nothing in this hobby is ever simple... I also appreciate how you plan for your next audio purchase / up-grade. Your TAD 1000 tubed amplifiers look fantastic in your set-up and form your accounts they sound as good as they look in your system. Your record collection must be as impressive as you wonderful audio system? I am more than a little bit envious of your impressive / excellent audio system, tubes with phono as you know are my aspirations as well...

Apologize not, I definitely prefer vinyl, but I do own a few CDs, DVD-As, and SACDs. I built the CD/DVD rack also. I recently rearranged the books and vinyl to a much neater state. Recently past the 1200 mark for vinyl. I am on a serious purchasing streak. I added about 150 in the last 6 months. More!

 

[Pcar928fan]

Apologize not, I definitely prefer vinyl, but I do own a few CDs, DVD-As, and SACDs. I built the CD/DVD rack also. I recently rearranged the books and vinyl to a much neater state. Recently past the 1200 mark for vinyl. I am on a serious purchasing streak. I added about 150 in the last 6 months. More!

How did you even have time to listen to the 150 let alone the other 1050?! YEOW! Then you have CD's and SACD's on top of that! You must have more time than I or never sleep or both! That is an AMAZING COLLECTION! LOVE IT!:rocker:

 

[risabet]

New DAC

Evaluated the TAD TADAC and decided that it was worth the dough. Digital has taken another step in the right direction with improved detail and harmonic integrity. Running it with a pair of NOS RCA "Cleartop" 12AU7 which are better overall than the supplied EH 12AU7. I will be trying some 5814s when I get the chance.

 

[risabet]

I recently completed two mods: a CF subchassis and armboard to my TT that improved detail retrieval w/o losing the warmth and PRaT that the Linn is known for. The other mod moved the motor from the rear left to the front left and a major increase in pitch stability was clearly apparent. Pianos for instance sound much more realistic with better power and drive. This mod cost me nothing but time.

 

[twich54]

Nice upgrades risabet, I've heard from other sources as well that the left front motor location offers improvements, but I can't remember the reasoning ??

 

[risabet]

Nice upgrades risabet, I've heard from other sources as well that the left front motor location offers improvements, but I can't remember the reasoning ??

According to the "Funk Firm" formerly "Pink Triangle" the rationale has to do with
the relative position of the motor/bearing/cartridge and how the movement of any suspended system will show up as output in the cartridge i.e. picture the motor pulling the subchassis back and forth microscopically and that movement being picked up by the cartridge, generating an output unrelated to the music. With the motor at the rear, that motion is mainly perpendicular to the generator mechanism of the cartridge generating the max spurious signal. With the motor in the front position the mov't is mainly parallel to the generator mechanism of the cartridge generating the minimum spurious output. This mod DOES NOT stop the movement instead it minimizes the extraneous output of the cartridge. The FF has a mod that does remove the movement by placing the motor on the subchassis!

 

[kach22i]

Subwoofer: Velodyne F-1000 servo Sub

Robert, how is the subwoofer hooked up to the system?

Does your room have a concrete ground slab floor?