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Biggest upgrade you have made to your current system and why?


ctsooner

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22 hours ago, Tom Newell said:

Dead quiet. You drop the stylus and it’s just music. 

Such an interesting point you bring up Tom.  I just had my Linn LP12 fully serviced, including a new Hana MH MC cartridge install.  As my Sumiko Blackbird was ten years old, I expected significant improvement with the change, and it delivered.  In addition to all the usual audiophile superlatives, what really immediately caught my attention was how quiet playback was / is.  

Linn's have a reputation for being set-up finicky, and the tech that did the work is a well respected, seasoned Linn guy.   So, it's hard to quantify how much of the improvements (especially the dead quiet) are attributable to the cart or the adjustments Stan made to the table.

Glad you are enjoying your Basis; she's a beauty.

Play on

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Guys, that Basis was their first 'affordable' table.  They no longer make it.  I think it went for around 2300 or so???  I forget, but I used the Benz Glider?  I had the Treo's and was using teh Rhea phono stage that was SICK good.  Teh noise floor was DEAD QUIET for sure.  Plenty of great tables out there, but as a whole in their price ranges, the Basis tables are as good as anything else. The best vinyl I've ever heard was the 100k plus Basis table (this was easily 10 years ago) at Overture in DE.  I was in AWE....  Don't remember the speakers or the electronics.  It was in their highest end room and was ridiculous.

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Sorry if I'm a little late to this discussion but I am new to this forum. 

Please don't take this as me pushing someone's product because I have no affiliation with the manufacturer at all. 

My greatest upgrade of late has been a Kirmuss Record Restoration system. I was skeptical and was also not terribly excited about spending the time required to perform the cleaning process. Nonetheless...this product will absolutely transform your LP's. Every and I mean every parameter of a recording is improved. It's like you've been listening through a dirty window and after the cleaning process the window is clean. As much as I dislike spending 20 minutes to clean two records, I find it exhilarating to then listen to the cleaned LP and re-discover all of the info that had heretofore been "hidden". It sounds like I've spent thousands on equipment upgrades by simply cleaning my records. Try it. You'll like it. The transformation is not subtle.

Happy listening.

Kirmuss.jpg

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On 2/4/2022 at 2:45 PM, GdnrBob said:

Moving to a Brinkman Nyquist from the Ayre QB-9 Twenty. Literally, my first thought was- 'This reminds me of vinyl'.

Adding an Innuos USB Reclocker to my Zen Mini.

I was on the fence about this, but I definitely heard an increase in 'clarity'.

Bob

Why not use vinyl?

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On 2/19/2022 at 10:09 AM, Tom Newell said:

Going from a VPI table to a Basis turntable was the most significant upgrade ever for me. I was a VPI guy for 25 years and always loved their tables but the Basis is in totally different league. Dead quiet. You drop the stylus and it’s just music. 
 

 

56B8E2FD-BFAF-4C1C-8EEF-FA3B5062A0A5.jpeg

not a fair comparison..... VPI's have upper level products that could compete.

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3 hours ago, Stringreen said:

Why not use vinyl?

I grew up with vinyl and have no desire to return to having to change a record every 30 minutes, dealing with static and dust, mistracking due to vibrations, poorly centered records, warped records (Remember Dynagroove/Dynawarp?). 

The list goes on.

Now I have an entire catalog of the worlds music at the click of a mouse. Is it 'better' than vinyl?, probably not.

But I have great expectations...

 

B

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physically, it's just too difficult to deal with vinyl.  I still look at tables and preamps regularly, hoping I can do it, but in the end, it's just not going to happen.  I also don't have room to put a table anymore. Once the rack for the table was taken out of the room, I can't see putting it back in.  I do long for vinyl though.  

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I agree, vinyl isn’t for everyone..in fact really chasing it and great digital can be expensive to the point where neither can bring you  those cherished  “ goosebump “ musical moments…. but that’s very much a personal decision…

I have had the Degritter for a week ! Fantastic machine. i have run about 60 records thru the heavy clean / dry cycle with excellent sonic results…

7A044D80-5605-4A98-9739-60D93A3602D0.jpeg

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@TomicTime
“Saturate before using,” was a nice touch to show off the liquid cleaner.

 

I lashed out and got a cleaner, which I need to set up.
The new (used) phono stage should be here on the morrow.

 

TT: SOTA: Safire w/ SAEC WE317 arm —> bearing rebuild kit and motor/speed controller (2022)

Phono Cart: AQ Ruby laser drilled shaft job? —> something (~1995) —> Blue Point Special (~200?) —> Garrott Bros P77i (2021)

Phono: PSE Pre —> (used) ARC PH2 (1998) —> (used) Nagra VPS 2022

Pre Amp: PSE—> Audible Illusions (1998)

Amps PSE —> VTL MB-100 (~1992?) —> NAD 3020 (2019) —> PrimaLuna (2021)

Sub: 2w(?) (added in ~2004 I think)

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2 hours ago, TomicTime said:

I was hoping someone would notice… Saturate Before Using 🙂

Congrats on the Nagra 😉 Fine bit of Kit

Headed to “The Ballet Studio” with Eldest daughter.
(Apparently it is now mostly yoga, and not ballet.)

II have been pondering the Swiss gear off and on over time. It is a bit of overkill, but I doubt I’ll be upgrading from that.

At least until I go for the heavenly harps… Or Accra Dacca (AC/DC) route.
That is assuming they use a binary digital filter in the afterlife. 😇

The Sutherland should be better for a MC in theory (I think??), however they do not do MM or MI, and I am getting drawn towards the SoundSmith jobs.
But (maybe) a cartridge motor should always be a current generating device. It seems like it should be in theory.

Anyhow more options with the VPS.

Edited by Holmz
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The “ballet studio” was a huge disappointment, and also a blessing.

The tonality was great, but the Treos and then the Kentos… both sounded like they were pulled hard to the right.
Randy did not notice it, and my daughter said, “maybe oh so very slightly.”

I have been on the road a month, so I guess I need an ear cleaning. But the old 2Cs sounded better with clean ears.

Daughter said, “they are so much better than the 2C, that you should get the Treos.”
(And that she would house 2Cs.) 
So she at least is paying attention, and thinking creatively,

I suspect that the Haus-Boss would tolerate the Treos better if they can go nearer the wall, and they also look nice.

Randy said that it is not uncommon for the spouse to say that the 2Cs are “not worth the money,” and then say, “Honey get Treos, in the <such-no such> colour.” So the cost sort of goes out the window when they like the looks.
(I can totally believe that happening.)

I am probably going to need to get another listen at some point.

 

As an aside, I heard some Devore Orangutan/96 speakers a few weeks ago, and they threw the widest spray of players imaged across the sound stage that I have ever heard. It was (I believe) Dizzy Gillespie’s “Alternative Blues” playing. So I need to start taking music that I am familiar with along with me. (Which I had done back in the 80’s.) The room was also different, so a lot was happening in both sessions compared to “at home”.

Speaker shopping can be a lot of work. Fun work, but work.

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A large baffle is a  2 dimensional  horn. You can test this by cutting a mouth size hole in a 12-18” square bit of cardboard and speaking thru it. Have another voice you know well also speak thru it… Bigger image sure…but at what cost….. ?

Carry on

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1 hour ago, ctsooner said:

Not a fan of the Orangutan speaker. Heard it in a few systems and although it sounds big,itI had no finesse either time. I’d take many others ahead of it in that price range , but it’s so personal. 

So it is the speaker?

I was thinking it was the recording…

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