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$575,000 (Spare Arm Tube Included)

MakeMineVinyl

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Tom C

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It’s actually one of the few designs incorporating a linear tracking tonearm, and vacuum hold down . It’s plenty expensive, though.
 

dfuller

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I've been reading his posts since the 1980s. This is his bailiwick, his claim to fame. He will insist that the LP is often superior to the master tape. Tell him there's no escape from IGD, he'll say it's not a real problem. And LP is the thing this year, so the good folk at Stereophile [and of course, Analog Planet} will post more and more of his stuff. I'd just like to point out that every time he shows the test results of speed, wow & flutter, you will see the sharp rise and fall of the waveform, later computed out to show test results. That indicates that the test record he's using is off center. Just imagine how many LPs are much more off-center than a test record.
That's legitimately infuriating considering the difference in fidelity between direct to disk and tape recording is not subtle, and it's not in the disk's favor. In fact you can hear it pretty clearly in the transition period from one to the other - late 40s to early 50s. The tape is noticeably higher fidelity, and those weren't even particuarly good machines at the time.
 

MakeMineVinyl

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That's legitimately infuriating considering the difference in fidelity between direct to disk and tape recording is not subtle, and it's not in the disk's favor. In fact you can hear it pretty clearly in the transition period from one to the other - late 40s to early 50s. The tape is noticeably higher fidelity, and those weren't even particuarly good machines at the time.
Direct to disk recordings made during the 70s and 80s (and maybe even today) are pretty close to on-par with magnetic tape on technical grounds with the exception of high frequency level capability at high amplitudes. Many direct to disc recordings give very generous space for groove excursion (at the expense of playing time) and some are even cut at 45 RPM which gives even better range. Also, the distortion signature of discs is more benign to the ear because it is a more natural mix of low order even and odd harmonics. Tape on the other hand by its nature cancels even order harmonic distortion and leaves the more dissonant odd order harmonics. I posted an FFT plot of both 15 ips tape and disc at reference level at 1kHz on this forum awhile back to show this difference.

Don't get me wrong, I love tape and have a room full of reel to reel machines including an Ampex 354, but sometimes you gotta step back and admit that your favorite kid is indeed a litle bit ugly. :cool:
 

Robin L

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Direct to disk recordings made during the 70s and 80s (and maybe even today) are pretty close to on-par with magnetic tape on technical grounds with the exception of high frequency level capability at high amplitudes. Many direct to disc recordings give very generous space for groove excursion (at the expense of playing time) and some are even cut at 45 RPM which gives even better range. Also, the distortion signature of discs is more benign to the ear because it is a more natural mix of low order even and odd harmonics. Tape on the other hand by its nature cancels even order harmonic distortion and leaves the more dissonant odd order harmonics. I posted an FFT plot of both 15 ips tape and disc at reference level at 1kHz on this forum awhile back to show this difference.

Don't get me wrong, I love tape and have a room full of reel to reel machines including an Ampex 354, but sometimes you gotta step back and admit that your favorite kid is indeed a litle bit ugly. :cool:
Kenneth Wilkinson, head engineer at Decca records during the fifties and sixties, noted that the best reproduction he heard was an FFRR 78 he made when Decca used new tech to expand frequency range in recordings. Makes sense to me, as the dynamic potential of a 78 is greater than that of LPs, and possibly pre-Dolby tape.
 

MakeMineVinyl

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Kenneth Wilkinson, head engineer at Decca records during the fifties and sixties, noted that the best reproduction he heard was an FFRR 78 he made when Decca used new tech to expand frequency range in recordings. Makes sense to me, as the dynamic potential of a 78 is greater than that of LPs, and possibly pre-Dolby tape.
Not surprising. I don't think anyone has ever made a more modern direct to disk recording at 78, but I'd love to hear one. :D
 

Robin L

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Not surprising. I don't think anyone has ever made a more modern direct to disk recording at 78, but I'd love to hear one. :D
I think Jack White did, but I don't think he was intending to make an audio demo record, more like a deliberately lo-fi sound.
 

bladerunner6

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Yeah, crazy!!! But to me, no crazier than a $5000 record player.* I paid less than $100 for my CD/DVD/Blu-Ray player. No (audible) noise, no (audible) distortion, and flat frequency response.

I wonder how many they've sold. I wonder if they've sold any...

You're not supposed to hear the record player, you're supposed to hear the record. :p




* Sometimes I like to call it a "record player" because it's funnier... to be condescending. ;)
I bet they are sold out- a fool and his money….
 

bladerunner6

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I always wonder how people who are able to spend this kind of money on gear came to their wealth. Surely must have been inheritance or royalty. A reasonable, succesful business person would be too smart imho for those stupid deals.
The idea that someone good enough to make enough money in business to pay for that isn’t dumb, foolish or delusional in other ways is a false premise.
 

bladerunner6

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Royalty or 'old money' are too busy hanging onto what wealth they have and I don't think they'd dream about something so ostentatious.
Anybody with money from any sort can be foolish with it.
 

dfuller

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Don't get me wrong, I love tape and have a room full of reel to reel machines including an Ampex 354, but sometimes you gotta step back and admit that your favorite kid is indeed a litle bit ugly.
It sure is. I'm no tape enthusiast (I'd rather not deal with the stuff, give me DAWs any day), but there are a fair number of technical reasons (on top of the practical ones re: edits and punch-ins) that tape became the medium of choice for recording for about 45-50 years until digital got to a point that it was truly superior. Available bandwidth (even at 7.5ips, it's superior to all but the best cutting lathes) and tolerance to overload were the big ones.
 

Russell484

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I was thinking of buying one, but I'll need to find a cartridge that costs about $750,000 and what cables should I use. This thing looks complicated in design/engineering so I would buy two in case the first one breaks down. Certainly you would want a selection of ultra expensive cartridges and cables to find which combination marries best with this table. And now we need an amplifier and phone preamp, paring this with a preamp and amp that only cost $20,000 a piece would be a total waste of your investment. And then there is the issue of speakers, what speakers are good enough to pair with this unit? Certainly you would need several of the most expensive speaker pairs to discover which would pair best with this system. And of course, is your listening room up the necessary standard to get the full bang for your buck? Don't even mention power, utility power is far too dirty and variable. I would think a reasonable system using this turntable would run anywhere from $3,000,000 to 7,500,000. Add perhaps another 3 or 4 million for environmental improvements and a power generating facility that can supply truly clean power. But just think you then have the most expensive system in the world to play perhaps only the third best sounding media for music. Better plan on cutting the wife's budget and tell the kids to forget about college if you're going to buy this unit. Actually the money might be better spent on a psychiatrist or a team of them.
 

Russell484

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I bought two, as I wanted one for a backup, though for $900,000 I was thinking instead of just hiring bands to come and play in my house.
Yes, yes! I have a friend who might be interested in this turntable, though he once told me he doesn't believe in spending more than $50,000 for a turntable. His system is too expensive for me to even calculate. I told him why not just spend that money hiring hiring the Takacs Quartet to come and play for you at your house, and go to live concerts, fly to Berlin and hear the Berlin Phil live. etc.
 
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