Can anyone explain the vinyl renaissance?

[antcollinet]

Obviously a cup holder. Keeps a mug warm and chills when called for

Interesting design

I'm guessing you're meaning that special type of cup holder intended to make your cup fall over and spill coffee into an expensive turntable?

(Last time I looked, cup holders were rarely domed)

 

[Muddywaters]

(Last time I looked, cup holders were rarely domed)

Bespoke mug and glass available to perfectly integrate in the indent on top of the dome, (optional)

 

[MattHooper]

I'm guessing you're meaning that special type of cup holder intended to make your cup fall over and spill coffee into an expensive turntable?

(Last time I looked, cup holders were rarely domed)

Nothing that a drill and some elbow grease couldn't fix.

Looks like there's some room on that platform to drill some thin wells for pen-holders or perhaps hors d'oeuvres sticks, if inclined.

 

[USER]

I have a Clearaudio Performance DC with the Satisfy Carbon arm. I am also quite familiar with the Concept - having setup several for a dealer friend. The Satisfy Carbon often is paired with the Concept - mass is 7 grams. One unique thing about all the Clearaudio tables is the arm board is mounted on a concentric or a swing arm. This allows you to adjust the spindle to arm pivot distance without having to drill a new arm board. Their products are expensive but they do work relatively well and critical parts are of good quality.

The best information I could find at the time was conflicting. One dealer said 9g and another 7g. Clearaudio could not confirm either way, which is pretty sad, lol. I settled for 8g. The tonearm capacitance at around 160pF is still pretty bad for me.

Clearaudio Satisfy Carbon

The Clearaudio Satisfy Carbon tonearm is available for sale at Overture in Sales Tax Free Delaware. We welcome any Trade-Ins!

www.overtureav.com

CLEARAUDIO SATISFY CARBON FIBER TONEARM | Products | Musical Surroundings

The Satisfy CF (Carbon Fiber) tonearm is the ultimate expression of the Satisfy tonearm for use with our Concept, Concept Wood, and Performance DC turntables. A carbon fiber arm tube is exceptionally light and rigid, reducing resonance for enhanced clarity. The handmade Swiss vertical and...

musicalsurroundings.com

 

[Muddywaters]

Nothing that a drill and some elbow grease couldn't fix.

Looks like there's some room on that platform to drill some thin wells for pen-holders or perhaps hors d'oeuvres sticks, if inclined.

Mag-Lev lazy Susan maybe

 

[beagleman]

I found this, since this is mostly a measurement based site and our main way to compare stuff...

Stereo Lab - How do LP records measure up?

Stereo Lab Stereo Lab - How do LP records measure up? Are records better than CDs? Alastair MacMaster Richard Brice music electronics music engineering PHAEDRUS AUDIO

pspatialaudio.com

Measured results​

• Harmonic distortion on 1kHz tone (established to be -20dB below measured peak groove velocity): 0.44%, 2nd harmonic, and 0.2%, 3rd. (Outer grooves.) Worst case (5cm/s groove velocity, inner groves): 3% THD.
• Wow and flutter: No sidebands greater than 60dB below signal. (Very much lower than THD!) This is an excellent result and much better than tape machines of the same epoch. (But see information about manufacturing faults.)
• Frequency response: +/-1dB 40Hz to 15kHz (220pF cartridge loading). A remarkably good result considering the mechanical nature of the medium.
• Stereo separation: >24dB at 1kHz. Decaying to -12dB at 10kHz. (On commercial recordings, it is often measured that LF decays as well; to about -12dB at 40Hz, but this is signal processing prior to the cutting amplifiers to reduce the LF vertical component.)
• Rumble: Can be very low, but in fact much more a function of the disc (and therefore presumably the lathe) than the replay deck itself. John Lennon's Double Fantasy LP recorded -30dB below peak level rumble with a peak at 10Hz (and this is with a two-pole rumble-filter switched into circuit!).
• Noise: On a very quiet, new LP the noise (post RIAA equalisation) peaks to about -40dB below maximum velocity when measured on a fast-acting peak-reading meter. A surprisingly poor result. However, the spectrum of the noise is benign. So, if the result is carefully de-clicked so that, even very low level "clicks and pops" aren't influencing the result, the noise peaks to about -60dB below peak. The practical dynamic range of an LP may therefore be taken to be about 66dB (by assuming that the RMS value of the noise is about 9dB below the peak value and that the RMS value of a peak sinewave signal is 3dB below maximum modulation level or 0dBFS on a peak-reading meter.1)

 

[mhardy6647]

FWIW, I wasn't very impressed with the CA-made Marantz TT-15S1. I do have one (bought used but not cheap) and I did use it for a while -- but it's boxed up and sitting somewhere upstairs. Bit of a dud, and the CA cartridge it came with is bass-heavy but otherwise lifeless. Looks nice, though.

 

[croseiv]

Physical media has substance. It's tangible. It's real. You can hold it. I think some people are sick of streaming. There is something to say for the vinyl experience. Not quality, but ritual.

The current digital media has deprived us of the "old school" tactile method of physically digging through new music as we did back in the day. Nothing better than opening and holding some new 180g vinyl.

 

[Bob from Florida]

The best information I could find at the time was conflicting. One dealer said 9g and another 7g. Clearaudio could not confirm either way, which is pretty sad, lol. I settled for 8g. The tonearm capacitance at around 160pF is still pretty bad for me.

Clearaudio Satisfy Carbon

The Clearaudio Satisfy Carbon tonearm is available for sale at Overture in Sales Tax Free Delaware. We welcome any Trade-Ins!

www.overtureav.com

CLEARAUDIO SATISFY CARBON FIBER TONEARM | Products | Musical Surroundings

The Satisfy CF (Carbon Fiber) tonearm is the ultimate expression of the Satisfy tonearm for use with our Concept, Concept Wood, and Performance DC turntables. A carbon fiber arm tube is exceptionally light and rigid, reducing resonance for enhanced clarity. The handmade Swiss vertical and...

musicalsurroundings.com

That cable is a problem for some MM cartridges because of the capacitance. Which is why I am using a Hana SL MC.

 

[Bob from Florida]

FWIW, I wasn't very impressed with the CA-made Marantz TT-15S1. I do have one (bought used but not cheap) and I did use it for a while -- but it's boxed up and sitting somewhere upstairs. Bit of a dud, and the CA cartridge it came with is bass-heavy but otherwise lifeless. Looks nice, though.

Never played with the model sold under the Clearaudio name - Emotion SE, if I recall correctly. Curious as to what made it a “dud”.

 

[NIN]

State of the art is another non-specific descriptor. If we refer to technical specification only, then certain parameters certainly exceed thresholds of audibility. Depending on which characteristics we are discussing and which thresholds apply, falling short of SotA may have no audible consequences.

Remembering that audio waves are relevant to actual sonics, but the proper good feelings one may get from purchasing gear that returns nice numbers (that one may value as a proxy for good engineering, or whatever) are not. People who obsess over numbers that don't matter, and harass people who enjoy listening to gear with different numbers that don't matter, may be indulging in little more than a technical fetish.

Exactly what do you want to say?

 

[croseiv]

That cable is a problem for some MM cartridges because of the capacitance. Which is why I am using a Hana SL MC.

What does this have to do with the subject of the op?

 

[USER]

What does this have to do with the subject of the op?

Are you really asking that 169 pages into the thread?

 

[croseiv]

Are you really asking that 169 pages into the thread?

Yes. Can you clarify it for me? Sounds like snake stuff

 

[USER]

What he is saying makes perfect sense and is a sensible solution to the limitations of the turntable. Capacitance has an affect on the high frequencies, usually around the sensitive main resonance area on most MM cartridges (for convenience think of it as a low pass filter) and in certain situations can lead to less than ideal results. This is why most cartridges offer loading ranges. If the cables have capacitance higher than recommended capacitance then there is technically an incompatibility issue, especially as the phono stage is likely to add further, not insignificant, capacitance as well. MC cartridges generally are not as affected by capacitance and thus can be a good solution to the limitations of the tonearm cable. This is one of the rare situations where cables actually matter.

I for one find it strange that some of the Clearaudio cartridges have a recommended capacitance of 100pF (such as the Virtuoso pictured) while their tonearm cables can have nearly double that! Insanity.

An example for reference:

 

[levimax]

Yes. Can you clarify it for me? Sounds like snake stuff

Unlike most cables that can be considered snake oil the capacitance of the cable between the cart and pre-amp can have a large and measurable and audible effect on the FR of the system with an MM cart. The cable mentioned had 160 pF of capacitance inside the tone arm which is high ( about 200 pF for the total of the tone arm cable and TT to pre-amp cable of 200 pF or so is considered "standard"). The problem is it is difficult to change the cable inside the tone arm. Since capacitance only affect MM carts (not MC carts) it was mentioned that a MC cart was used to get around the high tone arm capacitance issue. While maybe a little off topic there is no snake oil involved. You can search MM cart loading for more information.

 

[croseiv]

Unlike most cables that can be considered snake oil the capacitance of the cable between the cart and pre-amp can have a large and measurable and audible effect on the FR of the system with an MM cart. The cable mentioned had 160 pF of capacitance inside the tone arm which is high ( about 200 pF for the total of the tone arm cable and TT to pre-amp cable of 200 pF or so is considered "standard"). The problem is it is difficult to change the cable inside the tone arm. Since capacitance only affect MM carts (not MC carts) it was mentioned that a MC cart was used to get around the high tone arm capacitance issue. While maybe a little off topic there is no snake oil involved. You can search MM cart loading for more information.

Is the improvement something I should spend thousands of dollars on?

 

[levimax]

Is the improvement something I should spend thousands of dollars on?

Nope, you don't have to spend a lot of money to get low capacitance cables, in fact some expensive cables have very high capacitance. You just need to be aware of the capacitance and can't always believe the claims made from the cable makers or the TT makers. If you are serious about setting up a TT correctly you can get a capacitance meter like this https://www.amazon.com/Excelvan-Cap...pcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A1STHQAD9IQ608 so you can know for sure. Or get a MC cart and not worry about the cable at all.

 

[USER]

I personally like Mogami 2964. I've switched out all my turntable cables with it. Pro grade: thin, flexible, excellent shielding, and low capacitance (~19pF/ft + connectors). Cut to length/capacitance needed.

Amazon.com

 

[Axo1989]

Exactly what do you want to say?

Exactly what I said. It wasn't so much a reply to your post, more a general comment on use of the term for a few pages there in this thread (that you were also responding to). To be clearer, I've removed your quote from my post.