Update March 2013fertile mind (or pregnant na ba?) won't rest just yet
I think I was hanging out at audio fora too much, kung ano ano tuloy ang pumapasok sa kukote. I thought just for the heck of it, I will build myself a cheapo DIY cable lift and hope that it will elevate my system's performance. While we were preparing for our daughter's debut, I went with my wife to Michaels', a mega craft store. I looked at different materials, and ended with two packages of this rubber thingies, some paint and a bottle of glue.
I don't see myself selling turntables, so adding a turntable line to my product offering is out of the question. It is no secret in this forum that I had been curious about the Lenco L75. Remember my first attempt to buy a Lenco at
fleabay? Unfortunately the bidding war ended with somebody taking home probably the most expensive Lenco sold at ebay
at that time. Hell no, as much as I like the table, I am not spending megabuck on it on it's original form. At about the same time, a guy was selling an
Artisan Fidelity restored unit with ruby bearing upgrade ($800) at agon for $3,800 including an Ortofon tonearm, I came very close to buying that unit because it was a good deal considering Chris Thornton sells it for $6.5k. I decided to let things cool off a bit and wait around. I looked at other candidates like the SP10, TD 124 or maybe a 301 again. I am now focusing on vintage tables thinking that if I take good care of it, it's value will only go up in time (the $350/pair 6SN7's I bought a few ago are now regularly offered at $650/pair). And while it may not have the best sound of the megabuck systems like the Techdas Air Force One or Wave KInetics NVS, a properly sorted direct drive is good enough to make me happy. I exchanged emails with Chris a few more times and came really close to ordering one, then a couple opportunities showed up a Canuck Audio Mart. A restored L75 with a nice plinth from a guy in Quebec for $575 and a restored Bogen-Presto (L70 equiv) with a nicer plinth from a guy in British Columbia for $480, as per the recommendation of Mr TAS Lenco - I pursued the L70.
The unit itself is in relatively good shape, the previous owner buy, recondition and re-sell Lencos, and he has already done all the necessary rebuild jobs including the installation of damping materials in the back of the chasis. He sent me pictures of the plinth build process and looking at his wood clamps alone, I was convinced he know what he was doing, built in alternate layers of MDF and baltic birch plywood using the same philosophies popularized by J Nantais. It is cheap enough that I could employ some more of the tweaks I have in mind without too much financial exposure.
I coated as much as I could
including the plinth. I did two thick coats and sanded lightly just to make it look nicer.
Around the same time I was working on the Bogen-Presto, an opportunity to buy a classical record collection came. I was told by the seller that it originally belonged to his wife piano teacher - an 80 year old former music professor at the University of Alberta Conservatory of Music, who regularly ordered records from Europe when she cannot buy them in North America (pre e-commerce era). I asked the classical music afficionados at WBF what to look for and went to the seller's house with a list of composers (Britten, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven etc) and only intended to buy maybe a couple of hundred lps. When I saw the lot, I was impressed with the condition of the records/covers because most of them looked like they have only been played once or twice. Most of the composers in my list are still there, the seller has a collection of more than 2,000 classic rock/popular music lps and has no interest in classical music. His wife picked 400 records that she personally liked and they decided to sell. Well, I got brave and offered a price which the guy hesitantly took, and with the agreement he will deliver to my house. Man, transporting 1200 lps from the guy's basement, to the main floor, to the front door, into his truck, from his truck to the entrance of our house proved to be a good workout. Once we brought all the boxes inside our house, I led the guy to my basement and we played a few tracks in my system while enjoying some refreshments. The guy was awestruck with my aquarium and we ended talking about the aquarium for the next hour or so (nothing new here, almost all audiophiles who come to my house forget about audio once they come to my basement). Suddenly the guy realized he has to pickup his wife from work, so I was left alone to haul the 12 heavy boxes to my basement. Boy, my arms were sore for days after that weekend.
Of course, my wife is not happy, she said "saan mo na naman ilalagay yang mga junk na 'yan?" But of course, as understanding as she is, she agreed to let me use one of the spare rooms, and helped me buy and put together a couple of bookcases from Ikea. As you can see, may lugar pa
I originally told her that I will only pick the ones that I like and sell the rest, but I think she has now realized that they are here to stay for a while :emo:
will it harm/warp the records if I leave the box sets stacked flat like this?
classic rock underneath the aquarium, jazz etc on the shelf to the right
dvd collection remained small, there's Netflix. I also have a few stored in 2 tb external drive. Btw, the room where I have the records is quite away from the TT, at the end of this hallway, door to the right.
So with the spring fast approaching, I finally finished my audio related projects. My wife helped me wrap the Bogen in carbon fiber look vinyl one evening. Isn't it handsome?
I DIY'ed cork platter mats for the two tables - I was surprised by the improvement in the sound. The Acos Lustre arm, with Dynavector 10X5 with Soundsmith ruby cantiliver and stylus upgrade.
The Cocobolo arm pod looks ugly in this picture, but is very beautiful in person. Arm is still the Audiocraft AC4000MC, with Dynavector XV-1S also with Soundsmith ruby cantiliver and stylus upgrade.
mounted in the back is the FR64FS with Ortofon MC20Mk2
also finished the G1 tweeter module, hard to take nice picture
my DIY stand turned alright, I think. Also showing is the 2500 watt Trodt copper shielded Iso Trans, damped with layers of high temp silicone and dampening paint
screen down. sources are HTIB, PS3, Shaw digital cable box with 1tb pvr, and karaoke system (for the wifey)
Trodt GM70 in vacation mode muna
baka naman magalit na si Vladimir kung si MR pirmi ang kakanta
rest of two channel electronics. I will put the Trodt battery powered pre (on top of Lamm LL2 deluxe) on commission when I put back the GM70 into action.
The 4tb external drive beside the Memory Player has my backup files and will eventually contain a folder of my favourite cds upsampled to 32/192
listening position
view from behind right channel
screen up. notice the front port of VR5?
and lastly, the multi colored foam became black cable lift.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy_Ua94Smqk&feature=share&list=UUgjQVskDahkJWYel57pHSxgmusic pls