A new, old, surprisingly good cart.

[JohnVF]

That is why, with mechanical components especially, I prefer new. I don't need to inherit someone else's headaches when all I want to do is play records. It's such a gamble. A cool older TT could never give me a single problem, or it could be an endless string of issues that keep me from using it. Which, ironically, was the problem with the prior new turntable I bought! 🤣

My hobby has for some reason devolved into a sort of analog-Indiana-Jones adventure where I scour the earth for old cartridges and health or NOS stylus assemblies, Beyond the interest in actually setting up the carts, I thoroughly enjoy the research and unearthing these goodies from wherever they hide (often mislabeled or vaguely labeled Ebay listings...though I'm not too good to consider myself above sniping a well-watched properly labeled listening).

Going down this rabbit hole of carts took off when I really settled on what turntables I run. And of course the ONLY one not fully functional at the moment is a late 1970s complicated direct drive linear tracker. The rest of my tables drive a platter with a belt attached to a simple reliable motor. There's not a lot to go wrong, and I made sure to buy healthy examples. My Strathclyde, for example, came from the son of the original owner and I have the original receipts from the late '70s from a long-gone store in Chicago's suburbs. Actually, now that I think of it, I have the original receipt for the complicated DD, but a lot of good that does with the rats nest of pulleys and electronics that's under the plinth in that thing.

Anyway, the point is... old does not necessarily mean headaches. Some old stuff is decidedly simple.

 

[Rudy]

Part of me wishes I had another 30 or 40 years to experiment and learn. The other, larger part of me knows I probably wouldn't have the time (again).

I'm kind of glad I never really did fuss much with the audio stuff, as I've done quite a few other things in life. So, no regrets here. I really enjoy building things, though, and wish Heathkit had stuck around. They jumped into computers with Zenith back around the time I could finally afford to buy my own kits, and they got rid of most everything that would have been fun to build. (We had a Heathkit store just a couple of miles away.)

 

[Rudy]

Anyway, the point is... old does not necessarily mean headaches. Some old stuff is decidedly simple.

The problem today is that we have to buy most things online, sight unseen, trusting a seller's description and feedback before taking a jump. We could both buy the same model, one of us having nothing but problems, the other a trouble-free experience. The pickings were far less back in the day when we could go to a local audio store and look at what they had on their used equipment shelves, but at least we could get a hands-on look at it. If we're lucky, online pals sell turntables all the time, and one might be within driving distance to inspect and purchase.

Having said that, I've owned two TTs purchased new that gave me endless troubles, so those are not immune either. One was a dead simple belt-drive. It not only ran too fast, it couldn't hold stable speed to save its life, even after fussing with belts for a decade. The other was a poorly designed and built near-flagship model built in the Czech Republic. So, there's that.

As unstable as the old LAB-400 was, that thing has always fired up and worked. I bought that from Radio Shock in their "where-is, as-is" sale when they were blowing them out for the next year's version. It fell into my teenaged affordability range and I was rockin' it before I entered high school. 👨‍🎤

 

[JohnVF]

The problem today is that we have to buy most things online, sight unseen, trusting a seller's description and feedback before taking a jump. We could both buy the same model, one of us having nothing but problems, the other a trouble-free experience. The pickings were far less back in the day when we could go to a local audio store and look at what they had on their used equipment shelves, but at least we could get a hands-on look at it. If we're lucky, online pals sell turntables all the time, and one might be within driving distance to inspect and purchase.

Having said that, I've owned two TTs purchased new that gave me endless troubles, so those are not immune either. One was a dead simple belt-drive. It not only ran too fast, it couldn't hold stable speed to save its life, even after fussing with belts for a decade. The other was a poorly designed and built near-flagship model built in the Czech Republic. So, there's that.

As unstable as the old LAB-400 was, that thing has always fired up and worked. I bought that from Radio Shock in their "where-is, as-is" sale when they were blowing them out for the next year's version. It fell into my teenaged affordability range and I was rockin' it before I entered high school. 👨‍🎤

I've never really thought about this but every one of my turntables (that I currently have) was bought in person. The complicated DD was bought fully restored but its SO complicated that now, 12 years later, its starting to need another round of rehab. It's really just a belt that gave out but I can't find the right-sized replacement. The one I ordered that said it was for this table was totally wrong.

With my current main-squeeze deck, I have George Merrill a phone-call or email away from any questions, and that guy is QUICK on the responses, super friendly, and generally just wanting people to enjoy their turntables. That means so much when you have something like this, that's cobbled together from his well-made modification parts. Just having somebody NICE on the other end, knowing they're there, takes the edge off of the pain that playing records can sometimes bring. I honestly can not say enough good about George/Gem Dandy/Hi-Fi Gem. I wish there were more of people like him in this hobby.

 

[Rudy]

I also appreciate the nice folks in this industry, especially if I build a rapport with them. Even those on the periphery. I had my amp repaired and slightly modified (added an IEC socket, "upgraded" the amp to the latest revision) by Music Technology in Virginia. Sadly the founder/owner, Bill Thalmann, passed away early this year from pneumonia. But the few times I've emailed him, he was always a pleasure to correspond with. Granted, answers could be short, but he had products to fix, and he can't spend hours at the keyboard. Mike at Dynavector USA also did well for me, even if they may have lost a few dollars on the situation. And there are others in the industry who've become acquaintances and any of them wouldn't hesitate to take care of anything I had an issue with.

 

[JohnVF]

Ok, last one for a bit. A nos Acutex LPM 420str (thank you, Robert).

Wow! What a cart. This one is closer to the Stanton Epoch than the Grace or Empire, at least in this setup, on this AT-1100 arm.

LPM stands for Lowest Possible Mass…debatable as I think the Stanton might be lighter…but it works out with this low mass damped tonearm.

I honestly don’t see myself going back to heavier arms or lower compliance anytime soon. This is just soooo good.

 

[JohnVF]

In comparison to the Empire EDR.9, the Acutex is more open and detailed with more dynamic bass. The Empire is less "hi fi" and more in that 'musical' camp while the Acutex is like "here's the recording as good as it can be!" instead of trying to trick you into thinking its not a recording...sometimes this works in the Empire's favor, sometimes it's just more of a veil. I happen to prefer the Acutex' take on things so far.

It's a brand new stylus on a cart that's been sitting in a box for 40 years so I'll listen to where things go, but it's an immediately promising adventure.

 

[Robert Young]

Hi John, i’m really happy that this cart is a winner. I also use an 1100 (well, the Signet version, the XK-50). Great arm for light high compliance MMs! Mine’s got a Micro-Acoustics 3002 on one wand, and a B&O mmc-2 on the other. I think the arm is very much underrated.

 

[JohnVF]

Hi John, i’m really happy that this cart is a winner. I also use an 1100 (well, the Signet version, the XK-50). Great arm for light high compliance MMs! Mine’s got a Micro-Acoustics 3002 on one wand, and a B&O mmc-2 on the other. I think the arm is very much underrated.

I bought the 1100 tonearm recently for the purposes of this low-mass experiment and, while I wasn't expecting to be disappointed I also wasn't expecting to be as impressed as I am with it. It's a fantastic tonearm, and very well made. There's an SME-V on a table in another room, and I have Stax and Fidelity Research arms in the closet, and here on this table it replaced a very nice Jelco TK-850. I haven't heard all the arms but I've played with a few, and I think this one is stellar.

What nailed it for me with this arm was finding some silicon damping fluid in my stash and using the damping trough... it really locked down the bass and imaging, it just seems to keep the stylus glued to the groove walls. I'm using 600,000cst "for monopivot damping wells" from turntable weights...its from my Grace 704 I think (hence the 'for monopivot'..but I don't think the goop knows the difference ehre). A bit thinner than what many used but its still pretty thick. You can definitely feel its there when cueing. Anyway, I think it really took the arm to the next level here, and its already good without it.

 

[JohnVF]

The Acutex cart is coming along nicely. It took a bit of experimenting to find the correct SRA but once locked in, it really smoothed out and has made a wonderful account of itself. I’m able to play some questionable recordings, like old bolero recordings from the ‘50s, and it just picks out the music while ignoring damage and not getting too hung up highlighting the lack of recording quality.

It’s very quiet in the groove. Very dynamic. It projects the music out in the room well. I’m quite impressed!

 

[JohnVF]

I even dug out the footers for the turntable feets and better isolated my phono stage. You can tell I like something when I get to tweakin’.

 

[JohnVF]

I should do a write up on all that’s been done to this no-longer-AR. Among the mods, it now has a thick base and the four rubber feet were replaced with three Black Diamond Racing carbon fiber (? I think) cones that rest on carbon fiber pucks. All of the many modifications add up…the sound floats in the room, free of the player, more than any other table I’ve had. It really works well with these high compliance carts…all of the finesse and detail comes through.

I traded my TD-124 for this thing and made further mods since. They’re polar opposites, and I’m much happier on this side of the fence. I simply could not figure out the Thorens even after an STS restoration. But vinyl is very personal …this unique deck here is very “me”

 

[Rudy]

But vinyl is very personal …this unique deck here is very “me”

...as it should be. 👍👍 We all move towards teh turntable configuratino that moves us.

Mine looks out of kilter, looking at it across the room. But that's because the floor isn't level, and the turntable is (via the adjustable feet). Just a random Sunday morning observation before all mayhem breaks loose and I start packing things away and cleaning carpets. Floor's lookin' a bit grubby.

But I think my one MC cart is screwed. It sounds bad/off. I set it up a final time yesterday and it still sounds bad. I'm thinking something is damaged. (And not the one that the flashlight fell on...and survived!) A shame since it wasn't bad for an MC, and I'll likely never buy another.

 

[Robert Young]

...as it should be. 👍👍 We all move towards teh turntable configuratino that moves us.

Mine looks out of kilter, looking at it across the room. But that's because the floor isn't level, and the turntable is (via the adjustable feet). Just a random Sunday morning observation before all mayhem breaks loose and I start packing things away and cleaning carpets. Floor's lookin' a bit grubby.

But I think my one MC cart is screwed. It sounds bad/off. I set it up a final time yesterday and it still sounds bad. I'm thinking something is damaged. (And not the one that the flashlight fell on...and survived!) A shame since it wasn't bad for an MC, and I'll likely never buy another.

What cart is it?

 

[MrEd]

Vinyl is very personal... great observation.
I never pondered that but it rings true to me.

 

[JohnVF]

And perhaps the final entrant in this race (for a time being)...something different. Not really a cart necessarily made for ultra-light arms but its compliance is ok with it and the arm is able to balance it. The Audio Technica AT-24, one of the better carts that they ever made and some say one of the best MMs ever. I think it sounds a lot like the more recent AT-150mlx with more 'fullness'. Which is the problem that needed to be addressed in the 150, so...good job, previous iteration of Audio Technica. Solving things BEFORE they happened.

I really need to work on arranging my cart leads in a more pleasing manner.

 

[Rudy]

I'm ready to try an AT-VM760SLC (or even just a VM740ML). That thinness with the AT150MLX can be addressed with a change in loading (I've read that 22kΩ is the sweet spot), but it's no longer available new.

I was supposed to try an AT33PTG/II but never heard back on it...

 

[Rudy]

BTW, AT had an "anniversary" version of the 150.



Used a sapphire pipe as the cantilever, and the typical Micro Line stylus. But it was pricey ($799) and I don't think I want to go there... 😁

 

[JohnVF]

BTW, AT had an "anniversary" version of the 150.

View attachment 77260

Used a sapphire pipe as the cantilever, and the typical Micro Line stylus. But it was pricey ($799) and I don't think I want to go there... 😁

What I would like is that stylus assembly, and then I'd put it on a Signet Analog Masters body.

 

[Robert Young]

What I would like is that stylus assembly, and then I'd put it on a Signet Analog Masters body.

That sapphire pipe arrangement is one of the reasons I like the AQ cartridges so much...