The Home Entertainment Industry

[phillymatt53]

Oh no, my other half wanted to pitch my KLH because they were in storage in the basement. I said no way. Cones and voice coils can be replaced or the woofers. Especially if the enclosure is nice and high quality.

KLH, Advent, Boston Acoustics, Dynaco, Koss, all were "east coast sound" names and affilliated companies.
I enjoy that "Natural Sound" from them, non-fatguing smooth tonal quality.
Those "west coast" brands were Cerwin Vegas, JVC, among others, with a more brash in-your face type of sound.
Good for rock/metal maybe, but not my cup of tea.

 

[cfz2882]

Before the Dual 1229 i had an Empire turntable of about the same vintage as the dual-a heavy 1950s basic design with a German external rotor motor belt driving the platter. Bought this one in near mint condition at a stereo store table sale in 1989 for $40: i think they thought it was a relic of a bygone era...The belt went soft and i could not find a replacement,so set aside when the dual was bought.I still have the Empire and should get it going again

 

[phillymatt53]

Before the Dual 1229 i had an Empire turntable of about the same vintage as the dual-a heavy 1950s basic design with a German external rotor motor belt driving the platter. Bought this one in near mint condition at a stereo store table sale in 1989 for $40: i think they thought it was a relic of a bygone era...The belt went soft and i could not find a replacement,so set aside when the dual was bought.I still have the Empire and should get it going again

Keep in mind about the different drive systems that various turntables use....
I'll not get into the debates over which is better, etc., that online audiophiles seem to argue over, because that's just online blabbering.

Records themselves, all have a built in noise.
I'm talking about the "noise floor" that resides in the very grooves, and is pretty impossible to eliminate.
This noise can be noticed when the stylus is riding in a silent, non-modulated groove, easily heard if the volume is turned up.
It's the friction of the record vinyl and the stylus tip as it plows along a moving record, and depends on the quality of the record when pressed, as well as the vinyl composition itself.
Some think it's actually turntable rumble, which it's not.

Some people have critisized idler drive as the source, but that is only if the idler assembly, or the motor is at fault due to age or condition.
Others claim belt drives are the culprit, the platter bearing, etc.
Damage to those types is also due to condition, lubrication, etc.
But an utterly silent system in in a well-designed direct drive, as long as it's in top condition - they can never be the source of noise.

Dual idler drives in good condition can be substantially lower than the record's own noise floor. (All Dual idler drive)
So can belt drives. (Dual 1241)
And indeed the direct drives. (Dual 701)

So,

---

lubrication is paramount, as is the mechanical parts themselves.
Motor mounts are just as important.

Heck, even those VM-made Zenith Microtouch 2G record changers can be brought to amazing performance if restored properly.
As are those Zenith-made belt drive changers.
I'm even amazed when I've worked on them and layed the needle down on a groove.

Those Empire "tanks" are nice units, and worthy of good performance.
So are the Thorens TD 124 machines.
I've restored several of them, and know why they're in demand among purists.

 

[vacerator]

Matt, Koss is in Wisconsin. I was lucky to get the reissued Pro 44-A headphones with the mic. mount before they sold out in a limited run. I had a lower model in the late 70's.
I have never had a reel-to-reel deck, but I regret selling My 1979 Aiwa wedge cassette deck because it needed new heads. The transport still worked perfectly. It had a hinged dust cover.
About phono deck drives, I think that either belt or direct is fine, but direct usually does have better wow and flutter specs. Especially the new ones with delta sigma motor controls. They are without hum that many old school ones had. I think the most important parts of a turntable for vibration isolation are the plinth, platter, and tonearm/cartridge mount. Then the feet. MDF is excellent. Plastic not, but rubber can be used inside and on the platter back to help. Technics used a composite TNRC plastic plinth in the 70's and 80's that was excellent. Probably polycarbonate and polyethylene.

 

[phillymatt53]

Well Mike, (vac) don't be too regretful about that Aiwa tape deck.
They were not adored for their long life from what I gather.
My first cassette was a plain Panasonic cheapie model, I don't miss it at all.
My current one, a Technics dual-deck RS-TR333, is so impressive to me that it actually produces reel-to-reel quality tapes on Maxell UDXL90 cassettes.
And I like the fact that it's also remote-controlled from my Technics receiver.
I can sit my butt on the sofa and be a lazybones. LOL!

My Akai RTR is the long sold and popular GX-4000D.
Another workhorse that continues to serve my needs nicely.
It's simple, sturdy, and reliable. - even authorites, security, law enforcement, etc have used them for their ruggedness.
I did an overhaul on it a couple of years ago and it can still impress with it's performance.

My turntable is a Kenwood direct-drive linear-tracker with an Audio Technica cartridge.
It's actually not a high-priced, high-end model, but its got high-end specs, surprisingly, even to me.
I've done the wow-flutter and rumble tests on it in the shop with my testing equipment, and I put it up there with those expensive machines costing a lot more.
About linear tracking machines: To me they're are superior at producing what is in the record grooves.
This is because records are "cut" in a linear fashion, and particularly important with stereo record grooves.
Any misalignment with an elliptical stylus from the perfect 90 degree lateral angle can reduce or even blur the sound produced, a small thing, but still important.
Plus, with linear tracking, there is no worry or fuss about Anti-Skating, because of course there is none!
Along with that, I've got a mint condition classic Dual 1200 series TT tucked away in the closet and fully serviced - in case i ever need a backup.

 

[vacerator]

The linear tracking makes sense Matt! I had a Technics cassette servo actuated silver deck from the mid 1980's and gifted it to my sister when I got a CD player in 1990. I have tow AT carts. One from 1979, at12-e I believe, and a VM 95-ML. Also a Pickering from 1978 hypereliptical, and the newest is an Ortofon 2M red that came with the Technics SL 1500-C.

 

[phillymatt53]

The linear tracking makes sense Matt! I had a Technics cassette servo actuated silver deck from the mid 1980's and gifted it to my sister when I got a CD player in 1990. I have tow AT carts. One from 1979, at12-e I believe, and a VM 95-ML. Also a Pickering from 1978 hypereliptical, and the newest is an Ortofon 2M red that came with the Technics SL 1500-C.

Those 2M reds are not particularly fond choices for the snobs, they prefer the blue ones.
I miss my "Shure V15 Type 2 Improved" that I had on my Dual 1229 that got robbed from my apartment in 1982. Those Duals were made for that Shure!
Flawless perfection!
Trust me, back then my 20s and 30s trained ears knew excellence in sound.

I do have a mint condition Stanton 681EEE "Calibration Standard" stored away, but nothing to use it on
Along with a Stanton 680EE.
I thought of selling them, they go for huge prices $$$, but they sit idle here.

The tucked away Dual TT in the closet's got an AT95E elliptical on it, and plays nice.
My Linear Tracker's got an AT 3472SE (Special Eliptical) and I'm quite satisfied with it.

My next door neighbor's Mint Dual 701 DD (serviced by me) has a Stanton Shereohedron and it's also a fabulous combination.

 

[phillymatt53]

The linear tracking makes sense Matt! I had a Technics cassette servo actuated silver deck from the mid 1980's and gifted it to my sister when I got a CD player in 1990. I have tow AT carts. One from 1979, at12-e I believe, and a VM 95-ML. Also a Pickering from 1978 hypereliptical, and the newest is an Ortofon 2M red that came with the Technics SL 1500-C.

Of course Linear tracking makes sense.
It's about physics, no one can dispute physics.
If you play a record the WAY they were originally cut, any distortions are nulled or minimized.
By the way, there's been much arguing on audio sites about conventional radial arm-swing arm turntable cartridge alignment and those "2 point" protractors.
I find that bickering and debating to be annoying and over discussed.

What they never seem to address is the obvious fact that records have variable groove modulation depending on the radius and speed of the groove itself.
At the first//outer grooves, the stylus is tracking the groove at a much higher speed, as opposed to near the label/last grooves.
And THAT area is the most important section of all records.

For clarity....
A given High Frequency modulation, like a cymbal, trumpet, or soprano, at the beginning of a record, it's relatively easy for the stylus to handle.
Because the modulations are "spread out" over a longer groove distance and higher revolution speed.
However, at the last grooves of that record, if a soprano hits those same high notes, it's modulations are much more compressed because the groove speed is much slower per revolution.
So... the stylus is now more challenged to properly track that tight closely-spaced modulation.
Particularly if it's an elliptical or microline stylus that needs to be straight in those grooves.
So you want a perfect alignment for THAT inner radius, to prevent/minimize that annoying mistracking and distortion.

All the tradional radial arm turntables that I've worked on have been adjusted to have the stylus aligned (90 degrees) with that last band of music, the ending grooves just before the lead-out groove - 2.5 inches/63mm from the spindle's center, as would be the case of how linear trackers were designed, and to heck with those audio nuts and their arguing sessions.
It's pure physics.