Show us your Phono Stages and Phono Cartridges

[dwbasement]

10 minutes ago, rossb said:

Andy, I knew I had only to write the word "ohm" and you would appear as if by magic!

 

I think there must have been two versions of the L0.4 made, since there are two sets of specifications floating around. There are the specs you quoted above, but there are also the ones in the image below. I have lost the original piece of paper that came with mine, but my recollection is that mine has the specs below - ie 28 ohms internal impedance and elliptical stylus.

 

I have run Benz cartridges at 470 ohms for 30 years because that is how they sound best to me.

Speaking of "ohm"...Ross, what do you use for the Jubilee?

Edited August 15, 2022 by dwbasement

[andyr]

22 minutes ago, rossb said:

Andy, I knew I had only to write the word "ohm" and you would appear as if by magic!

 

 

22 minutes ago, rossb said:

I think there must have been two versions of the L0.4 made, since there are two sets of specifications floating around. There are the specs you quoted above, but there are also the ones in the image below. I have lost the original piece of paper that came with mine, but my recollection is that mine has the specs below - ie 28 ohms internal impedance and elliptical stylus.

 

I have run Benz cartridges at 470 ohms for 30 years because that is how they sound best to me.

 

 

OK - so that shows coil impedance as 28 ohms - so I would say the optimal sound will be when loaded somewhere between 280 and 2800 ohms.

 

(Very similar to my Benz LP (the original one) - which had a coil impedance of 33 ohms; I found it sounded best with 3300 ohms.)

 

Don't forget that Herr Lucaschek likes them loaded with 47K!  

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by andyr

[rossb]

31 minutes ago, dwbasement said:

Speaking of "ohm"...Ross, what do you use for the Jubilee?

 

I use 100 ohms for the Jubilee, Dennis. The Ortofons generally seem to be best at 100 ohms, with a few exceptions like the Cadenza Bronze which can also work well at 200 ohms. As always, this will also depend on the phono stage.

[dwbasement]

4 minutes ago, rossb said:

 

I use 100 ohms for the Jubilee, Dennis. The Ortofons generally seem to be best at 100 ohms, with a few exceptions like the Cadenza Bronze which can also work well at 200 ohms. As always, this will also depend on the phono stage.

Thanks Ross. I  have been using 100ohm too with the Jubilee, same as  the Cadenza blue. I guess 100ohm is pretty universal for Ortofon as you mentioned.

 

[SPR08Y]

[TemaadAudio]

Hi I have recently finished the re-casing my Hupnotoad AD797 MC Plano amp & also my 1st prototype development of a removable cartridge cap/enhancer for the Denon 103. Both units use recycled Rimu wood as does all the wood used with my 12'' arms.

 

Cheers

 

 

[123bodge]

On 09/08/2022 at 5:13 PM, rossb said:

 

I don't recall you getting the Jubilee, Dennis. How do you like it?

 

 

You should definitely get it re-built, Shane. I always wanted one of these - I agree it is the sexiest cartridge ever made!

 

New phono stage (despite swearing that I would not buy another one!) - a Gieleser Phonograf. Despite its modest price, I had high expectations for this phono stage, having owned some of Clay Gieseler's other products. My expectations were exceeded! This is seriously competitive with any phono stage I have owned, at any price.

 

 

 

I bought a Phongraf, installed today, how much run in time was needed before it opened up?

Many Thanks...

[rossb]

It took a solid week of use before it really started to show what it could do.

[metal beat]

On 24/08/2022 at 11:35 AM, TemaadAudio said:

Hi I have recently finished the re-casing my Hupnotoad AD797 MC Plano amp & also my 1st prototype development of a removable cartridge cap/enhancer for the Denon 103. Both units use recycled Rimu wood as does all the wood used with my 12'' arms.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

Interesting how you have retained the plastic cover of the denon 103.

  All of the wood/aluminium/steel/resin etc have removed the 103 body and put the replacement in.

 

  Why did you leave the 103 body when it's considered the weakness of the cartridge?

[mwhouston]

Recently completed another EAR834p MM phono stage for a member who purchased a DIY 6AS7 SET amp from me.
 

 http://retro-thermionic.blogspot.com/2022/08/zoi-ear834p-tube-phono-stage.html

 

And one I made and still have and use now. 
 

http://retro-thermionic.blogspot.com/2019/03/calibre-834-tube-phono-mm-preamp.html

 

[123bodge]

23 hours ago, rossb said:

It took a solid week of use before it really started to show what it could do.

I’m impressed after about 10 hrs of use.

Thanks.

[TemaadAudio]

Hi Metal Beat, For many years i did a version of the Alli cap where you remove the plastic body & glue the cart into the new Alli replacement body. However removing the plastic body is very tricky & resulted in a number of broken styli.

So with this cap all you need to do is pop in the cartridge & nip up the 4 x M3 grub screws. This clamps the cart & virtually eliminated any resonances from the plastic body. 

I have A-B tested  a nuded 103 in Alli cap against this version & cannot hear any differences. 

The next version I will do will move the grub screws a little lower in the assembly, It's all fun!!

Cheers

 

 

[PKay]

On 26/08/2022 at 12:48 PM, mwhouston said:

Recently completed another EAR834p MM phono stage for a member who purchased a DIY 6AS7 SET amp from me.
 

 http://retro-thermionic.blogspot.com/2022/08/zoi-ear834p-tube-phono-stage.html

 

And one I made and still have and use now. 
 

http://retro-thermionic.blogspot.com/2019/03/calibre-834-tube-phono-mm-preamp.html

 

The phono stages look great. 

[123bodge]

On 26/08/2022 at 11:57 AM, rossb said:

It took a solid week of use before it really started to show what it could do.

I see what you mean by that it takes a week before you can see 'What it can do' - I thought it sounded great after about 10-15hrs of use over the 1st week.

But today the Phongraf totally disappeared into its own Transparent Soundstage, my Head fell off as I never expected this Level of Performance & listenability.

 

I had some Setup/Positioning issues that Clayton patiently guided me through, I'm grateful for his assistance as my Systems Performance is elevated via the Phongraf.

He never made me feel I was left on my own to trouble shoot any installation procedures, 1st Class Customer Service.

 

Highly Recommended Product & Seller.

[mkaramazov]

Classic Audio Technica - AT-155LC (line contact with beryllium cantilever) mounted on AT MS10 headshell. Very smooth detailed sounding cartridge. 

 

 

 

 

[McCvinyl]

LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU ARE SQUEEMISH

Those of you who indulge in the dangerous luxury of the feather duster armed cleaning lady, be warned there are certain risks you take with sometimes fatal consequences.

@cafe latte please tell me my baby will be ok (again)

[andyr]

8 minutes ago, McCvinyl said:

LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU ARE SQUEEMISH

Those of you who indulge in the dangerous luxury of the feather duster armed cleaning lady, be warned there are certain risks you take with sometimes fatal consequences.

@cafe latte please tell me my baby will be ok (again)

 

 

Ouch!  A tragedy.  

 

Dust is good, Michael!  

 

[crtexcnndrm99]

24 minutes ago, McCvinyl said:

LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU ARE SQUEEMISH

Those of you who indulge in the dangerous luxury of the feather duster armed cleaning lady, be warned there are certain risks you take with sometimes fatal consequences.

@cafe latte please tell me my baby will be ok (again)

Ouch, definitely had to wince a little there! 
 

What cartridge leads are you using?

[McCvinyl]

23 minutes ago, crtexcnndrm99 said:

Ouch, definitely had to wince a little there! 
 

What cartridge leads are you using?

I am unsure of what they are. They came with a secondhand headshell.

They are quite thick

[joeling]

 

Eye of the Tiger !

[Tasebass]

Over the years I've had a mixed bag of retipping success ...so to speak.

Last year my AT OC9 dropped a channel so I reached out to @cafe latte for some advice He said send it up to me and I'll have a look.... 

He got the AT up and running just fine....

I mentioned to Him that my Kandid needed a look at too so He said when your ready  sent it up and I'll have a look...

So in May i did turned out it needed a retip ......

Any way I got it back but was happy with the Univector/XV1s combo so I thought I'll leave well alone for a while....

The itch to swap got me so out went the Un/XV1s and in with the Retipped Kandid/Ekos SE.

Also swapped phono stages in went the Urika...

Well after about 15 hours well and truly impressed so far with what Chris did and the micro ridge stylus profile.......that Linn now use on their Ekstatic!!!

 

 

[crtexcnndrm99]

Excellent. I know some will disagree, but I will have to reach out when my Denon 103 needs a retip. I have second 103 in anticipation of such an occasion…

 

Those carts with nude cantilevers are stunning to look at though. 

[PKay]

23 hours ago, McCvinyl said:

LOOK AWAY NOW IF YOU ARE SQUEEMISH

Those of you who indulge in the dangerous luxury of the feather duster armed cleaning lady, be warned there are certain risks you take with sometimes fatal consequences.

@cafe latte please tell me my baby will be ok (again)

I would recommend getting a Perspex cover made up to counter for cleaners and children. 

[Mendes]

New phone so new better pics ...

[Warren M.]

On 21/07/2022 at 2:45 PM, Warren M. said:

My just-purchased JLTi-re-engineered Grado Opus3 low-output moving-iron cartridge. Black deadened maple body. Rewound pure copper coils. Two-piece tapered aluminium and boron cantilever. Highest quality line-contact-type stylus. Same fundamental design and apparently similar sound to the $15K+ Grado Epoch3 (at a tenth of the Epoch3 price).

I'm running it into a 47KΩ/47pF load in the excellent 4-tube MC phono preamp section of my Doge 8 Clarity preamp (bypassing the line preamp completely!), while I wait for Joe Rasmussen to complete his next batch of his amazing JLTi "Solid Diamond" Phono Preamp mark 5B  expected in the next few weeks.

 

The cartridge is attached to my Audio Origami PU7 arm and weighted at 1.90 grams

Joe Rasmussen has not added the cartridge to his web site yet as there are currently only a handful out there. If you are able to head to Prestons near the junction of the M5 and M7 motorways in SW Sydney, you can organise to audition the cartridge at Joe's studio. Well worth the drive if you are a Sydney-sider or even from Canberra.

I've been using the JLTi "Solid Diamond" Phono Preamp mark 5B for a few weeks now, in combination with the JLTi-re-engineered Grado Opus3 low-output moving-iron cartridge. It really is a match made in heaven. I've settled on 10KΩ load impedance for now, though I'm about to experiment with 3KΩ and 1KΩ (very easy to do with the JLTi phono stage). If I was to guess the price of the $1500 cartridge + $1600 phono preamp combo listening blind, I would have guessed at least $10,000 - probably way more!

This may well be the best sub-$10,000 cartridge matched perfectly with the very best phono preamp on the market.

Edited October 5, 2022 by Warren M.