Links (analog style) and downloads
Jonathans' comments:
"I am currently in the UK for 3 years doing PhD studies; living in Oxford.
Back home in Johannesburg, SA, I have a lovely setup: Garrard 401 with grease
bearing from a silver-grey 301, SME3012 arm, Denon DL 103r MC cartridge, Baltic
birch ply plinth, on diy 'roller balls', on diy mana type support. Thanks to the
long spindle on the Garrard I am able to use 3 diy mats, a cork mat, then a 4 mm
acrylic mat, and lastly a ring mat. This arrangement works really well.
I experimented with 3 different plinth designs, and the medium mass Baltic birch
came up tops. Roller balls took me to the next level (see close up pic)l!!!!
I also use an ac power supply for the Garrard, based around a wien bridge
oscillator, a power amp and a step up transformer (designed by Mohammed Imbabi)
... the power supply greatly reduced motor vibration and brought further levels
of refinement.
The TT setup mentioned here took 2 years of experimentation, but the final
results are way past my expectations ... it is very fine sounding indeed, full
of character and lively dynamics. Coloration seems to be very low. The sound is
always rich and free, never grey or constrained. I also love the complete
absence of surface noise, the mysterious dark background; tone colors emerge
from the shadows in a way that sends shivers down my spine! I have to be honest;
I would never swap this deck for my friends Linn LP12 with Eminent Tech
air-bearing parallel-tracking arm. On the other hand, I doubt he would want to
swap his for mine either (Hi there G … peace my brother).
I intend to write an article on my TT experience, for the diy section ... (by
the way I also have 2 x Thorens TD124's back home, it's just I prefer the more
forward and powerful presentation of the Garrard)
I am including a few pics ... so you can get the idea of my DIY audio fetish.
The photo on top shows some loudspeaker auditions, open-baffles versus
transmission line. My regular speakers are the diy, ‘Ariel’ transmission
lines seen in this pic. They are well engineered speakers, but I strongly
disagree with the designer’s complex crossover. By contrast my crossover
arrangement has only one Hovland cap on the tweeter and nothing else. The
woofers are wired in series for a 16 ohm load, this connection allows the Ariel’s
to come alive.
Electronics are all diy SE triode stuff. The Denon MC is fed via a 10x step-up
transformer (Amorphous Permaloy core) into a 3 stage split riaa phono; using
6072a, Ac-Hl, mesh plate 27. The Ac-Hl is a lovely old globe shaped IHT, made by
Mazda, with an odd 4 volt filament supply and super sound. Not shown is the
MONSTER phono power supply with exotic RGN2004 mesh plate rectifier tube, and
gas regulator tubes for added glow-in-the-dark intrigue (Ok, I admit it, I am
kinda shallow). The power amps are an all DHT design using Ba, 10, and monplate
2A3. Output transformers are exotic Amorphous Permalloy cores, for a
hyper-beautiful sound. Oh yes, and I also love Riken Ohm resisters on the plate
together with Tantalum’s on the grid. The 10 is my all time favorite DHT, and
I cannot imagine listening without it. The type 10 triode paints with a bold and
sure hand. There is a tonal rightness from the 10 that in some ways reminds of
my beloved Garrard-SME.
Audiophile friends who visit often moan about the absence of deep bass,
something I hope to address in the future. I guess my lower power SET fetish
lets me down here, but I accept this limitation because I can’t listen any
other way. The main problem is the relatively in-efficient Ariel loudspeakers.
Nevertheless, dynamic presentation is very good, the system breathes with
energy. Stereo space is portrayed within a 3-D halo which extends up to the
ceiling and way past the loudspeaker pair. If you’re used to the
traditional-controlled sound-stage stereo presentation, then my system is rather
different; listening is more swimming in a sea of ambience.
Anyway ... my life is a bit different here in the UK for the next 3 years ... I
luckily just picked up a TD160 for 75 UK pounds, in lovely condition, and I
intend to experiment with the recommended mods to see how far I can go with this
cool looking old classic.
Am also building a small SE45 amp with integrated phono-stage, just to play
honest music whilst here in the UK ... nothing over the top like back
home!"