Sound Fountain

THIS IS A HOBBYIST'S WEBSITE FOR HOBBYISTS
ORIGINAL TEXT, IMAGES AND DRAWINGS COPYRIGHT 1995-2005 BY RUDOLF A. BRUIL. NO REPRODUCTION, RETRANSMISSION OR WEB DISTRIBUTION WITHOUT PRIOR WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Sound Fountain is your site for audio and music, analog and digital reproduction, audiophile recordings and vintage equipment.

UPDATED : WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2008 - SOUNDFOUNTAIN@WANADOO.NL

THE BULLET PLUG
from Eichman Australia

PLATEN WAS-SERVICE IN AMSTERDAM


Active Loudspeaker System, Subwoofer, Amplifiers and Crossover


ARTICLES IN DUTCH


ARTICLES IN GERMAN

FOR SPANISH READERS

 


The CD is 25 Years Old

New:
25 Years
Digital Audio CD

First Compact Disc pressed in Phonogram pressing plant on August 17, 1982 in Hannover.



Starting Playing Records with a Simple Audio Set

Some people who want to start playing vinyl records get confused by all sorts of details, technical stuff and contradictory advice. This stops them from trying and from getting adventurous. They do not know that playing records is in fact very easy. It suffices to add a good second hand $100 turntable with a quality $50 cartridge to the phono stage of the existing amplifier. If the amplifier does not have a phono input, the easiest thing to do is to buy a second hand integrated amplifier that has phono inputs at least for an MM cartridge. Simply connect the Tape Out to the Auxiliary (line) input sockets of the existing amplifier. Or buy a special Phono Stage with RIAA circuits built in and connect it to the line stage (AUX). You can upgrade your system in this way. If you follow the simple and effective instructions for setting up the turntable/ arm/ cartridge correctly, you can enjoy the analog sound of many vinyl discs. And if you like it, from there you can gradually exchange parts of the system in order to improve the sound reproduction. Only if you want to. That's it. And then...just enjoy!

PHONO CARTRIDGE & TONEARM ADJUSTMENT

The SP 10 Page

Technics SP10 Mk2 Professional Turntable.

Record Storage

The Turntable Mat

Available owner's and instruction manuals for:

TD124, TD125/ TD125mk2,
SME 3009/ 3012 pu arms
, Technics SP10mkII, Technics SE-9060 Owners Manual + Schematic Diagram, Rabco SL-8E tonearm, Luxman 2003 Electronic Crossover.

Tonearm wire and Interconnect cable

THE DECCA LONDON RIBBON HIGH FREQUENCY TRANSDUCER

After DECCA Special Products acquired Stanley Kelly's development of the Ribbon Horn Loaded Loudspeaker, they made the Decca London Ribbon tweeter with a larger horn and a lower cut off frequency and many designers incorporated this extraordinary tweeter in their top quality loudspeaker systems.

Take full profit of your system.

LOUDSPEAKER PLACEMENT
Are you planning to buy new loudspeakers? Do you need a new amplifier? Or cables? Maybe you just need repositioning your loudspeakers!
READ MORE


>>> L i n k Page


LAST RECORD PRESERVATRIVE AND STYLAST
HET POSITIEVE EFFECT VAN LAST RECORD PRESERVATIVE EN STYLAST

About Copyright:
Linking
& Quoting

Check
WHAT IS COPYRIGHT

Linking to my site or a specific page is of course appreciated.
Quoting a short paragraph is permitted when at the same time mentioning the source and possibly adding a link to my specific page or my web site
If you want to use and publish content of my pages for whatever purpose, please contact me first.


My pages do generate a lot of traffic for which additional bandwidth has to be bought.
If you like the advice and it was useful to you?

About Copyright:
Linking & Quoting

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT

 

50 Years Mercury Living Presence:

Wilma Cozart Fine
is Mercury.

 


 

EMT: Deutsche Perfektion


Stefano Pasini's book (in English, Italian and German) on the history of the EMT studio turntables.

 

The TD124 Page with tips and instructions

Thorens TD-124 Page

A legend fits into modern times.

 


Equipment for Sale
Tandberg 9200XD

 


THE REMINGTON SITE STARTS HERE


The Record Cleaning Page
If you do not have a professional record cleaning machine you still can clean records at low cost with the recipe for making your own cleaning liquid, ideas for record storage, cover cleaning and repair.

Building a Dynamically Balanced Tonearm


Events:


HIGH END 2008 - Der Beste Ton - Das Beste Bild
Best Sound - Best Image

WWW.HIGHENDSOCIETY.DE

24 - 27 April 2008 - M.O.C. Munich - Open: 10.00 to 18.00 hrs.

 
 


WHY COLLECTING VINYL?

As a young kid in 6th grade I spend a holiday with an aunt and uncle who lived in a small fisher's town. I remember the beach walks with my cousins and the movies we went to see. But there was more what I remember.


My uncle was a radio technician. He had made himself a beautiful tube amplifier with a separate power supply. He had constructed a turntable driven by a cotton thread and the arm was an Ortofon. The loudspeaker was also home made: a big reflex enclosure with a unit made by Philips with a dual cone of paper. The cabinet had a large square mouth.
When he played a 45 RPM Telefunken record with the title "In der Bar nebenan" (In the bar next door) on which a pianist was accompanied by a bass player and a drummer, my mouth fell open because of the realism in the sound. Just then and there did I realize that the reproduction was completely something else than the sound of the radio we had at home. It was a pivotal experience.
My first one.

Much later similar experiences would follow. For example when I had bought "Checkmate" played by Shelly Manne and his Men, my first Contemporary Lp.
Or when I heard Jan Endenburg's 3KF loudspeaker systems incorporating the Ionofane high frequency units and also the versions with the Decca London Ribbon tweeters, combined with the great Janis subwoofer.
And of course with his turntable-arm-cartridge setup.
Today many people just collect vinyl because the discs are cheap. I must admit that I have quite a few records in my collection which I would not have bought if I had to pay the original price.

Many people collect records because it is cool to do so. They do not care about the quality of the reproduction. They will never understand and enjoy the benefit of analogous sound. There is also a category of collectors who buy so they can sell. And there is yet another category who collect because of the performers and the performances. Another reason for buying is the sound quality of vintage stereo recordings and of perfect pressings from the nineteen seventies, and even digital recordings pressed on lp from the nineteen eighties of the last century.


Not everybody falls strictly in just one category. There is mostly more than one reason
for buying records.

Calligraphy by Tsuneo Kobayashi <tsuneokobayashi@hotmail.com>

But if you had an enlightening confrontation with a good sound system at a friend's place, if you were struck by the performance of a good system at a show or in a shop, then that event could be your pivotal experience which would make you discover that the high frequency region was more extending and added to the naturalness of the instruments, only of course if the recording was not damaged by a bad needle. And you would also find that definition in the lower and mid region gave more depth than the CD is able to.
In that case my pages are for you. Here you can find information which can help you to enjoy the richness of any good analog Lp you have discovered. The front end should be as perfect as possible: a good turntable, a good cartridge which is well aligned and adjusted, a turntable weight or clamp, and a device or a method for cleaning records. Enjoy!


COMPLAINTS IF ANY....
Very often we hear from hobbyists, audiophiles and music lovers who have complaints concerning a malfunctioning product, a bad repair, or the unwillingness of a manufacturer or importer to take responsibility for their product. Many people assume that if they pay a lot of money for a high end product, also the guarantee and the service are provided. That is however not always the case and the customer is not only disappointed but he is without the proper functioning product he initially bought or had serviced. We soon will report those cases when a manufacturer, dealer or importer gave bad service or no service at all.
The following examples will be published soon:
How a Kiseki Purple Heart Sapphire was sent to Jan Allaerts to be repaired by him, and when he damaged the cartridge he promised to replace the coils with his own and would include his best tip, but after 5 years of delays and promises he just sent back the damaged cartridge in parts. It was Aalt Jouk van den Hul who refurbished the cartridge and did the final repair and turned it into a fantastic sounding cartridge.
Another example is how the importer of Shure needles in the Netherlands tried to sell an imitation tip for the V15VXMR as being the original.
These stories and more will be published on this page as a warning always to check carefully when buying a product, to be cautious when choosing the repairman or shop.

Links and Adverts are located at the end of this page.

 

Rudolf A. Bruil

 

 

Poem of Ecstasy

The strings lie in a golden bedding,
eyes wide open, tensely awaiting
the moving gestures of the virtuoso.

All is quiet yet. The scanty light
mirroring in the black of the lacquer.
After softly approaching steps,
a chord will hesitantly emerge.

It will resonate a brazen warmth,
then thundering it will fill the air,
to simply go away again.

R.A.B.

Gina Bachauer playing
Rachmaninoff's Prelude
No. 10, Op. 32.
(Erato STU 70768)


Important: Cartridge and Needle Check.
When was the last time you had the diamond tip of your cartridge checked? More than 2 years ago?

Then it is time to have the tip checked by an expert. Or you can do it yourself if you have a microscope. Some people think that new needle assemblies are no longer available or that a specific MC cartridge is no longer in production. There are still over 3000 types of diamond styli available. Just find a dealer or an importer, or contact the manufacturer directly. Remember: a diamond stylus will last for 1000 hours of playing time. Quality tips (like van den Hul's special shaped tip) have a life span of 2000 hours of playing time.
And remember: you should always ask for the original replacement stylus which sounds the best. Only if it is no longer available you have to opt for a cheaper imitation or change the cartridge for a modern type.
If it is a Moving Coil cartridge you can have a genuine van den Hul tip mounted. Ask him about the possibilities of retipping your specific cartridge. Sometimes the distortion you hear is not from the damaged grooves, but is generated by a worn diamond tip. A perfect stylus lowers the distortion and will increase the life span of your treasured records. See also: Turntable Adjustment

Audio & Music Bulletin
Copyright 1998-2007 by Rudolf A. Bruil and co-authors


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Quality Second Hand: Amplifiers, Turntables, Loudspeakers, Recorders, CD Players, etc.
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Go to the Links Page

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Cardas Cable applicable for Professionals and Hobbyists

Join the NEW MUSIC LABEL http://www.newmusiclabel.com

Arnold Theisen
Vintage Components

Amplifiers, Recorders, Turntables, etc.
Bonn Germany
Tel: 0228-9324324
Fax: 0228-9324279
arnold-theisen@
t-online.de

www.audio-extasa.eu
E-Mail audio-extasa@audio-extasa.eu
Audio&Music Bulletin - Rudolf A. Bruil, Editor - Copyright 1998-2007 by Rudolf A. Bruil and co-authors