|
|
|
|
THIS IS A
HOBBYIST'S WEBSITE FOR HOBBYISTS
|
|
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
|
|
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!
|
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.
|
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
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.
|
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
|
|
|
|
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.
|
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
|
|
|
|
Quality Second Hand:
Amplifiers,
Turntables, Loudspeakers, Recorders, CD Players, etc.
|
|
Go
to the Links Page
|
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
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Audio&Music
Bulletin - Rudolf A. Bruil, Editor - Copyright
1998-2007 by Rudolf A. Bruil and co-authors
|
|
Elisabeth Lugt
The Universal RSR
