AVID Acutus SP Reference

joeling · Apr 29, 2014

Hi guys,

Looks like I'm on a vinyl binge at the moment. I am now looking at the AVID Acutus SP Reference. Any owners care to comment ? Good or bad or ?

I am considering a SME V or a SEM V12. Any opinion ?

Cartridge likely to be a Koetsu Azule stone body or maybe a Lyra Atlas.

Looking for :

1) Sweet Vocals
2) Good soundstage
3) bass

in order of descending importance.

Regards,
Joe Ling

PeterA · Apr 29, 2014

joeling said:
Hi guys,

Looks like I'm on a vinyl binge at the moment. I am now looking at the AVID Acutus SP Reference. Any owners care to comment ? Good or bad or ?

I am considering a SME V or a SEM V12. Any opinion ?

Cartridge likely to be a Koetsu Azule stone body or maybe a Lyra Atlas.

Looking for :

1) Sweet Vocals
2) Good soundstage
3) bass

in order of descending importance.

Regards,
Joe Ling

Have you considered one of the large SME tables? They were designed by an opera lover. The SME V-12 is a superb arm and people like it with both Koetsu and the Lyra Atlas cartridges. I have the SME 30/12, V-12, and an AirTight Supreme which was developed in part on the SME arms. It's a wonderful combination.

joeling · Apr 29, 2014

Peter,

Thanks for the recommendation. Will study a little.

Regards,
Joe Ling

jtinn · Apr 30, 2014

Hi Joeling,

If you don't mind me asking, as it will help me make my recommendation, what are you not liking about your Sindre / Strain Gauge combination? Also, tell me about your floor in your audio room. Is it suspended? What are you going to use for isolation/rack?

joeling · Apr 30, 2014

Hi Jonathan,

Actually I have upgraded the Bergmann to their top model - the Sleipner. This table is fitted with a VDH Colibri. I find this combo with either a Whest Titan phono or ARC ref 2 SE both sounded bright on most recordings. Only a few really well recorded ones like the reissue 45rpm Jennifer Warnes Famous Blue Rain Coat sounded ok but not all songs. I just find it a little bright for my liking although I like its dynamic presentation.

My strain gauge is fitted to a 12" VPI arm mounted in VPI HRX table. I like it a lot. Not as dynamic as the VDH + Bergmann combo but not as bright.

But the itch is still there so looking for additional conquests.

Regards,
Joe Ling

PeterA · Apr 30, 2014

joeling said:
Hi Jonathan,

Actually I have upgraded the Bergmann to their top model - the Sleipner. This table is fitted with a VDH Colibri. I find this combo with either a Whest Titan phono or ARC ref 2 SE both sounded bright on most recordings. Only a few really well recorded ones like the reissue 45rpm Jennifer Warnes Famous Blue Rain Coat sounded ok but not all songs. I just find it a little bright for my liking although I like its dynamic presentation.

My strain gauge is fitted to a 12" VPI arm mounted in VPI HRX table. I like it a lot. Not as dynamic as the VDH + Bergmann combo but not as bright.

But the itch is still there so looking for additional conquests.

Regards,
Joe Ling

Have you tried playing around with VTA and cartridge loading? Or even speaker toe-in. Those may address your tonal balance issues. Do you hear this brightness only with the Bergmann table VDH combo?

MylesBAstor · Apr 30, 2014

PeterA said:
Have you tried playing around with VTA and cartridge loading? Or even speaker toe-in. Those may address your tonal balance issues. Do you hear this brightness only with the Bergmann table VDH combo?

I also think the album IS bright. It is an early digital recording.

joeling · Apr 30, 2014

I guess it's all relative. On the VPI Soundsmith combo it was ok.

My digital sounds ok. So I pin it down to the table + cart.

I did get my dealer to lower the VTA & it helped but not enough.

Anyway, I will proceed to break in the cart for 100 hours see how.

jtinn · Apr 30, 2014

joeling said:
Actually I have upgraded the Bergmann to their top model - the Sleipner. This table is fitted with a VDH Colibri. I find this combo with either a Whest Titan phono or ARC ref 2 SE both sounded bright on most recordings. Only a few really well recorded ones like the reissue 45rpm Jennifer Warnes Famous Blue Rain Coat sounded ok but not all songs. I just find it a little bright for my liking although I like its dynamic presentation.

But the itch is still there so looking for additional conquests.

I am very familiar with the VdH Colibri and I am certain that the cartridge is the culprit. It is a knifes edge sound and in my experience only one in seven sound right. Even after they break-in and you have the suspension re-adjusted, that cartridge can be brutally sibilant. Have you tried anything other than the Colibri on the Bergmann? Very few carts are as dynamic as the Colibri, but the Strain Gauge is a very good cart. Are you using it with the phono only or the full preamp setup? An easier question is which model Soundsmith?

If you have an itch, you should try a Direct Drive table. Based on the sound you are looking for, your potential cartridge choices are very good. You might also want to try the Ortofon MC-Anna which has a lot of body and soul.

DaveyF · Apr 30, 2014

Joe, do you have a chance to actually listen to any of the gear you are inquiring about before purchase? Did you listen to your Sleipner/Colibri before purchase- and in your system?

MylesBAstor · Apr 30, 2014

jtinn said:
I am very familiar with the VdH Colibri and I am certain that the cartridge is the culprit. It is a knifes edge sound and in my experience only one in seven sound right. Even after they break-in and you have the suspension re-adjusted, that cartridge can be brutally sibilant. Have you tried anything other than the Colibri on the Bergmann? Very few carts are as dynamic as the Colibri, but the Strain Gauge is a very good cart. Are you using it with the phono only or the full preamp setup? An easier question is which model Soundsmith?

If you have an itch, you should try a Direct Drive table. Based on the sound you are looking for, your potential cartridge choices are very good. You might also want to try the Ortofon MC-Anna which has a lot of body and soul.

I must have heard a good Colibri at Axpona

Interestingly, in the Funk Firm arm, they had the back of the Colibri up relative to the front and at that quite a bit. The fellow George from Kiyomi audio told me that's how AJ told him to set it up. Seems counterintuitive since raising the back should make it brighter and bass shy but the person who heard the set up swore that wasn't the case. Only reason I can think the back was up was that the cartridge -- and I don't remember which of the Colibri models it was off hand --- is that it was a low rider and AJ changed the mounting of the diamond to allow for that????

joeling · Apr 30, 2014

Regrettably I did not try the Sleipner / Colibri combo prior to purchase. The Sleipner was manufactured after I confirmed the purchase - took the manufacturer 4-5 months. But I was happy with the Sindre / Ortofon Winfeld combo so I thought I was going up the ladder in terms of sound quality.

Jonathan, appreciate your insight on the Colibri. This was recommended by my dealer hence I took it without a second thought as they did good for me on the Sindre. They will assist me to get this right.

I am newbie learning this slippery rope of vinyl playback. I had a Rega P3 more than 10 years ago fitted with a Shure V15XMR but this combo did not seem to outperform my CD player at the time so I my uptake on vinyl playback was stunted for a while. In the last 3 years, things were also start stop until about a year ago.

As I mentioned, a couple of years ago I bought a VPI HRX + Soundsmith SG200 (base model). No one in town was an expert at setting up the table. Ended up that I was getting some kind of distortion at the inner groove. I had several go at it myself doing the alignment seeking help from Peter from Soundsmith bought their antiskating device all to no avail. Towards the last 2 tracks of most records, I get distortion when amplitude was high.

As a result of this, I went looking for a linear tracking tonearm table & I found the Bergmann Sindre. The dealers came to my house across the ocean to help me set up everything tip to toe. From there on, I started with some collection of vinyl. Often, I am defeated by my own laziness & instead just go for the convenience of my streamer.

Anyway, fast forward to end of last year. On a whim, I replaced the stylus to the strain gauge with the spare stylus on whim (for some reason the unit came with a spare stylus of a different geometry). The distortion was gone. Everything is glorious !

Went ahead to purchase a SG230 & the sound was better than ever. The SG200 only had single ended outputs & I wanted balance outputs & more gain to feed my ARC 40 linestage.

So nowadays it's 30% - 40% vinyl time while the rest time on my streamer + Vivaldi which is no slouch. However, on well recorded or even older early pressings - well, play digital first before going to vinyl is the way.

Through all these, I realised that everything makes a difference unlike the Rega P3 + Shure combo. The exploration begins.

Regards,
Joe Ling

allvinyl · May 1, 2014

MylesBAstor said:
I must have heard a good Colibri at Axpona Interestingly, in the Funk Firm arm, they had the back of the Colibri up relative to the front and at that quite a bit. The fellow George from Kiyomi audio told me that's how AJ told him to set it up. Seems counterintuitive since raising the back should make it brighter and bass shy but the person who heard the set up swore that wasn't the case. Only reason I can think the back was up was that the cartridge -- and I don't remember which of the Colibri models it was off hand --- is that it was a low rider and AJ changed the mounting of the diamond to allow for that????

The Colibri mounted in a Kuzma 4 Point was not bright in the Artisan Fidelity room.

flez007 · May 1, 2014

I have heard the Acutus and owned a Volvere SE many years, both great tables - but also heard the Kronos and beat them both, to my ears of course.

Fineito · May 9, 2014

I own and use the Azule. I am entirely pleased with this cartridge. However, understand that I tend not to actively compare and swap out components routinely (well, maybe sometimes!). For me, I am perfectly happy with this cartridge in my system. To my ears, at least, it has the characteristics you desire.

joeling · May 10, 2014

Thanks for the reassurance Fineito.

Thanks guys for all the suggestions.

For now I am pretty happy with the VPI. HRX + Soundsmith Strain Gauge combo

The Bergmann still sounds very bright even though I have lowers the VTA some more

Waiting for the arrival of the Koetsu & AVID

Someone suggested that I should try out the Benz LPS on the Bergmann

John49 · Nov 20, 2014

U

DaveyF said:
Joe, do you have a chance to actually listen to any of the gear you are inquiring about before purchase? Did you listen to your Sleipner/Colibri before purchase- and in your system?

joeling said:
Thanks for the reassurance Fineito.

Thanks guys for all the suggestions.

For now I am pretty happy with the VPI. HRX + Soundsmith Strain Gauge combo

The Bergmann still sounds very bright even though I have lowers the VTA some more

Waiting for the arrival of the Koetsu & AVID

Someone suggested that I should try out the Benz LPS on the Bergmann

Benz LP-S is a very good cartridge, but I cannot comment on it mounted on a Bergmann.

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AVID Acutus SP Reference

joeling

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