Pet Peeves

DaveyF · Nov 12, 2011

I was attempting to adjust the azimuth on my WTA arm today and realized that while I generally like this arm, the mechanism for adjusting the azimuth is abysmal

. Such a shame as the arm has a sound that is IMO excellent-- mainly due I suspect to the lack of a bearing. What piece of gear do you own that you put up with a failing in the design or? but still like enough to keep in your system

puroagave · Nov 12, 2011

I had a mk I well tempered arm... you adjust it and wait a few minutes for it to react
very precise to say the least

but way better than a SME V

DaveyF · Nov 13, 2011

puroagave said:
I had a mk I well tempered arm... you adjust it and wait a few minutes for it to react
very precise to say the least but way better than a SME V

That's for sure, LOL

Today, I adjusted the azimuth about 20 times and damn if it is even close...I have done this so many times in the past that I have it pretty close to down pat....NOT

Plus, my WTA isn't the Mk1- it's Bill's custom black arm, same stupid mechanism though

JackD201 · Nov 13, 2011

My preamp doesn't have a remote. Grrrrrrr.

MylesBAstor · Nov 13, 2011

JackD201 said:
My preamp doesn't have a remote. Grrrrrrr.

And never will! Live with it!

MylesBAstor · Nov 13, 2011

DaveyF said:
I was attempting to adjust the azimuth on my WTA arm today and realized that while I generally like this arm, the mechanism for adjusting the azimuth is abysmal. Such a shame as the arm has a sound that is IMO excellent-- mainly due I suspect to the lack of a bearing. What piece of gear do you own that you put up with a failing in the design or? but still like enough to keep in your system

The VPI and Wilson Benesch were also beasts to adjust Azimuth. VPI now has the Soundsmith Counterintuitive and the new Classic 3 arm has gone back to adjusting azimuth via the ring on the bottom of the arm (as the early VPI arms did).

The thing that I hate the most (that is other than the heat given off by my amps) is the fxxxing sharp, scalpel-like corners on the ART amp. I can't tell you how many times I've cut my leg on the amp since I'm in cramped quarters

Mike Lavigne · Nov 13, 2011

MylesBAstor said:
The thing that I hate the most (that is other than the heat given off by my amps) is the fxxxing sharp, scalpel-like corners on the ART amp. I can't tell you how many times I've cut my leg on the amp since I'm in cramped quarters

i can see how that would have happened.

i had the CJ M140LP monoblock amps (same family of amps) here for a few months and i was able to avoid actual blood letting; but moving them around did require one to pay close attention to their lethal corners......if my room was small it would only have been a matter of time before i would have been skewered.

i'm trying to think about what piece of gear has caused me headaches or something i can't seem to dial in correctly; and i cannot think of any in my recent memory. most of my arms and tunrtables i've had in my room in the last few years have been set up by the tt builder, arm distributor or the arm builder; my amps and preamps have worked flawlessly, and even my tape decks have all worked as they should.

the room changes from a year or so ago all proceeded properly too.

i guess i've been lucky in audio/music reproduction terms.

knock on wood.

OTOH i am getting older, business could be better, the world is going to hell, and my sports teams are pathetic.......

DonH50 · Nov 13, 2011

I had (have, but in storage) a Magnepan Unipivot arm. Decent arm, at least to me, but adding BBs to adjust the bloody thing was annoying. Especially when a few dropped and then rolled under the platter, forcing a teardown to get the durn things out.

My Phase 700 blowing up on a regular basis was a tad annoying as well, especially since the failure was typically a shorted output transistor. That resulted in a cascade of other dead transistors, and put fairly high voltage and current d.c. across the speaker terminals, so drivers often needed replacing as well. I finally traded the high damping factor for a fuse, then solved the problem by trading the amp.

mep · Nov 13, 2011

Don-Did you have the original PL-700 or the revised version that was supposed to fix the problems you described? I have had a pair of Phase Linear 400 Series 2 amps for awhile now and they both have been flawless and damn good sounding to boot.

DonH50 · Nov 13, 2011

By all accounts the later 400 was more reliable than the early 700 and the Series 2 even more so. After all this time I do not recall if it was the original 700 or a 700B; it may well have been first-generation. I do know it was the most unreliable amp I have ever owned, even driving relatively benign loads. I may have just had a lemon, as many others seemed to have no (or fewer) problems. When it worked, I found the bass incredible, but highs "grainy" for lack of a better word. I never really reconciled the sound and the measurements (by the time I had access to better measurement equipment I had gotten rid of the amp).

I had a couple of friends who were very happy with their 400 Series 2, no worries!

rockitman · Nov 17, 2011

Dust & static electricity...why do we need them ? Why do they like LP's so much ?

MylesBAstor · Nov 17, 2011

rockitman said:
Dust & static electricity...why do we need them ? Why do they like LP's so much ?

Ha!@!@ Try having three kitties including one long hair around the house

fas42 · Nov 17, 2011

Static also loves having a go at digital sound, knocks it flat, literally ...

Frank

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Pet Peeves

DaveyF

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puroagave

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DaveyF

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JackD201

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MylesBAstor

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MylesBAstor

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Mike Lavigne

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DonH50

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mep

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DonH50

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rockitman

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MylesBAstor

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fas42

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