Talk Vinyl: Restoration of Garrad 301 Part III

The Yumcha Diaries 飲茶後記: 29-01-11
Talk Vinyl: Restoration of Garrard 301 Part III
Talk R2R: Otari Restored!

Best Sound of 2011 (so soon?)!
No mincing of words here. Mark my words, what we heard on this day SHALL be the BEST SOUND OF 2011!. I know, it's just the start of the year, but this ain't no hyperbole. I simply don't expect to hear better sound in the next 11 months ! I'd love to be proven wrong, but I doubt I would be. Coming so soon after the best sound heard in 2010 these had been fruitful months, sonically.

Salute, Garrard 301!
On this day, after yumcha we went to Robin's place to listen to my Garrard he gave a second life to, and his almost fully restored Otari. I brought along the arm/cartridge that was on my Clearaudio Champion to be installed. Robin's system (previous listening report here) is largely unchanged from before, so we listened to:

My Turntable: Garrard 301 (grease)/Origin Live basic mod Rega 250/Ortofon MC15 Super II/simple plywood plinth
Robin's Turntable: Garrard 301 (oil)/Rega 250 with Michell counterweight and Incognito wiring/Ortofon Kontrapunkt B/complex slate plinth
Ree-to-Reel: Otari
Preamp: ARC SP-11
Amp: (vintage) McIntosh MC275
Loudspeakers: Yamaha FX-3

Remember the "rudimentary" plywood plinth for my (grease-bearing, see pic of belly) Garrard 301, which you were shown in Part II? As Robin said, he "...went ahead and stained the plinth a dark Indian Rosewood colour", and just as he said "...it looks rather sleek and sexy, alongside the grey metal turntable!..." We gasped at the beauty of the table. Robin used small pieces of hardwood for the legs and support, with blue-tac coupling between the support and plywood top. Robin has other ideas about the plinth but we were so smitten by its look that I am tempted to use it just as is.

I instantly felt it has a Yamamoto's "house" "sushi-table" (pic of Yamamoto A-08S here) look to it, and I love it! The occasion deserved celebration, and Robin promptly opened up a bottle of white wine!

Otari, the Vinyl Slayer!
After a few sips, the RB250 was swapped out for the arm I brought and ready for action, but not before listening to the Otari.

Between our last visit and this time Robin had put an untold number of man hours into its restoration, first meticulous alignment using oscilloscopes and other equipment acquired specifically for the purpose (now, THAT's dedication!), then (saintly patience!) replacing the hundreds of caps inside (almost finished).

At first, we played the acerbic Bartok 6th quartet. It was immediately evident that any instability previously heard had been completely vanquished. A quick comparison with the DG LP showed the R2R to be almost superior in all aspects, though a little over-bearing in its "studio-like" objectivity through the Yamaha. Robin attributed this to the so-so solid state Tape Head Preamp inside the tape deck. He has already ordered a Bottlehead Eros Tape Head Preamp which hopefully shall be built during the coming holidays.

(Detour) Talking about Bottlehead, I still have their simple and good sounding original Foreplay (now in its III version) and our friend Hoi the old Paramour monoblock parafeed 2A3 amps. Unfortunately, the Yamaha FX-3 I don't think would take to flea-powered amps, otherwise we could have an all-Bottlehead party soon!

As the tape ran we slowly realized the sound had become better and better. Like the cartridge, the tape head also needs warm-up time. By the time we reached the Fitzwilliam's rendition of Shostakovich's 8th quartet, we were literally TRANSFIXED by the life-like vista in front of us. Here were four musicians breathing life into music right in front of us, one of those rare occasions when every note feels right no matter how you analyze it, IF you want to analyze it that is. I paid attention to the bowel sounds and the leading edges of the strings and could find no fault. Utterly clear and fulsome bass, no overhang, nothing except music. The illusion of a live event was so strong it instantly challenged my conviction that a horn is the only thing that can convey this all-important feeling. In comparison with reel-to-reel, vinyl replay is inevitably a little colored in the many ways vinyl can be colored (and which many love to excess), say in tonality or portrayal of rhythm. But make no mistake, vinyl is still way better than anything digital in its conveyance of the performance, the most important parameter in reproduction and Achilles's heel of digital. The way I see it, a tube tape head amp shall perhaps improve things a little more, but I doubt it shall surpass the performance we heard in all parameters.

Family Feud
Certainly, this system's rendition of the truth is orders above what we usually hear. It is not all due to employment of R2R as source. Robin had fine-tuned his system, most importantly by propping up a bit the front of his FX-3, in other words giving them a little time alignment. This made a significant difference in coherence and more natural image size and height. If there is any limitation, it is that the space is still too small for large symphonic works, though smaller forces are reproduced to perfection.

When we played the Bartok LP, my Garrard sounded a little more musical. Robin remarked that there is a smoothness to the grease bearing perhaps. With the lesser arm and humble MC15 cartridge it delivered music in a broader stroke. Switching to Robin's Garrard, the sound was more finely etched and detailed, but less warm. I am sure part of this was due to the difference in cartridges, as I had previously matched my MC15 against the similar Kontrapunkt C and got similar results.

Then we played the Miles Davis TuTu LP. Here, again, my Garrard was a little more emotive but lesser in detail and ambience than Robin's. The bit of coldness (comparatively) emanating from Robin's Garrard was actually quite suitable for this LP and the icy brilliance of Miles.

Although the arms and cartridges are form the same families, the structural differences are likely significant, and we did not bother to swap arms. The difference between the simple wooden plinth and the slate plinth probably was an even bigger factor in the difference in sound. As a result, we did not dwell on the "duel" too much but rather just admired the sound, wonderful to say the least. But I have to say neither quite attained the level of the R2R deck.

Did I tell you we didn't even listen to a single CD?

Yamaha FX-3, The Giant Killer!
The Yamaha FX-3 deserves the last word. This large studio monitor, like its smaller sibling NS-1000, is a woefully under-rated gem. Its stark neutrality and ability to deliver the presence of a live performance is nothing short of remarkable, up-to-date in every way, and likely superior to most of the over-rated larger speakers of today.

Extended Audition: Lowther Diary (SE amps)

Extended Audition: Lowther Diary (SE amps)

Lowther diary 2: more amps, including 801A
(Edited from the article that started the thread here, on 17/3/2001)

"..To pick up where I left off last time.

I had been listening happily to the Foreplay preamp + Wai Lee amp with cheap E130L tubes. But one of them intermittently emitted a noise. I substituted the San Ei 6BM8 kit but one channel is noisy too (from long term disuse), so I went back to the Wai Lee. My ICL 2A3 is on
loan.

Yesterday Thomas, David, and Richard C came over to listen to the Lowther TP1. The E130L was acting up so I put in a pair of (late) KT66. Sound was a bit smoother than the E130L, and good enough to me. Large orchestrals tightened up though at higher volume. We listened to a bunch of stuff before Thomas asked to put in the San Ei 801A amp.

A bit of explanation. I seriously believe the transmitting tube 801A is an excellent DIY tube (brand new Sylvania ~USD 40). It uses >600V voltages and puts out 3.5 watts. But it needs a 10k output, a problem. Mine is an old San Ei kit (now closed) with all Tango trans (Tango is
gone too), bought form all people my neighbor!!! It uses 12AX7 and 12BH7 also. ss rectification.

I used a 6mV DAC direct into the amp, and used the amp's volume knob. To my surprise, the sound, though even smoother than the Wai Lee, lacked some dimensionality and orchestrals lost speed. Someone said this combo sounded more like conventional speakers. One thing good
though; large scale sound gained some composure. Put the preamp back in and things came alive, though the dimensional qualities were still behind the Wai Lee. Finally we hooked up the amp to La Scala, and it was that much more lively.

The performance of the 801A was a little surprising to me. It works perfectly with the La Scala, and makes me want to sell many of my other amps as it is enough for me. With the La Scala I only need to run the CD directly in. But this is not the case with the Lowther.

Some thoughts again:

-Again this demonstrated that Lowther is NOT as efficient as La Scala (9x db vs 104 db on paper). You need more driving power, and preamp, to make the Lowther come live.

-The horn aspect of the sound quality is less pronounced and requires care not to lose it. With the La Scala you do not have this problem. Anything goes happy and its always horny.

-Aside from the location problem (mine are not in corners right now, they are in middle of room), careful titration between speed and power may be needed to maintain horn quality, yet make music loosen up at higher volume and complexity"...

Lowther Diary 3: 300B
(Edited from an article that started the thread here, on 20/03/01)

For the last few days I hooked up my Advance 300B amp to the Lowther. This is a 6AN8 driven amp. ss rectification. Japanese kit, acquired thanks to Eric. It is not the most powerful 300B but has a warm sound, perhaps due to its being driven by a pentode section and with
feedback.

I first used the Valve Art 300B and cheap Monster cables. Sound was more relaxed than the other amps used before, but it was a bit polite. Strange. I didn't realize the VA 300B were so polite before?

I changed to Svetlana and the Radio Shack cables and the sound balanced out by quite a bit. Actually this combo really loosened up the speakers by de-emphasizing the lower treble, and yet keep the treble afloat. I played even a Bruckner symphony last night.

The sound seems to continue to loosen up. Good. TKL asked me why am I posting this Lowther diary. Because I believe this experience can be shared with any Lowther user, even the
cheapest. One point I want to do is to have SOME detail in why I think this is this and that is that. Not just to say x is the best and y is the worst. I'd welcome any user to detail their experience in tube SYSTEM.

The matching of different amps to Lowther is a completely different experience from La Scala. It is just that much fuzzier. ALSO, cables prove to be a HUGH difference, as much as tubes, may be more. One can play many ways. Many HK people will probably just change all kinds of
tubes in 1 amp to see whether they can "transform" the system. I have never thought this productive. Better to see the system as a whole.

I have read a lot of threads on the Yahoo Lowther group (and has joined as member). It's interesting how many different types of amps have been used for Lowther. But few people do have several amps to compare at any given time. After I play some more I'm going to combine
the threads and post it in the Lowther forum. There are some HK people, including one person using M9 (switched to Klangfilm)to drive it!!!!"...

Lowther Diary 4: Humidity, new position, more 300B, Wai Lee re-visit
(From an article that originated the thread here, on 26/03/01)

"The Lowther sounds better these days to my ears. No doubt not at all solely due to my manouvers. I believe it's the humidity (alledged by many to be true). Seriously.

Well, uncontrollable factors aside, there have been important developements.

After the Advance 300B experience I got back my Audio Note kit one, in which I put my Valve Arts. No question, better line and speed and definition compared to the Advance. But a bit impersonal heh? Never noticed that before with the joyful La Scala...perhaps it's the Lowther?

Saturday, Hoi came over and with GREAT patience helped me move things around. As some of you know, I have so many things around that moving ANYTHING is like playing with Rubik's cube. We dismantled my 2 hifi racks, and moved a large rack (holding gears and CDs) to the opposite wall. This allowed the Lowthers to be more WIDELY spaced, now about
10 ft apart (7-8 ft from me), and they each gained ONE solid reflecting surface. The sound was immediately more easeful. I know these are still not ideal, but they will do for the moment. Next time I get help I am poised to exchange position of these with my far corner La Scala's. Tantalizing...

The effect of re-positioning:

-More easeful. Things just flow more naturally. The quickness of the notes do not become mechanical. Much better for large scale music.

-Due to the distance between the 2 speakers (relative to the distance from me) no doubt the imaging is less sharp than previously. This is less of a concern for horn users, but noticeable nonetheless, particularly on small scaled pieces. Amazingly even the bass outline loses slightly sharpness. In larger works, the ambience gained outweighs the slight loss in focus. There is little doubt these speakers prefer larger rooms.

With the new positioning, the amps sound very different, and more play is needed."...