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MS61 View Drop Down
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Joined: 27 Feb 2020
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    Posted: 29 Mar 2020 at 10:02pm
Hello to all!
New member from Czech Republic here! In fact I join a forum  from the only reason: to loan and test GS phono preamp. But I realized quickly a community around GS products seems to be a pleasant place.

I appreciate for example many Bob Wood´s YT vinyl rips and examples - not only from point of view SQ! Yes, I´m a music lover with eclectic taste and many musical "heroes". From absolutely unknown and esoteric tradional folk music to Muddy Waters, from Jethro Tull (and yes - YES!) to Tallis Scholars, Smetana Quartet, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Captain Beefheart, J. J. Cale and Mahalia Jackson.

Similarly I read very carefully about possible new equipment because I still haven´t found my holy grail MM cartridge. :-)

My vinyl setup (and my needs and usage profile) is a little bit different. I´m working as archivist and audiovisual archivist (hence tradional folk music - mostly from Czech and Slovak Republic + middle/east Europe). To be honest I alway prefer our Studer tape recorders and pro tapes to all records be it vinyl or shellac ones. Studer A80, BASF tape, 38 cm/s  are wonderfull sources of joy and pleasure. But virtues of vinyl really exists - it´s just different and tough world. :-)

I´m using TT and records mostly in context of digitisation and I obliged to hear the sound through AD/DA chain. But it´s essential to find more or less accurate representation of analog sound BEFORE AD stage. There´s no digital wonder or super special tool capable of adding real information content AFTER digitisation process (o.k. it is possible to get some gains by digital restauration but always content is the king).

Back to GS and my loan. I´m using at work and at home second hand (and now vintage) broadcast vinyl system. Technics SP 15 TT (drive) + Audio-Technica ATP-12t tonearm in Technics plinth (SH15-B3) incl. original phono preamp ATI P-1000. Mostly Audio-Technica carts (from AT-440 ML to VM-540Ml) + Stanton 500 (78s). I supposed I must upgrade somehow my system. There´s no definitive answer and "holy grail", that´s for sure. Especially with limited budget. I started with weakest link - preamp. And found another problems... As always.

So I arrange loan (thanks Kevin!) and hooked up GS Accesion. And everything changed. I started to analyze my setup, exchend tonearm cabel (5p to 2 cinch, low capacity one), rewired headshell(s)... At the end I realized I have to discard 2 carts, 1 relative new stylus (AT150 MLx, bent) and my newest cart is not in good condition... I combined newer one AT150Mlx ("body" only) and old one stylus (usable for limited time) at last. And VM740 from November 2019 suffers from manufacturing defect (not stylus!).

How about Accesion M and sound? Nothing new, you could read it many times. Clean, honest, detailed (but not too aggresive) sound. Very good microdetail and recreating of sound elements in space. Separation of instruments and voices. Accesion is prone to short HF peaks and HF distortion. No added HF distortion. Of course you can hear clearly bad recording, mastering, pressing. But it´s listeneble!

Summary? Moral of the story? I must just invest more than I anticipated. GS Accession AND better cartridge. MM and no nonsense stylus replacement politics. For example very good fit for my moderate to heavy tonearm is Clearaudio MM Maestro, but I cannot replace stylus (and repair is very expensive). Nagaoka seems to be more or less o.k., Audio-Technica replacements are overpriced etc. Audio Note IQ2/3 are top contenders for the time being (I contacted AN at Friday).

Anyway I must wait a little bit. The Accession itsels is a substantial investment for me now and exchange rate unfavourable (Czech Crown falls...). Strange, bad times just now. Plus still unknown real price of IQ2/3.

Best regards!

Michal
Technics SP15 / Audiomods 6 / SH-15B3 plinth / Audio Technica AT 150 Sa / Accession M / Genelec 8030 + RME ADI-2 Pro ADDA
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Aussie Mick View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Aussie Mick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Mar 2020 at 6:50am
Hi Michal, and welcome aboard! There are many Technics users in the forum, so I’m certain they’ll have some good suggestions for you. I’m not sure of what the match is like, but the Ortofon 2M series feature a replaceable stylus, and they cover a wide range of prices.
Best of luck,
Mick.
Rega RP8 - Apheta 2 - Accession MC Enigma PS -Solo ULDE (Focal Utopia) - PS Audio M700 - Fical Kanta No2
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MS61 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MS61 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Mar 2020 at 7:31am
Thanks, Mick!
I´m afraid the most recommanded cart for A-T ATP-12t is more like Denon 103 and older Ortofons (not exactly too heavy SPU´s). 22 x 10-6cm/Dyne compliance (at 10-6!) seems to to much. 2 - 2,5 g VTF is good starting point because compliance numbers in catalogs and VE daabase are vaugue and approximate.

But who knows - the reality check is more important.

Michal
Technics SP15 / Audiomods 6 / SH-15B3 plinth / Audio Technica AT 150 Sa / Accession M / Genelec 8030 + RME ADI-2 Pro ADDA
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote patientot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Mar 2020 at 9:53pm
Sorry if I missed it, but do you know the actual effective mass of this tonearm? I am seeing some chatter online that it's around 20g or so...if that is correct it would be a fairly heavy tonearm by today's standards and you'll probably want to choose a medium compliance cartridge for it. 

RE: the price of the Audio Note cartridges, I can't say what the price is in your country but here in the U.S. they are quite expensive. The IQ3 is around $1,000 USD, IIRC. 

A less expensive cousin to the IQ series would be the Goldring 1000 series cartridges. AFAIK the IQs are basically hotrodded/modded versions of these with different cantilevers and diamonds. The Goldring 1042 is a cart I used for awhile, but eventually sold. It is regarded as a classic in many circles and is a lot less expensive than the IQ carts. 

An alternative you might also consider is the AT-VM95ML. It has a stiffer suspension than the AT VM500/700 series and therefore is better suited for heavier tonearms. 

Watch out for Japanese cartridge specs - they are different than Western compliance specs and therefore just about worthless for calculating a good tonearm match. Some people try to use rules of thumb or multipliers but they aren't always accurate IME or from what I've seen. 

I can tell you from experience that the Goldring 1042 or the VM95ML will work well with a ~20g effective mass tonearm. 
SL-1200 MK7 (modified) + Reflex M + PSU-1 used with AT150-40ML, AT VM95ML, Stanton 680mkII + Ogura, and Shure M35X cartridges.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RichW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Apr 2020 at 9:59am
Hello & welcome to the forum Michal.


From AN UK - G1000 series/IQ comparison that might be of interest..

"Whilst it is correct that the IQs are based around the Goldring cartridges body, that is largely where the similarity stops, as we use a different cantilever,

IQ1/IQ2 uses hard aluminium

IQ3 uses titanium

Add to that a better diamond on both the IQ2 and IQ3, a generally much stiffer suspension and an AlNiCo 8 magnet, the differences in sound are quite considerable and using the 1042 or any of the other Goldring cartridges as a comparision therefore misleading."



Edited by RichW - 01 Apr 2020 at 1:18pm
Majestic/Enigma, Accession MM & MC.
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MS61 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MS61 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 May 2020 at 12:15pm
Something is in the air. Times are changing.
I´m broke the piggy bank (Czech idiom). Just ordered Accesssion MM and Audiomods Series 6 tonearm (right now on the list). :-) Time to move higher. New cart must wait some time.

Michal
Technics SP15 / Audiomods 6 / SH-15B3 plinth / Audio Technica AT 150 Sa / Accession M / Genelec 8030 + RME ADI-2 Pro ADDA
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