I have recently purchased a turntable, having gotten away from vinyl for about the past 20 years. The last tables I had were a Garrard and a Sony, and I suspect that they are in storage somewhere with a few hundred albums. I got bummed out about flood damage to some of my best LPs and just went completely into CDs. I used to unseal an album, play it once with the volume muted, and tape it onto a cassette, then store the album forever or until the cassette tape needed replacement. I figure CDs were less vulnerable.
After getting serious about audio gear and recently enjoying a major component overhaul and upgrade I decided it was time to get back into vinyl. I had several discussions with audiophiles and dealers and was on the path of either a Rega or a VPI player.
I actually demoed a Rega 3 and 7 (the dealer did not have a 5 but stated it was closer to a 7 than a 3). The dealer had this set up in his "A" room on ~$40K worth of gear. I then went to a shop which was liquidating their assets and had the most confounding time of setting up a player and installing a new cartridge on it for me to review. Finally I got to hear the Esoteric Sound Professional Restoration Deck, connected with about ~$15K of gear. The cartridge is a Grado Silverline, and they ended up swapping in a Sony headcasing as they could not find the original or any others in the store.
It sounded every bit as dynamic as the Rega 7. In that my system is more "warm" and "laid back" versus the "highly detailed" / "soundstage right there" sound I thought that this turntable would acclimate well with the sound my system delivers. At about 1/3 the price of the Rega 5 w/options I figured I may as well go for it. I then carried it with me on the plane back from Chicago to Dallas.
It took a little bit for me to get it set up and I'm still having intermittent issues with grounding.
I just completed turntable isolation;
I have a 54 lb patio block laid directly on the carpet. The next level is 3 Black Diamond Racing Cones -- M4s, points up. On top of that I balanced a 75 lb (est.) 25 ¾" by 21 ¾" by 1 ¼" piece of granite. The next layer is again 3 Black Diamond Racing Cones -- M4s, points up, however these are screwed into 3 Black Diamond Racing Pucks. The turntable sits atop the cones and pucks.
Today was only the 3rd time I used the turntable. I unsealed and queued up the 30 year anniversary digitally re-mastered version of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon LP, while at the same time I loaded the SACD of the same in my Rega Apollo CD player which plays the 2 channel CD data.
I was able to synch up both the CD and the vinyl. Though the CD's output voltage was slightly higher than the turntable's I was able to A/B compare by only switching the input selector on my Rogue Audio Magnum 99 Tube Pre-Amp.
The similarities;
Detail and imaging were fairly exact, CD to LP. Pace was the same for both.
The differences;
The CD was brighter, the soundstage slightly more forward, but not by much. The LP soundstage was as wide but not as deep. The CD sounded 1/5 to 1/3 of an octave higher across all instruments. The LP did not get up to the higher frequencies that the CD reached. The CD had a snappier bass, but surprisingly to me at least, not deeper or quicker. The LP was more contained, but did not sound restrained. The CD had somewhat more separation of notes. The LP vocals and acoustics were richer.
Conclusion;
I found myself lingering longer on the Phono input than on the CD input of my pre-amp during this comparison sometimes not knowing which I was listening to. I had switched back and forth at least 100 times during the playback. Knowing a lot about my CD player and very little about my turntable I was genuinely surprised that the imaging and detail were so much alike.
I am not going to attempt promote one medium over the other as that is subjective listener by listener. What I will state is that I am very, very, pleased with the sound quality of my turntable. Price wise it is something of a bargain. I also have a better appreciation for the natural sound that my Rega Apollo delivers.
Over time I will find if there are ways to extend the upper frequency range of the turntable, get a decent record brush (already ordered), and some day in the not too distant future, a disk washing machine.
Does anyone else have any experiences with the Esoteric Sound Professional Restoration Deck? That is what is on the faceplate on the surface of the turntable. The box was labeled "Esoteric Amen" and the manual's cover says "INSTRUCTIONS FOR OPERATION OF ESOTERIC SOUND DIRECT-DRIVE 16" TRANSCRIPTION TURNTABLE". I own either one or all three of these.
Yes I used just a patio block and I thought had bass issues. Later I was told that as the stylus moved closer to the spindle I may have picked up a ground him from the motor. Anyway, when I added the granite slab the ground hum became less of a problem. More on this, what can I call it, a magical mystery tour? Yeah that fits it. More on this soon.
Okay, first I must admit to being a dope. Second, there is a god who watches over people like me. I went out and bought an Esoteric Amen (one of 3 names for it) turntable from a hi-fi shop in suburban Chicago from some folks who through no fault of their own were forced to close down shop and liquidate their inventory. Unfortunately the professional staff was not part of the process and the folks working with me on the sale knew about as much about their turntable as I did. Only at the time I bought it I trusted they knew about their product etc. Earlier I posted eschewing all the good advice I got as to what TT to consider. Now I know that when one does that they will be punished.
My first setback was when I realized that I did not purchase and audiophile turntable but a Pro or DJ table. I know, remember my opening line, I'm a dope. But in my defense I did listen to a Rega P3 and P7 and this table beat the P3 and was close enough to the P7 to make it easy for me to buy it at about 1/3 the price of a P5 the way I would have bought it. (I can hear John A. admonishing me, "Units that leap out at you at dealer demos are never ones you want to live with.") I was really bummed about this and begin considering perhaps buying a second table and selling this one. Almost happened a couple of days ago. I was literally walking into a dealer's shop to pick up a Sota Sapphire to demo for a week when my cell phone rang with that very same dealer telling me the seller (consignment deal) decided he missed his table and did not want to sell. The only reason this happened was that the dealer called the seller to verify how to set the screws at the base of the player so he could prepare the turntable for me to take with me. No call, no seller remorse, I would have been listening to the Sota, most likely would have liked it and put my turntable up for sale and bought the Sota.
This gets better so stay with me on this. Remember my opening line I'm a dope.
Now I am like a junkie needing a fix. I had called around to find out if I could at least upgrade my TT with a better cartridge than my Grado Silver. A couple of dealers wave a caution flag at me about housing, tone arm bearings, etc. So now I am even more frustrated. So I am talking to the guy who helped with the sale of my TT, I am actually lining up some collector LPs to buy from him, and he tells me that he has some cartridges that he would consider selling me that would be upgrades to the Grado Silver. One of them is an Audio Technica. So yesterday I go online and try to look up the model number of his cartridge. What do I frigin' find? My TT, but it's not my turntable, its an Audio Technica TT that sells at web retailers for 1/3 what I paid for it. I'm a dope, I'm a dope, I'm a dope.
I'll try to move this along a little quicker as it is late. So I call the place in Chicago and relate my findings. They are as upset as I am as they had good intentions to begin with. Turns out that Esoteric bought the products from suppliers and mods them. I happen to have one of the best DJ / Pro TTs around which is why it sounded the way it did, but I can not do much of anything with it to make it sound better. I have a hot rod that does great on a drag strip but I wanted to drive on the autobahn. The long and the short of it is that they did not know what they were selling me but now know they did not sell me what I wanted.
As they had a personal emergency occurring during this discovery period (their average age is about 77) I pulled back and did not insist on resolving it immediately. I called around and started to work on my next TT purchase this time limiting myself to what I had been told to stick to. This morning I went to Fed-Ex Kinko's and over-nighted my TT back to the dealer in Chicago. My wife is in Chicago and she can help me help them work out what to do with the returned TT and whatever refund / credit can be worked out. Worse case, she will drive the TT back to Dallas with her and, well let's hope it does not go down that path as that would not be a good end to the story. It is far better for them (and me) for them to deal with her. She was with me when I bought the TT and they fell in love with her. I can see it now; she gets a cash refund and decides to go shopping. I'm a dope, I'm a dope, I'm a dope.
Rav (how ironic you will soon find) noted that he couldn't believe that I did not go for the Rega P3 with all of the upgrade possibilities. As I checked into Nottingham, VPI, and Rega, I kept seeing where other TT suppliers were frequently using Rega RB250 and RB300 tonearms. Some were even using the Exact cartridge as standard issue in their TT. The Rega was making more sense to me.
One of the dealers I spoke with yesterday was in NC. He was offering to pack up a used Nottingham Horizon and ship it off to me or a new Rega P5. I also talked to another Chicago area dealer where I bought my Apollo when I was in town earlier about them perhaps packaging a P5 for me.
Now here's were the second line of my opening paragraph comes in.
Today the dealer in NC calls and says it is too risky to ship the Horizon and that there is a Rega dealer in Dallas so he cannot sell me one. Right after that the Chicago area dealer calls me and tells me that the distributor told him that there is a Rega dealer in Dallas etc. I never knew there was a Rega dealer in Dallas so I go to the Rega site, find the distributor's name, call them, tell them that I'm the dope who has everyone and their brother calling them and could they kindly identify the Rega dealer in Dallas.
I leave work early (junkie behavior I know) go there to buy the Rega P5 as they have one in the store set up and ready to go. I NEVER GET TO THE P5. They have a well demo'd player that the salesperson earnestly convinces me would not be possible to match no matter what Rega I bought and how much I upgraded it. So when my wife gets back to Dallas next week and sees what I have done to the bank account I will be in some really deep doo doo for overshooting the budget. Sheez, I was overshooting the budget just by shopping for another TT.
However, I am in audio nirvana once again, even though it didn't sound that great in the showroom. Just remember with John A. advised.
My Linn Sondek LP12 absolutely blows me away. I will not even attempt to review it as I cannot possibly convey its brilliance. Let's just say it beats the pants off of any TT or CD player I ever heard, ANY. I will own this TT forever.
And I am thanking you for that contribution, Mike. Guaranteed we all have a sad but true story, just not all willing to share so well, and ok mine ain't over such distance as that!
As I understand it, that lp12 is an absolute beast to tune, there is a guy in St. Catherines, Ont. that has them shipped to him from far and wide for annuals. Shiver!
great story, esp. the bit about leaving work early....
Many congrats on the deck, I think the late vintage LP12, with the Ittok is an excellent platform for lasting long term vinyl enjoyment.
LP12s can be fussy and finnicky when it comes to suspension setup. But if the deck bounces cleanly, and sounds good, then I am sure all is fine, best to avoid all the LP12 neuroses. Also the later decks seem to be more stable, due to the various suspension and plinth mods, so your deck should go a long while before it needs to be re-checked. If the deck sounds sluggish, or you loose that sense of musical flow/tempo, then you know it is time for a tune up.
Also the Ittok I believe is a great cartridge carrier, and should serve you well should you ever want to upgrade to a MC later (much later!!!).
I replied to your PM, and will be happy to share any info that I can.
