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[ThatPolishGuy]

Okay so the record label saver is here. Just have to pick it up from P.O Box thingie we have here in Poland, first time I'm picking up order from Ali through there.

Its been really nice to order records to those boxes and not having couriers phone you when you are working.

There's an app for that on Google Play Store. They send you codes with your phone numer or you can open them with QR Code or through app when you turn on localisation and you're near the PO Box.

Will hopefully test it today since I'm really curious if this will work.

Its this thingie

https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtrE7KO

Will report back in a bit.

Edit: This thing is THICC


Edit2: dry run- it fits just bearly. Should be all good. Time to mix the cleaning solution!

Edit3:
Mixed solution.

Distilled water 800ml, 200ml isopropyl alcohol, 2ml Tetenal Mirasol 2000 Antistatic. It softens the water, it gets rather bubbly .

Edit4: Yup it works






Unfortunetly, it does not get the SpinCare fluid streaks out. I washed this record in it because my test record was fine, and this wasn't fine. Testing the second record in my own cleaning solution.

Naked Eyes.

If this will be fine, its just supplied fluid is pretty shit .



Waiting.

A few white spots. Hmm. Will try to add less isopropyl and tension reducing liquid next time.

This batch is may be too strong, looks miles better than original liquid though.

Will try to mix 800ml distilled water, 100ml isopropyl alcohol and 1ml of tension reducer next time.

Edit5:
Washed Arcadia record




Switched to Shure mid LP


Yeah, my Nagaoka stylus is pretty worn out.



It served me quite a long time so its understable .

Okay, stopping with spam for now.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Washed Naked Eyes:


No popping whatsoever. As clean as my DAC.

I know I said I wouldn't spam much.

But that's impressive. Now if I only get the proportions right. I will be 100% satisfied. I will write anything if I nail it just right.

That is too Jacksonville USA press btw.

I like the airy sound of Shure M95ED/EDM btw impressive vintage cartridge! Can't get enough of it. It's tracking a bit less g's than on Arcadia record, I took it from 1.3g to 1.2g and I think it sounds a lot better! Low tracker so low LP and stylus wear hopefully.

I'm tempted to buy JICO stylus when I will finally set it right and loose the sibilance all together.

Maybe not SAS or smth, just regular elliptical Jico- and see how well does it compare to lets say Analogis Black Diamond N95ED.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Well, I am going to bite the bullet and pick up a measurement mic and Room EQ Wizard to see how my room(s) sound.

I plan to pick up a record cleaner sometime soon. Depending on the cost, I might go for an ultrasonic cleaner (this one perhaps?), as I've quite a bit in rewards points I can use. I'll do some research before deciding.

Depending on much my bonus pays out, we plan to replace the siding and windows on the house. Any money leftover from that and not put into investment will go toward a new record player & subwoofer. I'll have to do some research but I'm targeting something in the neighborhood of $2k for both. I will probably stick with a Kef sub and I'm not sure yet on which record player I will get. I've got some research to do.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Well, I am going to bite the bullet and pick ups measurement mic and Room EQ Wizard to see how my rooms sound.

I plan to pick up a record cleaner sometime soon. Depending on the cost, I might go for an ultrasonic cleaner, as I've quite a bit in rewards points I can use.

Depending on much my bonus pays out, we plan to replace the siding and windows on the house. Any money leftover from that and not put into investment will go toward a new record player & subwoofer. I'll have to do some research but I'm targeting something in the neighborhood of $2k for both. I will probably stick with a Kef sub and I'm not sure yet on which record player I will get. I've got some research to do.

New record players are all trash except:

F400 – Rekkord

www.rekkord-audio.com

M500 – Rekkord

www.rekkord-audio.com

MoFi Electronics StudioDeck Turntable

StudioDeck by MoFi: Where innovation meets affordability. Experience 33-1/3 and 45.0 RPM vinyl bliss with this American-made masterpiece. Bring legendary studio sound home!

www.mofielectronics.com

THORENS® TD 403 DD

The official Thorens® website: Turntables, Electronic, Accessories

www.thorens.com

All the others have weird stuff going on, speed variations larger than your Audio Technica. Which is sad.

Believe me I have searched and searched because I didn't wanna stay with a vintage table and here I am staying on a vintage model.

You could consider this one also

The Classic Evo – Pro-Ject Audio Systems

The Classic meets the 175 VPO to melt design-ideas The new Classic Evo is based on the successful EISA Award winner Pro-Ject The Classic. The main improvement i

www.project-audio.com

Other wise you're in to 0,40 to 0.75% speed drift. Which is hella bad.

Everyone was so all in on Rega tt's but when I saw the speed drift I was like, hell no.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

New record players are all trash except:

F400 – Rekkord

www.rekkord-audio.com

M500 – Rekkord

www.rekkord-audio.com

MoFi Electronics StudioDeck Turntable

StudioDeck by MoFi: Where innovation meets affordability. Experience 33-1/3 and 45.0 RPM vinyl bliss with this American-made masterpiece. Bring legendary studio sound home!

www.mofielectronics.com

THORENS® TD 403 DD

The official Thorens® website: Turntables, Electronic, Accessories

www.thorens.com

All the others have weird stuff going on, speed variations larger than your Audio Technica. Which is sad.

Believe me I have searched and searched because I didn't wanna stay with a vintage table and here I am staying on a vintage model.

You could consider this one also

The Classic Evo – Pro-Ject Audio Systems

The Classic meets the 175 VPO to melt design-ideas The new Classic Evo is based on the successful EISA Award winner Pro-Ject The Classic. The main improvement i

www.project-audio.com

Other wise you're in to 0,40 to 0.75% speed drift. Which is hella bad.

Nice. I'll add these manufacturers to my research pile. An early contender for me is a Pro-ject TT. I've read good things.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Check the Rega speed drift graph. It's so bad I want to cry...

If you don't care about the looks you can always go with Technics. Apparently this is the only modern audio brand which didn't abandon their tech and actually did have R&D still on their turntables.

Check out Technics SL 100c!

Klasa Premium SL-100C - Technics Polska

Poznaj Klasa Premium Technics. Odkryj funkcje SL-100C Technics

www.technics.com

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Nice. I'll add these manufacturers to my research pile. An early contender for me is a Pro-ject TT. I've read good things.

Becareful with Pro-Ject tts, all the cheaper options than Classic don't have any speed control chip or quartz lock or anything so they have just as bad speed drift as Rega.

Even this model which has VTA and Azimuth settings on arm which got me pretty excited, was such a let down when I opened the specification and it supposedly has a speed control chip or smth and its pretty bad... I mean hella bed.

Debut PRO – Pro-Ject Audio Systems

www.project-audio.com

What is this? Laughable quality. Check the technical specs....

I was excited until I opened the specs. What a let down.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

I would only consider the ones on my list plus Technics its a direct drive unit, like 403DD, while not looking so vintage like its probably into dead on 33 1/3 and 45rpm speed and 0,04-0,06% Wow and Flutter and costing significantly less. And it also has VTA and Azimuth settings I believe and changeble headshell.

Otherwise why go for something worse than your Audio Technica tt...

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Also came across this.

FIX WARPED RECORDS | Vinyl Flat

Vinyl Flat | The simple and affordable way to fix your warped vinyl records!

www.vinylflat.com

I recently received a record that was too warped to play. I read about a method using panes of glass and your oven. This seems to be a more precise method. That said, I’ll probably just try the glass method as its just the one LP.

I would only consider the ones on my list plus Technics its a direct drive unit, like 403DD, while not looking so vintage like its probably into dead on 33 1/3 speed and 0,04-0,06% Wow and Flutter and costing significantly less. And it also has VTA and Azimuth settings I believe and changeble headshell.

Any thoughts on whether direct drive or belt is better? I’ve only had DD.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Also came across this.

FIX WARPED RECORDS | Vinyl Flat

Vinyl Flat | The simple and affordable way to fix your warped vinyl records!

www.vinylflat.com

I recently received a record that was too warped to play. I read about a method using panes of glass and your oven. This seems to be a more precise method. That said, I’ll probably just try the glass method as its just the one LP.



Any thoughts on whether direct drive or belt is better? I’ve only had DD.

I have in Poland in Poznan a shop in the neighborhood my brother lives which fixes warped records for a small fee, haven't have been there yet. But it seems promising, they probably have like some kind of press thingie which heats up records just a lil bit to not melt the grooves and it just flattens it- at least thats how it I am trying to envision it to myself... Edit: just opened the link LMAO it is kinda what I envisioned... Could be they use THIS... Or have some kind of heavier machinery... Dunno.

I only had belt drives tt's but my next Dual model will have DD. I will answer this question, then.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

BTW Rekkord Audio is basically modern Dual.
They have the vintage Dual gimbalish bearing arm design and M-500 has the subchassis similarly to other vintage Dual turntables and even Thorens. Modern Dual turntables just have the name only, not the arm patents... And look cheap.
I've read that Rekkord Audio turntables were co-funded by ex vintage Dual engineer. Dunno if this is the truth.



You can enable the English CC.

I dig the Rekkord Audio M500 look and that it's fully manual - and subchassis reminds me more of Thorens than Dual.
Headshell also looks like it's changable. But the plastic one mounted originally reminds me a bit of vintage Dual headshell sleds.

It looks like it handles the horizontal tracking angle for you. Just like my sled does now.

Does it pop up on your end of the internet? In google? Haven't have seen it on Amazon or anything so it tough to determine if you can buy it on your end.

It's handmade so maybe the distro is limited...

But they pop up in two or three Polish shops on my end and one is authorized distributor. And they also pop up on Rekkord Audio site.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Man, I think this video sold me on that ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Some of folks have some good setups that make a brother jealous go to hell (in Chinese voice)

I have a Denon HDMI 2.1 receiver, 5.1.2 Atmos Infinity speakers and 3 SVS subs. It's good enough.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Maiden, Polish site M500 review (google translated)

Rekkord Audio M500 | test

Przetestowaliśmy jedną z dwóch manualnych konstrukcji z katalogu niemiecko-austriackiej firmy Rekkord Audio, model M500 wyposażony fabrycznie we wkładkę Ortofon 2M Blue.

www-hfc-com-pl.translate.goog

Could be a paid review, dunno.

But man that arm looks like my Dual 1246 arm, its sooooooo weeiiiird. And also pretty fun to see vintage arm design in modern tt.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Man, I think this video sold me on that ultrasonic cleaner.

Check out the Degritter.



BTW I like his channel too, Techmoan I mean. He has a bunch of cool stuff!

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Maiden, Polish site M500 review (google translated)

Rekkord Audio M500 | test

Przetestowaliśmy jedną z dwóch manualnych konstrukcji z katalogu niemiecko-austriackiej firmy Rekkord Audio, model M500 wyposażony fabrycznie we wkładkę Ortofon 2M Blue.

www-hfc-com-pl.translate.goog

Could be a paid review, dunno.

But man that arm looks like my Dual 1246 arm, its sooooooo weeiiiird. And also pretty fun to see vintage arm design in modern tt.

I really like the visual look of the Rekkord (the MoFi as well). It’s dumb but that’s also a small part of the reason I want to upgrade.

I’m still waiting to find out how much my bonus will be. Payout happens at the end of next month so I’ve got some time to decide. The payout value & home improvement cost will wind up driving my actual budget.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Anyways, I have decided to go the vintage Dual route yet again, since Poland has this tech here, he is craaaaaaazy good!

Check this tech out- he will blow your mind.

Opens up everything, motors, bearings, arms, repairs broken counterweights. He is a wizard.

He only specialises in Dual tts.

He also recaps stuff, changes the DIN wires to RCA with ground wires. Does the necessary lubrications.

He is currently the one of only 17 people on Earth owning a Dual subchassis service table. Recreated from scratch in Berlin, from old Dual records .

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

I really like the visual look of the Rekkord (the MoFi as well). It’s dumb but that’s also a small part of the reason I want to upgrade.

I’m still waiting to find out how much my bonus will be. Payout happens at the end of next month so I’ve got some time to decide. The payout value & home improvement cost will wind up driving my actual budget.

Check his review of Mofi Deck. He is the guy that made me buy my Nagaoka MP-110 cartridge.





He also made me aware of Schitt audio.

His reviews are on point. Dude is awesome.

Edit: He is Japanese I believe. His English is quite good. Most people in Japan don't speak very good in English, I believe.

The effort this dude puts in reviews is ENORMOUS.

Too bad I haven't have seen any new vids of his lately. Check his old vids, it's a gold mine of HiFi information.

BTW. I believe I briefly wrote with him in English about history of Polish audio and Polish and Japanese Pioneer cooperation in the 70s and Dual turntables. He was amazed and curious. It was like a whole new HiFi world for him. Nice dude.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Hmm, I have shared a bunch of info about Polish vintage HiFi with Ian. Maybe I should drop something on GAF, too?

Here is some drop:

The only vintage Polish direct drive turntable ever made. "Unitra" Fonica GS-424. Fonica mostly made turntables.

"Unitra" was a Polish Union/Assosiation of a bunch of Polish HiFi audio firms in the 70-80s.

"Unitra" Tonsil mostly made speakers:


Tonsil Loudspeakers brouchre:



The amazing ZG60C201 are in there too. Exported to USA under Audio Lab Consort AL-60 brand in the 70s.
First version with midrange by vintage french audio firm called Siare, second version was made with midrange of Tonsil's own design with Faraday ring.
Tweeter made in collaboration with Pioneer and Polish Tonsil- or so I've read. Big 30cm AlNiCo bass driver. It can loose strength fairly quickly if the loudspeakers were moved a bunch of times. It would be best to remagnetize those AlNiCo magnets if someone has this set especially abroad .

Tonsil drivers brochure:



Tonsil had the biggest anechoic chamber in Europe. Had a Pioneer Licence to use some speakers.

Fonica had licence for Thorens and Micro Seiki like arms. Used some Shure carts on Fonomaster turntable I believe- SHURE M44MB on Fonomaster WG-610f by Fonica.

Fonica Fonomaster.

Fonica brouchure:



"Unitra" ZRK made casette decks and reel-to-reels:

ZRK M 3401 SD

ZRK M-3201SD

Fonica mostly made turntables, but there were rare examples of a few loudspeakers sets.

But also... Amps.

Pioneer SA inspired design.

Fonica WS-503 on Czech power transistors KD-503.

Some big power amps:

Fonica WS-702, 2x 200W RMS.

WS-703 had 2×250W @8Ω or 1x500W @15Ω (I believe its in the middle, two of those stacked together).

Stuff wasn't as good as Japanese loudspeakers and amps or let's say Dual turntables but it did meet HiFi norms so it was pretty good. Still it is overpriced here tbh, because of rarity and nostalgia.

Some of those things were built like tanks. Which is nice. Simple is good sometimes. Started my HiFi journey with a bunch of those.

Sometimes people would give this stuff for free, for a bottle of vodka or a beer pack - nice times as a teen to get into HiFi. But this was before people started to feed on nostalgia and market was oversaturated with a bunch of used Unitra stuff here in Poland so it was like "its old, probably doesn't work, its not worth anything, I'm gonna throw it away or maybe do you want it?" and I was like hell yeah, and it turned out to be a hobby of mine many years later .

Simpler times! I miss those.

Though I was more jealous of audiokarma folks back in the day - saw vintage Yamaha amps, speakers and Pioneer and also JBL stuff they bought at thrift stores for like $10 to $20 posts there in like 2010 or so. I was and maybe am still a bit jealous .

Still probably some folks may be a bit jealous of me too.

It's kind of shitty that some people will miss stuff like those since everything now is so RARE. And instantly expensive : c

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Tonsil ZG40C Pioneer cloth surround licence.
Top 25cm driver is a woofer, bottom 25cm "driver" is passive radiator.
Exported to USA under Audio Lab Consort AL40, I believe .

Tonsil and Fonica and a bunch of other Unitra brands were also exported outside of Poland in the 70s and 80s under Audio Lab, Thomson, Emerson, Continental Edison, Pathe Marconi, Brandt, Nikko brands. Go take a look at your local market folks. Maybe, you will find or buy some vintage Polish HiFi stuff .

A lot of French folks may have some vintage Polish HiFi and might even not know it .

I have in my basement a National Panasonic turntable with integrated speakers and guess what?
I opened up them speakers and they have vintage 60s or early 70s Tonsil drivers with a really large vintage Tonsil logo on them. So National Panasonic stuff may too fall under Unitra or Tonsil stuff .

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

"Unitra" Radmor made stereo / quasi quadro amplituners (amp+tuner - receivers) back in the day.

Everyone wanted a set of these and ZG40Cs back in the 70s in Poland. It was a dream like set up. Also quite highly priced then. BTW 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 buttons I think those are touch sensors and not actually buttons. Fonica G-1100 fs turntable had touch sensors and it looked like those... Never had Radmor because it was always expensive .

Fonica G-1100fs

Some of old Polish amps and power amps remind me of vintage Braun German amps.

BTW. Poles have started to reactivate the Unitra brand as a whole.

Newest AUDIO VIDEO SHOW Warsaw stuff- 2022.

New amp, tuner and compact disc player and also turntable and speakers.

I'm eyeballing this for now . Curious if they will make some drops in HiFi world, out of nostalgia.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

TALK TALK, yesterday night listening.

Maybe a bit of story about my loudspeakers?

Saba CE 9596 "Continental Edison" aka Tonsil ZgC-65-8-565. Made only for French market, never to be sold on Polish market.

But... The story goes that someone in Tonsil marked whole shipping container as damaged only so they could be sold in Tonsil shops all over Poland from under the counter.

The woofer was used only in two sets of speakers Saba and also Cath AP140- a set specially made only for German market. It has coil ventilation in the back of the magnet.



CATH speakers had lacquered membranes. The second set of woofers I have on my shelf, are from those. With original voice coils and my tech will be copying those 1:1, so I will end up with four of those in original top shape.

This woofer was also exported outside of Poland to Germany under Mc Farlow logo.





I had the Cath/Mc Farlow export woofer in my Saba here briefly. And it sure sounds lively.

When I make new boxes for them from MDF and and apply veneer all over those in the near future, I think I will change all the dust caps from shiny plastic material to black cellulose, paper dust cups- from the same material of the cones of these woofers and midrange drivers. Should improve sound a lil bit! But they would look dull with black front and all black speakers, so I think I will apply new veneer also on front.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Siare French midrange driver. (v1)



USA Export Version, under Audio Lab AL60 brand. Tonsil midrange driver version. (v2)



Always wanted a set of these. More so than ZG40C.

Man those AlNico 30cm woofers sure do pump.

If someone manages to grab one of these abroad PM me for parts . I will try to help .


BTW.

Managed to find a vintage newspaper page of Mc Farlow. These are rebranded Tonsil drivers for sure.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Ordered that Kef subwoofer

 

[Maiden Voyage]

USB mic for my room acoustic measurements should arrive this afternoon. I'll spend today and tomorrow messing around with it both in my living room and in my office.

Subwoofer should arrive this week as well, so I'll be taking quite a few measurements.

I am stupidly excited to go down this rabbit hole.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Also, after getting really anal-retentive about my speaker placement in the past few days, I'm convinced Angel by Massive Attack might be the perfect song to test audio gear with.

 

[AJUMP23]

Electric/power pole thingie is reference to this:

A quote I heard about the Japanese people encapsulates them well, "The Japanese are like everyone else, Only more so."

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Testing stuff. I got a bit of tricked by my audiophile friend to listen to "cheap" wires.

Regular copper 1mm wire

$0.50 per one meter.


Oxygen free 2.5mm Polish copper wire (non audio brand, industrial stuff so no for audio TAXX)

$1.80-$2 per one meter (I think I payed like $1,39 per one meter in 2021).

Same EQ settings, similar volume.

I honestly think its audible. I was quite sceptical of this but man. Yeah. I really like the "ofc" sound, tbh. Dunno if the difference is due to quality of copper and its purity or simply because the wire has more thickness and compliance with my loudspeakers is just better thou .

But I really don't wanna go into that territory and start to listen to wires like a maniac, I'm quite happy with my purchase in 2021, thank you very much .

Anyways, I also jumped the whole 80s music badwagon and now I'm consumed. Tidal just recommends me stuff and I can't stop building my playlist.

Hmm, what are your thoughts on remasters anyways? Its kinda hit and miss for me. Mostly they are kinda meh but some have mindblowing quality sometimes.

But most of the time, especially with 80s songs they tend to loose the nostalgia factor (echo) or weight (the kick bass suddenly disappears or smth).

Also thoughts on wires?

 

[Maiden Voyage]

I've never put too much stock into cables myself as I doubt my system could resolve any difference. I use Audioquest Evergreen and Blue Jean cables for the most part. I bought some Pyst Snake Oil cables from Schiit specifically for the stack as the BJ cables are way too thick and cause the Schiit gear to tip over.

For the Eq stuff, early results are that I have a massive bass problem, which is not surprising (hence me buying a new sub). Decay time and FR is excessive. I also need to figure out the mic a bit more as the SPL meter was showing 60 dbs and my phone meter 30.

Anyway, the rest of the measurements seem decent for my room being completely untreated. I'll need to repeat the exercise once the new sub arrives. I will do my computer room tomorrow while I wait. That one will probably be a bit worse.

 

[Korranator]

Hmm, what are your thoughts on remasters anyways? Its kinda hit and miss for me. Mostly they are kinda meh but some have mindblowing quality sometimes.

But most of the time, especially with 80s songs they tend to loose the nostalgia factor (echo) or weight (the kick bass suddenly disappears or smth).

Also thoughts on wires?

From my experience most remasters are just louder recordings, which they achieve by decreasing the dynamic range. AKA the Loudness War.

Typical example Sonic Youth Daydream Nation 1988 release is a DR12, while the remastered deluxe version 2007 is only DR8.

https://dr.loudness-war.info/?artist=Sonic+Youth&album=daydream+nation

A quick video explaining the practice.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Do you guys listen to stuff with grills off or on?

I tend to listen without grills since its audible to me the cloth even if has minimal sound absorbtion its still distorting a bit of trebles for me. Sometimes I loose the "air" I hear in trebles without the grills with them on.

I'm also quite curious about your own experience in general. Just curious if its my subconscious stuff or OCD here or if its really audible. Let's start the conversation on this topic.

More so than on wires since I doubt I would here the difference in 99,5 or 99,99 ofc purity or just different jackets or insulations of some wires. I think it's stupid to overpay for those and for "audio" writing or some hiend audio brand logo. That's why I have gone with my budget ofc wire in 2021 and I'm fully content with it. It is flexible, pretty thick but not too much and I really don't wanna make unhealthy habit of it. NS-670s will get the same 2.5 ofc industrial level wire and I will call it a day.

I found new terminals for NSs btw

Originals are bent on one terminal (I'm just worried the connector will come off altogether) and I matched the new one, plate fits like a glove basically 1:1 from Monacor. I can use some cheap banana plugs with those just for the pure convenience. So I can easily unplug in plug stuff in.

Even the spacing between screws match.

And it's much cheaper than ebay stuff that says it fits NS family. Ebay stuff is like $28. Monacor stuff is like $4.60. Even if I fit in better plugs from Nakamichi those are much shorter so if original one won't fit I will just reuse the plate, it is still cheaper than ebay stuff.

Monacor stuff is like for a pair of plates so x4 plugs.

Nakamichi is like $5 for two plugs.

Both easily found in Poland, quick shipment 2-3 days tops. And ordering much pricer ones from ebay is easily 2 weeks waiting time if not more is a bit of stupid. Those look low quality anyways.

Yamaha terminals (left), Monacor plate ones (in the middle), and on the right Nakamichi plugs. I'd rather DIY something myself.

 

[TheHighFlyingBirds]

Also, after getting really anal-retentive about my speaker placement in the past few days, I'm convinced Angel by Massive Attack might be the perfect song to test audio gear with.

One of my demo tracks I use, really sorts out the boys from the men, given the deep bass and different layers of instruments.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

One of my demo tracks I use, really sorts out the boys from the men, given the deep bass and different layers of instruments.

Its best to check out the phases too.

It can sure fuck up the bass too.

I couldnt figure out the phases right, played a test track noticed that something is really wrong... Just to open up speakers and notice the wires were soldered wrong. Plus and minus were inverted...

Fixed all of my low bass problems since then.

I used this simple test:


Helped me a lot.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Do you guys listen to stuff with grills off or on?

I tend to listen without grills since its audible to me the cloth even if has minimal sound absorbtion its still distorting a bit of trebles for me. Sometimes I loose the "air" I hear in trebles without the grills with them on.

I'm also quite curious about your own experience in general. Just curious if its my subconscious stuff or OCD here or if its really audible. Let's start the conversation on this topic.

More so than on wires since I doubt I would here the difference in 99,5 or 99,99 ofc purity or just different jackets or insulations of some wires. I think it's stupid to overpay for those and for "audio" writing or some hiend audio brand logo. That's why I have gone with my budget ofc wire in 2021 and I'm fully content with it. It is flexible, pretty thick but not too much and I really don't wanna make unhealthy habit of it. NS-670s will get the same 2.5 ofc industrial level wire and I will call it a day.

I found new terminals for NSs btw

Originals are bent on one terminal (I'm just worried the connector will come off altogether) and I matched the new one, plate fits like a glove basically 1:1 from Monacor. I can use some cheap banana plugs with those just for the pure convenience. So I can easily unplug in plug stuff in.

Even the spacing between screws match.

And it's much cheaper than ebay stuff that says it fits NS family. Ebay stuff is like $28. Monacor stuff is like $4.60. Even if I fit in better plugs from Nakamichi those are much shorter so if original one won't fit I will just reuse the plate, it is still cheaper than ebay stuff.

Monacor stuff is like for a pair of plates so x4 plugs.

Nakamichi is like $5 for two plugs.

Both easily found in Poland, quick shipment 2-3 days tops. And ordering much pricer ones from ebay is easily 2 weeks waiting time if not more is a bit of stupid. Those look low quality anyways.

Yamaha terminals (left), Monacor plate ones (in the middle), and on the right Nakamichi plugs. I'd rather DIY something myself.

Grills off for me, mostly for aesthetic reasons. The ones that came with my speakers are really thin but the misses axed them before I gave 'em a proper listen. She's been very understanding through my audio journey

 

[Maiden Voyage]

All right, for simplicity's sake I am limiting the number of readings. In all actuality, I took the following measurements: left channel, right channel, L+R, left + sub, right + sub, L+R + sub, sub, no output (null). The graph below is just L+R, L+R + sub, sub, and null.

Edit: So I realized my HVAC fan was running and turned that off. Readings got a lot more clear after that. I'm keeping the original post below in quotes as a reference. Here are the updated readings with toe-in and with the fan shut off. I also realized there was some BG noise from cars a few blocks away, which is probably some of the anomaly in the spectrogram.
Brown = Null; Green = Sub; Blue = L+R; Red = L+R + sub

Measurements are at the listening position, no toe-in, smoothed to 1/6. Toe-in and other measurements will occur, but unless they dramatically alter the data, I'll spare everyone the details.
Note the high response on Null (brown line) in the lower FR. Green = Sub; Orange = L+R; Purple = L+R + sub
Only 10db difference in the 100-200Hz range. ~15db in the 100-500Hz range. From my understanding typical home acoustics tend to fall within that range. Studio is 5db or less.

Waterfall and spectrogram really highlight the lower FR issue in my room. Decay issues in the 100-200 range are less than ideal.

I'm thinking I will probably forgo the new turntable in favor of taming the bass and targeting some of those problem areas at 100, 200, and 400 hz.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

All right, for simplicity's sake I am limiting the number of readings. In all actuality, I took the following measurements: left channel, right channel, L+R, left + sub, right + sub, L+R + sub, sub, no output (null). The graph below is just L+R, L+R + sub, sub, and null.

Measurements are at the listening position, no toe-in, smoothed to 1/6. Toe-in and other measurements will occur, but unless they dramatically alter the data, I'll spare everyone the details.
Note the high response on Null (brown line) in the lower FR. Green = Sub; Orange = L+R; Purple = L+R + sub
Only 10db difference in the 100-200Hz range. ~15db in the 100-500Hz range. From my understanding typical home acoustics tend to fall within that range. Studio is 5db or less.

Waterfall and spectrogram really highlight the lower FR issue in my room. Decay issues in the 100-200 range are less than ideal.

I'm thinking I will probably forgo the new turntable in favor of taming the bass and targeting some of those problem areas at 100, 200, and 400 hz.

What kind of walls do you have?

Any empty space? Plasterboard walls?

How is your flooring? Any suspended floor with empty space?

Those would be the usual culprits in creating said bass holes.

Should be all packed in with mineral wool. If they are any!

I have this problem also. Btw

I kinda fixed it with a lot of furniture and a rug.

But the main problem is still there.

Also please as I have mentioned check the speaker phasing.

Or maybe invest in accustic boards hexagonal kind with your bonus, we covered that subject briefly? Could improve things and look fairly cool.

The uneven design thingie.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

What kind of walls do you have?

Any empty space? Plasterboard walls?

How is your flooring? Any suspended floor with empty space?

Those would be the usual culprits in creating said bass holes.

Should be all packed in with mineral wool. If they are any!

I have this problem also. Btw

I kinda fixed it with a lot of furniture and a rug.

But the main problem is still there.

Also please as I have mentioned check the speaker phasing.

Or maybe invest in accustic boards hexagonal kind with your bonus, we covered that subject briefly? Could improve things and look fairly cool.

Yeah, I'm looking at the phase as well. I don't understand how to best interpret those measurements just yet.

I've got a buddy who is an audio engineer and has his own speaker company. He wants to come over and do some side-by-side comparisons with his first commercially-available speaker. He's in an entirely different category though. He's more in the mid/high end of portable speakers but he wants to be able to also integrate into home I suspect given the request. Anyway, I am hoping to leverage his brain when he comes over for my own set-up.

Not much empty space besides behind the listening postion in the back 50% of the room. Sheet rock walls (somewhat barren for the moment behind the speakers). Wood flooring with rugs and wool padding underneath (should help with reflections). My sub right now is in the corner and I will fiddle around with the new one when it shows up. I will actually take the time to do proper placement with that. The REW software also comes with a room simulator to help with placement that I will try out.

Overall, I'm pleased with the measurement so far considering I have absolutely zero treatment in place. I'll be looking at bass traps for sure once I do some more research and talk to my buddy.

Angel is going to get played a lot over the next couple of days.

---

Also, I keep forgetting to mention, in pursuit of taming static on my vinyl I picked up one of these:

Teac: Washi Paper Anti-Static Turntable Sheet

Buy Teac: Washi Paper Turntable Sheet at TurntableLab.com, a Better Music Store Experience since 1999.

www.turntablelab.com

I just placed on top of my cork/rubber mat and it seems to have done the trick. I've only tested it on one record so far because I've been pre-occupied with the room measurements. I'll give it 10-20 more tries and report back on the medium term results.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Night and day difference with the new sub. The entire low FR is clear now.

I’ve got some initial measurements but I want to mess around with it some more.

 

[Putonahappyface]

Night and day difference with the new sub. The entire low FR is clear now.

I’ve got some initial measurements but I want to mess around with it some more.

Absolutely. I've had a BK Monolith Plus FF and now a SVS SB2000 Pro. Both left me with a huge smile on my face. I definitely prefer a sealed box over a ported box now.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Yeah, phases are a bitch. Simple inverted minus with plus is making stuff weird.

Bass should always come from the center of the loudspeakers with proper weight.

If its off and it does come from the sides, you won't have proper weight and something will feel off- hence the unsufficient bass. It could be only due to room acoustics though but its best to firstly rule this one out. Since one of the woofers will be jumping up and the other should have the same motion but instead one is pushing out and the other has in motion- in other words phase.

Mine bass driver was soldered wrong inside one of the loudspeakers so it didnt matter how many times I changed stuff in the terminals of my amp... it didn't do much.

This simple track has managed to narrow it down to phase issue in one of the loudspeakers. From there it was quite simple and easy fix.

Same thing is gonna happen when I will try to match two sets of speakers, I can feel it in my gut already.

When I will reasamble the Yammies NS-670s and will try to match them with my Sabas, I bet I will invent curses and start to speak in ancient language. Phases man, this things scare me .

I already did try to have set A+B stereo, two times in the past. It was always an issue to set the corect phase on both sets so the could play along. It was always a chore but after, it was 2x stronger bass, SPL and whatnot.

My amp matches two 8ohm sets of speakers and makes it so as I would have plugged in one big set of 4ohms loudspeakers, hence 2x SPL.

That is the general idea behind my purchase of NS-670s. To match them with Saba, and be blown away.

4x 25cm woofers (10 inch) playing along in correct phase at 8+8ohms=4ohm x2 SPL .

No matter how many bass traps are in my room, this will push through. Raw power. Kind of like muscle car analogy- big, loud and powerful. It has too.

And if one set is a bit dark and other bright- they will play pretty full in all the frequency range. One will complete the other. Been there already and done that in the past. Sounds absolutly nuts in person. But them phasing . It will be difficult but well worth it.

Too bad Yammies started to be a project which I have been putting on and off because of my health issues.

But baby steps, will get there hopefully!

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Here's the phase measurement from yesterday. I still need to take new measurements now that I am satisfied with the set-up. I still need to experiment with sub placement some more. Right now it's actually chilling in my entertainment center. Normally I wouldn't do this, but it's closed box, front-facing. It took about an hour for the internals to warm up and get the speaker to actually work as intended. At first I thought there was something wrong with it, as it was not producing any sound at all. If it wasn't the cold from being outside, I don't know why it would have taken that long to start to produce noise.

So clearly there are some issues at ~48hz, 70, 90, & 250.

 

[TheHighFlyingBirds]

Absolutely. I've had a BK Monolith Plus FF and now a SVS SB2000 Pro. Both left me with a huge smile on my face. I definitely prefer a sealed box over a ported box now.

I have a BK sub, the xxls400, fantastic sub for the money. Wouldnt mind trying an svs, as heard lots of good things about them. But a new sub isn't on my list of things to get, so cant see me going there anytime soon.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

I have two of these hidden in two cardboxes

GDN 25/60/1 8 Ohm - Sklep Audio Tonsil

sklep internetowy,głośniki,systemy pa,mikrofony,sprzet audio,kina domowe,wzmacniacze radiowęzłowe.Zobacz koniecznie ☑️ GDN 25/60/1 8 Ohm ☑️ Niskotonowe ☑️ w cenie 198.00 zł ☑️ głośniki, kolumny, sprzęt audio ☑️ kup na SklepTonsil.pl.

www.skleptonsil.pl

Could always make a sub down the road...

But 5 or 6 ten inch woofers in one room could be too much I guess .

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Not mine but it reminds me that I really to get some decorations on my wall.

I want to get a nice print of this photo of Otis Redding to put up on my wall somewhere.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

Volume warning at the start of the video. Process of speaker manufacturing in Japan.

 

[Maiden Voyage]

I really want to get one of these Eames chairs but the price tag always makes me blush. Even the $1k knock offs are a bit much for me.

 

[It's all in the wrist]

Mmmm. Expensive, impeccably machined rectangular boxes give my life meaning.

Im currently running 4 KEF LS50s and 2 12" SVS subs in my bedroom. Headphones are the trusty HD650. Cant wait to upgrade the speaker setup when I move into my home next year.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

double post

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

Those are my speakers.

Thanks for sharing that actually. I've been searching for an alternative stand for them.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

Them kickbass is so good in a closed enclosure, subs with BR tend to loose in a heavy kickbass song ;c



Maiden, test it on KEF and see if its weird. I'm curious .

Those BPMs on kickbass get real crazy sometimes here.