shauns (12/01/82)
Alright, folks...
I'm about to bite the bullet and replace my 4-year old B&O 1900 turntable
and cartridge. I want to replace it with a platter/arm combination that
allows cartridge interchangeability.
Rather than wade through the hyperbole that surrounds the arm/cartridge
matching problem, I'm considering circumventing it by going to a servo-type
arm a la Sony Biotracer or the Denon P51/52F. However, I am not
completely sold on the merits of this concept and would welcome good
simple arm equivalents.
I'd like to find out what experience people have had with this type of
arm/platter and the cartridge they used-also, any suggestions for
conventional equivalents within the following criteria:
=turntable list price below $500-550
=auto cue/return
=optimum cartridge weight of around 5-7 grams
=reliable
My present cartridge considerations are the Grace F9E/Eruby, the Fidelity
Research MC-301/2, the Dynavector DV23R, and maybe the Shure V15V.
Anyone have comments on these particular brands? I'd like to stay away
from moving coils because I see no real performance advantage of such types
over MMs at the same price and don't want to buy a step-up transformer.
Shaun Simpkins
uucp: {ucbvax,decvax,chico,pur-ee,cbosg,ihnss}!teklabs!tekcad!shauns
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ARPAnet:shauns.tek@rand-relayark (12/02/82)
I recently bought a Sony PS-X600 and Shure V-15 type V. I'm very pleased. The Sony is one of the Biotracer models, and the thing works very well. The only thing they don't tell you (unless you read the manual carefully) is that it doesn't track badly warped records as well as you might expect from the combination of the servo arm and the damped brush on the cartridge. Apparently, serious warps make the tone arm want to move more quickly than it wants to. At any rate, buried in the manual is the admonition to increase tracking force 20% when playing badly warped records. This does work. The V-15 type V is recommended to track at 1 gram, plus 0.5 for the brush, for a total of 1.5 . I have not yet found a record so badly warped that it will not track it at 1.65 grams. As for performance: I can hear no wow or flutter and the rumble level is obviously better with the Sony than with the Dual 1219 it replaced. I bought the turntable + cartridge for about $400 from a local discounter.