Horlicks hour, ot three . . . ?

CJSF

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Move on, yep, thats what one has to do. The past few weeks have been a real roller-coaster of frustrations over cartridges and TT tweaks and de-tweaks, advise and counter advise, the head started to complain. Walk away, regroup for a couple of days . . . works wonders.

I had a radical re think, the Benz thing just was not happening, lip service, but actually getting a dem, let alone a dem cartridge, was like asking for the crown jewels. So, lets talk to my friendly local (thats 10 minutes round the corner local) . . . what about a Sumiko Blue Point Special or a Dynovector DV-20X2H? . . . Both on my original list of possibles, OK.

Picked them up Thursday afternoon, the Sumiko is totally nude, vulnerable in the extreme, my skills at cartridge changing are 20+ years old, ones dexterity is not what it used to be, Oh boy . . . all went well, one soon established the Sumiko was not for me, a sophisticated version of the Ortofon Blue which I'm trying to get away from.

Install the Dyno 20x2H, much less stress, it has a stylus guard. Been 30+ years since I had a Dyno, a very early version of the 10x and my first proper deck/cartridge, happy days. Any way, from the fist few seconds of the 20x I new I was in the right ball park. A little tracking adjustments, warm, musical was first impressions . . . and this from a cartridge the dealers said had limited running in time, needed more he thought.

I listened . . . if this is 'pre full run in' what on earth will it be like in another 50 hours?

The Dynovector has a quality that draws one in to the music, detail is there by the spade full as part of the whole, rather than the analytical chunk presentation I have been listening to. This is exciting, its bringing those old memories to life, turning them into reality . . . first session over, tingling spine . . .

Hazel, me and the dog! sat on the sofa (hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil :rofl: ) for our now normal, Horlicks hour. 12 midnight, a bit later than usual. I said to Hazel, say nothing just listen to a couple of tracks, I played, Carol Kidd and Jazz at the Pawn shop, . . . "Wow, thats it" she said, we moved on to Enya, Miserere, and a few others, Horlicks hour turned into a 3 hour session! Its a good job I'm off for the week.

Trying to keep feet on the ground. I tried to listen last night to the Dyno as a piece of analytical hifi, as I could do with the Ortofons, impossible, it simply dragged my mind back to the music performance. The image was totally believable, width, depth, height and position, the P5/PB700 + DV-20x combination is capable of superb tactile qualities akin to my old memories.

Almost? given up on Benz . . . I was prepared to drive around half the country and still no joy :wall: Talking to my dealer a couple of miles down the road, he has come up with the goods, saved me £125, and all the cost, time of driving, money in the bank as they say!

Its now time to go put some more hours on that 20x2 and wallow in a memory of nostalgia . . . I still have the option to listen to a Benz, if one came up? but the drive has dramatically diminished to one of curiosity :dance:

CJSF
 

chebby

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CnoEvil said:
CJSF said:
..... Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil. CJSF

......somebody taking my name in vain?:shifty:

Only if you are a nocturnal, jazz-loving dog with a taste for malted milk drinks and a talent for accurately assessing the differences between phono cartridges...

CJSF said:
Hazel, me and the dog! sat on the sofa (hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil :rofl: ) for our now normal, Horlicks hour. 12 midnight, a bit later than usual. I said to Hazel, say nothing just listen to a couple of tracks, I played, Carol Kidd and Jazz at the Pawn shop, . . .
 

CnoEvil

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chebby said:
CnoEvil said:
CJSF said:
..... Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil. CJSF

......somebody taking my name in vain?:shifty:

Only if you are a nocturnal, jazz-loving dog with a taste for malted milk drinks and a talent for accurately assessing the differences between phono cartridges...

CJSF said:
Hazel, me and the dog! sat on the sofa (hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil :rofl: ) for our now normal, Horlicks hour. 12 midnight, a bit later than usual. I said to Hazel, say nothing just listen to a couple of tracks, I played, Carol Kidd and Jazz at the Pawn shop, . . .

Yup! That sums me up in a headshell!
 

CJSF

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CnoEvil said:
CJSF said:
..... Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil. CJSF

......somebody taking my name in vain?:shifty:

Cno:

Never 'head' you 'speak' or 'seen' you . . . ??? :grin:

Still putting the 20x2 through its paces . . . :? had a chat this afternoon with 'Infidelity' as suggested by Plastic Penguin . . . thank you PP. Very knowledgeable guy is Carl, he understood exactly what I was at, new where I was going, was ahead of me even! Totally clued in to my 20 year old memories and SQ . . . agreed with the machined ISOsub and ISOweight as worth while upgrades to a P5 and in agreement, acrylic platters are questionable, depending on system and ones own preferences.

So we are still on to dem the 'Benz ACE' . . . when one can be got? Apparently 'Benz' is a two man band outfit . . . correction, one man and his daughter. Like so many of these outfits, perfectionist, every cartridge is passed by Dr Benz himself? Carl also said the Dyno 20x should be there and also the Clair Audio Wood. These he will set up for me to audition. He also suggested I audition the Grado Reference 1, that I can borrow from my other source, thats a very fair man . . . The others have got to be good, we are really enjoying the Dynovector.

CJSF
 

CJSF

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chebby said:
CnoEvil said:
CJSF said:
..... Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil. CJSF

......somebody taking my name in vain?:shifty:

Only if you are a nocturnal, jazz-loving dog with a taste for malted milk drinks and a talent for accurately assessing the differences between phono cartridges...

CJSF said:
Hazel, me and the dog! sat on the sofa (hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil :rofl: ) for our now normal, Horlicks hour. 12 midnight, a bit later than usual. I said to Hazel, say nothing just listen to a couple of tracks, I played, Carol Kidd and Jazz at the Pawn shop, . . .

Priceless Chebby . . . :type: CJSF
 
This is a "Collective wipe of the brow moment"....
smiley-smile.gif
 
CJSF said:
CnoEvil said:
CJSF said:
..... Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil. CJSF

......somebody taking my name in vain?:shifty:

Cno:

Never 'head' you 'speak' or 'seen' you . . . ??? :grin:

Still putting the 20x2 through its paces . . . :? had a chat this afternoon with 'Infidelity' as suggested by Plastic Penguin . . . thank you PP. Very knowledgeable guy is Carl, he understood exactly what I was at, new where I was going, was ahead of me even! Totally clued in to my 20 year old memories and SQ . . . agreed with the machined ISOsub and ISOweight as worth while upgrades to a P5 and in agreement, acrylic platters are questionable, depending on system and ones own preferences.

So we are still on to dem the 'Benz ACE' . . . when one can be got? Apparently 'Benz' is a two man band outfit . . . correction, one man and his daughter. Like so many of these outfits, perfectionist, every cartridge is passed by Dr Benz himself? Carl also said the Dyno 20x should be there and also the Clair Audio Wood. These he will set up for me to audition. He also suggested I audition the Grado Reference 1, that I can borrow from my other source, thats a very fair man . . . The others have got to be good, we are really enjoying the Dynovector.

CJSF

Yes, very knowledgeable people at IF. I don't use them that often purely because I don't upgrade until it becomes a necessity.
 

CJSF

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edplaysdrums42 said:
plastic penguin said:
This is a "Collective wipe of the brow moment"....
smiley-smile.gif

:rofl: +1.....but then again i selfishly i dont want it to end! CJ we love your posts

Cheers Ed

Thanks Ed . . . nice of you to say so. I know I get a bit OTT some times, leave myself wide open to often . . . but thats me, WYSIWYG! I enjoy the banter . . . most of the time:boohoo: and try to give as good as I get:bounce:

I'll get there some day, having gone around in ever decreasing circles . . . I just have to get there before I disappear up . . . . . . . . . . . . !!!! :cheers:

CJSF
 

CJSF

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Turn off the music now for a while . . . looking forward to my occasional indulgence into a good old fashioned English fry up, including fried bread :bounce: makes a change from Christmas left overs . . . still plenty of them to go though:? Then a sit in front of the box for a while look for a decent film, last night it was Clint Eastwood, in his roll as 'Harry Callaghan', yea, we like the old stuff in films as well, beginning, middle and end! Followed by 'New Tricks', hence the last Horlicks hour.

You will be interested to know, the afternoons needle time has noticeably tightened up the bottom end of the 20x, its so easy to hear what happening sitting hear, tapping away at the computer, two great speaker within a couple of feet of each ear, like giant head phones . . . :cheer:

. . . ham, egg and chips up :dance: . . . no thats not the name of the album I was listening to . . . CJSF
 

matthewpiano

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CJSF said:
edplaysdrums42 said:
plastic penguin said:
This is a "Collective wipe of the brow moment"....
smiley-smile.gif

:rofl: +1.....but then again i selfishly i dont want it to end! CJ we love your posts

Cheers Ed

Thanks Ed . . . nice of you to say so. I know I get a bit OTT some times, leave myself wide open to often . . . but thats me, WYSIWYG! I enjoy the banter . . . most of the time:boohoo: and try to give as good as I get:bounce:

I'll get there some day, having gone around in ever decreasing circles . . . I just have to get there before I disappear up . . . . . . . . . . . . !!!! :cheers:

CJSF

We all end up there occasionally CJSF. I know I've tangled myself up in all sorts of mess with hi-fi and I still do it now occasionally. It can be hard to get to that point where you accept that you are actually enjoying the music and you don't need to change or try anything else. Its all part of the bug!
 

CJSF

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chebby said:
CJSF said:
Followed by 'New Tricks'...

You won't need the Horlicks.

Sorry Chebby . . . had another 'New Tricks' to night good story, as it was last night IMHO. Did 'Jonathan Creek' as well tonight . . . Hazel likes it, I fell asleep through half of it!

Got the vinyl on now . . . Horlicks will be in soon . . . CJSF
 

CnoEvil

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CJSF said:
Got the vinyl on now . . . Horlicks will be in soon . . . CJSF

....try some Ovaltine, mixed with Yaks Milk and heated in a copper kettle over an open fire, while standing on a junction of 2 ley lines! ;)

Happy New Year my old friend

Cno
 

CJSF

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CnoEvil said:
CJSF said:
Got the vinyl on now . . . Horlicks will be in soon . . . CJSF

....try some Ovaltine, mixed with Yaks Milk and heated in a copper kettle over an open fire, while standing on a junction of 2 ley lines! ;) Happy New Year my old friend Cno

Hi Cno, Yaks Milk, might be a problem to get . . . :? I used to live within 5 miles of the Ovaltine Factory, lovely drink when I was a young'n . . . tried it recently . . . dont taste the same, maybe I have changed?

The memories . . . I was a bad sleeper as a youngster, Doc., recommended a spoon full of malt extract and a milk drink before bed . . . did the trick. Have had a Horlick every night ever since, some times mum used to get Ovaltine as a treat. I tried leaving it out a while back, Horlick is expensive . . . disaster.

Ah well, it a good excuse, sofa, a cuddle and some music . . . ;)

Wishing all a Happy new year . . . CJSF
 

DIB

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CnoEvil said:
CJSF said:
Got the vinyl on now . . . Horlicks will be in soon . . . CJSF

....try some Ovaltine, mixed with Yaks Milk and heated in a copper kettle over an open fire, while standing on a junction of 2 ley lines! ;) Happy New Year my old friend Cno

I've always found a 99.99999% OFC copper kettle gives the best results. Avoid a silver spoon.

.
 
DIB said:
CnoEvil said:
CJSF said:
Got the vinyl on now . . . Horlicks will be in soon . . . CJSF

....try some Ovaltine, mixed with Yaks Milk and heated in a copper kettle over an open fire, while standing on a junction of 2 ley lines! ;) Happy New Year my old friend Cno

I've always found a 99.99999% OFC copper kettle gives the best results. Avoid a silver spoon.

.

Didn't you know that most 'Copper Kettle Threads' are usually locked.
 

chebby

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CJSF said:
chebby said:
CJSF said:
Followed by 'New Tricks'...
You won't need the Horlicks.

Sorry Chebby . . . had another 'New Tricks' to night good story, as it was last night IMHO.

We have all the 'New Tricks' series on DVD (my wife likes it so I buy the box-sets for her as each series becomes available) but I cannot stand watching them. Should be called 'One Trick' to reflect the range of most of the actors involved.
 

CnoEvil

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plastic penguin said:
DIB said:
CnoEvil said:
CJSF said:
Got the vinyl on now . . . Horlicks will be in soon . . . CJSF

....try some Ovaltine, mixed with Yaks Milk and heated in a copper kettle over an open fire, while standing on a junction of 2 ley lines! ;) Happy New Year my old friend Cno

I've always found a 99.99999% OFC copper kettle gives the best results. Avoid a silver spoon.

.

Didn't you know that most 'Copper Kettle Threads' are usually locked.

A proper cup of coffee needs a proper copper coffee kettle...that should be bad enough to get the thread locked! :shifty:
 

CJSF

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altruistic.lemon said:
So you like the Dynavector but still want to try the Benz, is that correct?

Yes alturistic.lemon,

The Dynovector is going in the right direction, warm, musical, detailed and has a really good sound stage . . . so yes, we like it. However, one bird never made a summer, with nothing yet to compare, who says its the 'best bang for my buck'? Infidelity seemed to think I should also audition Benz, Clear Audio and Grado, they are Dyno dealers as well, so have no axe to grind. Why not, my time, my £500 plus a bit . . . my grey hair:?

The Dyno is not perfect, I set it up, worked out the VTA, and ended up tuning the tracking weight audibly to 1.8g's. OK, but the base was not so good, Infinity said go to 2g's . . . improved the base end but seriously sat on the mid range. Not happy, so re did the tracking weight/bios, opened out, all is 'nearly' sweetness and light. However, the extra hours needle time seems to have helped all round, base is better but not as good as the Ortofon 2m Blue! . . . that tracks a 32hz organ pipe without a flutter . . . come to think about it, how on earth my LB1's respond at that level . . . ???

Thats HiFi . . . CJSF
 

chebby

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CJSF said:
. . . base is better but not as good as the Ortofon 2m Blue! . . . that tracks a 32hz organ pipe without a flutter . . . come to think about it, how on earth my LB1's respond at that level . . .???

PMC specifications for the LB1 quote "Useable freq response 35Hz-25kHz". (If used as PMC recommend, close to a wall to enhance the bass, and toed in such that the listening axis of each speaker crosses at a point behind the listener's head.)
 

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