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Do AR speakers really sound that good? ** MORE NEW VIDEO**


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5-17-19

“” Do AR speakers really sound that good?  or “Sharing the Sound” or “Why Do We Toil The Way We Do With Old Wooden Boxes?”

Does anyone want to share with other members what their set-up sounds like?*

Obviously you have a computer and maybe a digital camera or phone so, chances are your digital camera/phone can record video.

How long can members go on speaking about sanding rectangular wood boxes and cleaning potentiometers, or reinforcing particleboard T-nut fasteners with wood glue?

Recording a video is rather straight forward, you may have to do a few tests before you find the best way to record or get the best but, that is part of the fun.

Will it be ‘room-filling’ sound with a  ‘you are there’ sonic-presentation or scaled down to just some sound emanating from two obtrusive boxes?

Are your guests impressed and moved by the music or are they mildly enlightened by your efforts in filling a room with hardware? Do guests tolerate your endeavors for five minutes or do they agree that they’d enjoy it if you played more music?

With all this vintage AR speaker enthusiasm on this site, you’d think members would want others to hear what they’re listening to?

In videoing, one doesn’t have to include the whole room, one could focus on their equipment as a stationary view and let the music record from your ‘sweet-spot’. You do have a sweet-spot, don’t you. My sweet-spot is not necessarily facing my speakers but, seated fifteen feet away I sit at a right-angle to the speakers as I prefer to be enveloped by the sound almost like being in a music-hall so, I record from where I usually sit facing the equipment.

*Most home videos will not allow for a totally accurate representation of the room’s sound quality or what is reaching one’s ears but,  at least we’d all have an idea of the sound-quality is like. From there, members could assist, critique and advise others with how they went about achieving the best quality for that given set-up and room and how to make it even better.

FM

Play video below. Pardon video shaking, must've been an earthquake or the house settling.  Input:  Lyra Delos, Technics SL-120, S.M.E. 3009 Pre-Improved,  Denon AU-340 SUT, all set-up and tuned to near perfection. Two restored Phase Linear Series Two PL-700 amplifiers driving four (4) AR-LST speakers,  Carver C-4000 Pre-Amp,  S.A.E. 1800 parametric equalizer, StraightWire Symphony II interconnects, 12AWG speaker cables, room dimensions are 12.5ft. x 26ft. x 8ft.ceilings.

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My sweet-spot is not necessarily facing my speakers but, I sit at a right-angle to the speakers as I prefer to be enveloped by the sound almost like being in a music-hall so, I record from where I usually sit facing the equipment.

But if you sit facing your equipment, isn't your left ear turned away from your LSTs? 

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The room is rectangular therefore with the speakers at one end, and my 'sweet-spot' placing me sitting almost three-quarters in the room away from the speakers, the resultant bounced sound does afford me enough separation to enjoy signals from both the left and right speakers. Typically I'm not the sort of listener that insists equal amounts of sound exactly being a 'left-right', or 'right-left' listening proposition. Nor is that what one hears at a live concert as hall reflections and ambient sound typically comes from many directions. In my set-up, if a bass is recorded and intended to come from the left speaker, I will hear it from the left speaker and ditto for the inverse.

AR-LST"s have angled side panels that radiate to the sides as so designed. In my set-up the left and right speakers are a least two feet from the room corners and the right speaker's wall being only slightly different because of a window but, that's 6 feet away, what I'm trying to say is the left side of the room gets a little bit more wall support. In fact, because of the left speaker's side corner wall support, it also radiates a bit more than the right side. I have no issue with separation as the stereo image is intact.

Case in point when listening to mono-disks I don't sit there and analyze how much signal is coming from which speaker nor do I do that with stereo disks unless it's obviously recorded that way. Besides, 'stereo' is not defined as 'left-right' or 'right-left', it is actually a blend of both unless a recording defines a larger degree of separation for a particular affect, it's typically a blended support of sound from both sides. While using the phono cartridge shown above which has  36db of separation  being one that has more separation than most. What matters most to me is the separation of each individual instrument's placement, sound and amount of detail in the mix, not being reliant exactly on what's coming from the left or right sides.

But, to your point, yes dependent on how much I turn my head the left-right stereo separation can and does vary somewhat but naturally so.  The days of 'Stereo-Separation Thrills and Special Effects' is long gone and not like it was in the early 1960's and '70s.  Admittedly, as desirable as a rectangular room is for listening, no room is perfect as furnishings, curtains, couches, chairs and rugs will absorb and reflect sound differently and will contribute to the over-all sound  perceived and heard. 

Nor am I the sort of listener that insists tone controls being in their 'flat' position, especially when using AR speakers. I learned  long ago in 1971-72 while using the kit-built (I built in 1967) tube Dynaco PAS-3X pre-amp that in order to have sound pleasingly realistic it necessitated a slight increase of both the bass and treble controls to avoid the proverbial  'wet-blanket' sound that  AR's reputation was garnering as compared to say 'JBLs' sound character. That in of itself was another reason AR devised the AR-LST speaker, in affect, more highs and more reflected radiation of sound. AR also modified their tweeters to permit a larger amount of high frequencies as time went on, the LST and to a lesser extent the 10pi remedied that issue long ago.   And not to besmirch AR but, as an example in affect so did the Bose 901 as did Allison and a few others with supporting the concept of reflected sound as being more realistic and typical of a live performance.   Then, if you haven't noticed, I use a S.A.E. parametric-equalizer and have seasoned aka 'tuned' to my tastes and needless to say I go for accuracy and realism. I use the cartridges I've chosen in like manner. As a user of AR products for 48 years to date, it's always been about making/allowing them to sound the best I can.

Now that I've filled up 5 paragraphs with semantics in attempting to answer your question, are you going to offer a sample of what you listen to?  Not that we'd be able to discern a left or right side differentiation but, just to get an idea of members sound quality. Or, should we rely on the usual fare of discussion here such as (with a 45 year old speaker),  will one really be able to discern the difference between a Bennic of a Nichicon capacitor in the X-over, perhaps?  Though, if the input sources were excellent and good enough, perhaps we could. That sort of analizing I trust is better left to very expensive more modern high-end systems which by the way afford a greater amount of high-frequency dispersion as compared to vintage AR speakers.

P.S. My thrust is to get the best possible sound I can get in the vintage domain, though my system because of it's clarity and high resolution stands its ground extremely well.  And by using very powerful and clean amplification, along with very high quality exceptional sounding phono cartridges and careful setup of those front end sources, I believe I have achieved my long time goal. My speakers and system sounds the best it can for what it is, a 45 plus year old set-up that to me and folks that have enjoyed listening claim it sounds exceptional and it's met with reactions of astonishment by anyone who listens to it, followed by smiles of musical satisfaction.

 See the attachment below and have a short listen. It is easy to hear the room is filled with sound as in a concert hall.

 Unfortunately because of the size of my last couple of posts I've run out of the site's available space allotted to each member. It would be nice if he site allowed more space for just such purposes.   I may look into outside sites to do so and provide links instead.

But seriously, if you have decent outboard computer speakers turn them up to approximate what's in the video and imagine what it's actually like in person. It's only 23 seconds long but, it gives an idea.

FM

 

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Isn't anyone going to describe and share what they're listening to by simply posting a video?

Has this site become a tinkerer's workshop and not that of listeners?

Comparing to the car world, are we the 'pit-crew' at the car race and not the 'Drivers'?

The winning rewards are in the driving, not the changing of tires and the wiping of windshields.

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I'm happy to post a vid if I can work out how. I'll give it a go.

I can't actually see your video though. It just says "No video with supported format and MIME found"

Does the video have to be converted to a particular format before attaching?

 

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On 5/17/2019 at 2:07 PM, frankmarsi said:

5-17-19

“” Do AR speakers really sound that good?  or “Sharing the Sound” or “Why Do We Toil The Way We Do With Old Wooden Boxes?”

Does anyone want to share with other members what their set-up sounds like?*

Obviously you have a computer and maybe a digital camera or phone so, chances are your digital camera/phone can record video.

How long can members go on speaking about sanding rectangular wood boxes and cleaning potentiometers, or reinforcing particleboard T-nut fasteners with wood glue?”

 

I grew up with AR’s in the house and YES they sounded very good.

But....something was missing to my ears and indeed, I grew weary of the whole potentiometer thing.

When I heard the Allison One and bought my first pair, it was pure coincidence that I discovered afterwards that Roy Allison was part of AR beforehand.

Too bad the Allison slope switches never made it into the old AR’s in place of those pots...it most decidedly would have been a step up (they’re not perfect either) but at least they are virtually self cleaning, simply by sliding them back and forth, with a shot of Deoxit every couple of years.

The Allison’s play cleaner and louder, and that was the real game changer.

 

Bill

 

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On 5/19/2019 at 10:44 AM, frankmarsi said:

Isn't anyone going to describe and share what they're listening to by simply posting a video?

Has this site become a tinkerer's workshop and not that of listeners?

Comparing to the car world, are we the 'pit-crew' at the car race and not the 'Drivers'?

The winning rewards are in the driving, not the changing of tires and the wiping of windshields.

Frank,

It’s amazing ? that just by hearing the jazz on your video I can pick up the clean, crystal clear sound you’re getting.

No frequency range on a smart phone (like listening to the whole thing thru one tweeter) but if your sound was dull or muddy that would reveal itself.

Bill

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Quote: ""It’s amazing ? that just by hearing the jazz on your video I can pick up the clean, crystal clear sound you’re getting.""

Well, thank you for the complement newandold, you should hear it in person as it's actually 'like being there' for the actual musical event.

 I wish others would reply and post videos of what they are listening to. A word of caution is members only have 200mb of upload space and as videos take up much room, one must be selective in what length they post. Mine can be 34 to 85mb and I have others that occupy much more length though, I still have fotos and what not on this site from years ago that I'd rather not delete. At this rate I'm left with very little remaining space and at some point I must brave the use of a video host and simply post links instead, which, I haven't attempted yet.

To me,  we're all in the same boat on this site, I'd prefer to be here rather then be on the 'karma' site and though some members there have excellent newer and up-scale systems, it's everybody and his uncle and it's loaded with many who don't know squat about AR or experienced listening with these speakers.  These days, everyone is seemingly an expert and that irks me to no end whereas I come from the 1960's early 1970's when home stereo was blossoming like never before. Granted, every individual should have a chance and get on-board but, one should know their roll also.

I have invested much money, research and personal experience into my system and I feel I've elevated it to new grand heights of musical enjoyment and vintage audio greatness. Let's see who will post next, how about you?

Regards, FM

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So ligs, am I to assume that this is your system?   My hesitation with y__tube is the aspect of 'copy-right' regulations. I've read of some folk's posts being taken down due this fact. Have you heard anything regarding this point? Then again, do I want to be part of that whole affair?

Actually, I should just read y__tube's rules and regulations and go from there.

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10 hours ago, frankmarsi said:

So ligs, am I to assume that this is your system?   My hesitation with y__tube is the aspect of 'copy-right' regulations. I've read of some folk's posts being taken down due this fact. Have you heard anything regarding this point? Then again, do I want to be part of that whole affair?

Actually, I should just read y__tube's rules and regulations and go from there.

I was using that clip as an example for you to consider , not my system unfortunately:( 

BTW, try the lossless audio selection on youtube. 

 

George

 

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I'll give this a go, but not just yet.  This is a great thread!

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Alright Frank,

I'll bite.  this is from 6-8 months ago. maybe longer.  Right after I picked up the AR-2ax speakers.  They are early Alnico models. I re-capped them and rebuilt the pots using several donor units with better wipers. The grills and cabinets are absolutely as I picked them and I think original. The AR4x speakers are rebuilt with original speakers and new caps, rebuilt pots etc.

My system is nothing the world will get excited about, but you can see I favor Adcom gear. mainly because I bought most of it new and still have it. Would I like something fancy? sure, but its not the priority in my life. However I do appreciate fine stereo gear as I too recall the 70's era of equipment.  My Dad bought the AR4x's and introduced me to the world of AR.  

Since this video I had some custom stands built for the 2's and the 4's, added another set of AR4x's and added an Adcom GFA-555II amp to drive the AR-2ax's

either way. I get your vibe on listening and wish I could walk down the street and hear your system in person.

recorded on an old iphone5 that does nothing for the actual quality of the sound in my opinion.  but what the heck

 

Bob F

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Excellent. A brave man playing one of my favorite albums. I like that album so much I have 3 copies of it. On vinyl of course.

If you enjoy that wonderful group, may I also suggest if you don't have it already,  "Brother Where You Bound?", I use it as a system reference demonstration album, notably because the dynamic range of the music is wide.

Let's see/hear who will be next to step up to the plate and let's hope others will follow your lead.

My video was recorded on a $59.00 phone from wally's world and I got decent quality. 

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Frank,

As a child of the 70's I am a huge Supertramp fan, have all the "good" albums, all on vinyl of course.  Breakfast in America would be on my "desert island" collection if I only had a few albums to take a long. I have Brother and the 12" promo for Cannonball.  and you are correct, they are all great demo discs when I want to show off the system to people that dont get the need for a stack of speakers in a small room.  Most of my listening is 70's and 80's rock.  But I have a mix of a lot of stuff to go with it. A new album that I think has great dynamics is "Men amongst Mountains" by the Revivalists.  You would recognize the song "Wish I knew you" from the blue moon beer commercial. But there are a few others on the double disk that really punch. I use that a lot to show off the system too. 

I am currently driving the 2's with theGFA- 555II , one set of 4's with a GFA-545II, and another with a GFA-535II.  There is definitely an improvement driving the 4's with the 100w Adcom over the 60 watt. and of course the 200w amp just loafs along at my moderate listening levels. I have a modern mosfet multi channel Adcom in another room rated at 125w/ch. but after trying it in place of these I still favor the bipolar amps ( at least of the Adcom brand) The mosfet amp drives a set of Advents , and soon another set of AR4x's !  

my limiting factor is my choice of cartridge.  I cant bring myself to spending the kind of money Stereophile thinks it takes to buy a decent cart.  I am using an older Shure something or another, not the V5 or whatever that one was. I really dont want an outboard phono amp and my Adcom wont accept a low level MC.  so I am leaning towards something in the range of the Ortofon Bronze.  I would be curious to hear your thoughts on MM carts in the affordable range, if you have one. 

Bob

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Hi, when it comes to 'MM' cartridges, in 2012 I was still using a Shure Type IV with a new SAS stylus and at the same time I used a new Audiotechnica AT-440Mla and then upgraded(?) to a AT-150MLx. With-in a year I jumped into the 'MC' pool with not a lot of money to buy a new Denon DL-301II and a Denon AU-320 SUT and then I never looked back.There was no need to as the 301 II really impressed me to no end, or so I thought. I continued to soldier on and by 2015 purchased a Ortofon Rondo Blue, (now- discontinued) and a couple months later a Benz-Micro ACE S. Happy days were here again. Or, so I thought once more. Amazing how the human mind/ear always seeks more.

By using the last two mentioned I began to see the light more clearly than ever before as both really were good to my music loving ears. So much so was I now super curious and I was inspired to jump-ship and into a Ortofon Cadenza Blue. Case in point, although it was a major step up and sounded excellent across the board, the Cadenza didn't show it's ultimately full potential in a SME 3009 Pre-Improved until I mounted it in a much heavier arm. That arm is the very rare Dynavector 505 where it impressed me even further and where it reached its full sonic potential.

Not one to rest on my tonearm's arm-rest, in 2016 I elevated the whole shebang and dived in head first into a Lyra Delos which to this day still occupies a 'favorite' status for me. Later, side-tracking into a Lyra Kleos, which to me didn't have the exuberance of its less costly sibling, the Delos but, was just a touch too willing to please but in a more sedate manner so, I looked on.   In 2017-18 after reading numerous positive test-reports I dove into the Audiotechnics ART-9 which amazingly seemed to almost be a near match for the Delos though not as excitingly sounding so.

Being obsessed with the level of terrific sound and the welcomed complete uplifting of my entire system and musical enjoyment rendered by the afore mentioned cartridges I took another 'balls-to-the-wall' leap of fate to my present and probably as far as I go with expensive MC cartridges. So, I closed my eyes and felt the wind below my wings lifting me and my system to a place I only previously imagined and took flight with the glorious and 'too-fabulous-for-words' Benz-Micro, wait for it.........

Wait-what?

Yes-sire Bob, at its price level the astonishingly real and accurate sounding Benz-Micro "Gull-Wing" has few equals. I won't attempt to go on about this one as I know many couldn't fathom its more than words can describe brilliance, its depth and clear separation of instrumental notes and textures. Its glorious voice tones, its transient spontaneity and 'jump-up-out- of-your-seat' astonhishment factor. Additionally, its exuberance and completeness of leading and ending trails of notes and its revealing of the micro-edges of each note with harmonic completeness are seldom matched. Complemented by its maintenance and tidiness of notes there's no over-shoot unless the recording calls for it though, it does lavish us with the recorded hall-ambience and hall-echo that generally go unnoticed with lesser cartridges   Oh, did I say I wasn't going to on about it?  Pardon my self-indulgence but, my system's sound quality has elevated into a lofty flight more than ever because of this psychically tiny little winged item, the "Gull-Wing". I deserve all of this greatness of a superlative upper end vintage music system.

So, here I remain knowing full well that I've probably reached the summit that my system can achieve. As I've said in another post weeks ago; the only other alternative is to spend huge dollars and forget the vintage world of high fidelity and move on to the 'new' world of current equipment by listening to a much 'higher-end' and costlier system. This is something I feel is not necessary presently as I'm quite content with my system and seeing the undo expense as just that, unnecessary. Besides, I literally have been building my system for more years than I care to mention although, I usually do(over 50 yrs.).  No, this is not a new comers blindly thrown together assortment of 'stuff',  I've actually cherry-picked each piece that I use, no low hanging fruit for me. I've found that when you use stacked AR-LST's combined with huge amplifier power, every added component must be on an equal level of greatness and sonic quality.

When listening to the video below. providing that you have good size and quality computer speakers you'll notice that the 'bass' sounds big. The in room actually sound quality is that 'big' sounding. It not that music is coming from speakers across the room and all of the sound is only near the speakers themselves. This system easily fills the entire room with an equally large amount of sound that is quite breath taking to experience. I'm sitting approximately 15 feet away from where the speakers are. You'll see the tip of my shoe as I sit back down across from the turntables.

So Bob, put aside a little money each week and strongly ponder the first MC cartridge I mentioned as the beginning of a newer, higher echelon and much more satisfying recorded musical place to be and get into MC. For about $700. (for both cartridge and SUT), I can assure you, you'll feel that you've made the right moves and all you'll be doing is listening and more listening but, on a higher level. Judicious 'set-up' is mandatory and will reward you ten fold.

PS I,   Why 'Stereofool' never mentions the Denon 301 II and only side-tracks readers with the constant mention of the lesser sounding and ubiquitous Denon DL-103, I have no idea.

PS II, I too from the very first cartridge I bought back in late 1967, a Shure M3D and then upwards to a Shure M55, after, a M91ED and in 1974, a V15 Type 3, I can only smile knowing my journey of critical listening, of self-training my ears/mind in all those past years to reach an extent and level that a vintage stereo system can go to has paid off. And like I said, the only way above this level is by dropping huge sums of money that I feel is only O.K. if one has the disposable income and or is simply inclined to do so,  apparently there are many out there who do. I am more than happy where I dwell and have reached my goal of personal stereo nirvana.

In my life, I value music as being so signifiant and of such ultimate importance that I'm fully convinced that music and medicine are probably two of man's highest achievements on this planet.

NOW, where are the other member's systems?  Do they have the 'stones' to offer us all a small visual and audio glimpse of their set-up's sound or are they simply tinkerers who own old speakers and have stumbled onto the internet wanting to be part of a group?

FM

Below: Lyra Kleos MC cartridge, S.M.E. 3009 Pre-Improved tonearm, Technics SL-120 turntable,  Denon AU-340 SUT.  All set-up and tuned to perfection. Two restored Phase Linear Series Two PL-700 amplifiers driving four (4) AR-LST speakers, Carver C-4000 Pre-Amp,  S.A.E.1800 parametric-equalizer, StraightWire interconnects, 12AWG speaker cables, room dimensions are 13 by 26, with 8ft.ceilings. Pardon the shakiness as I'm not use to holding a cell phone steady. Do turn the volume up for an approximation of in room sound quality.

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Forgot to fully answer Bob so........

""my limiting factor is my choice of cartridge.  I cant bring myself to spending the kind of money Stereophile thinks it takes to buy a decent cart.  I am using an older Shure something or another, not the V5 or whatever that one was. I really dont want an outboard phono amp and my Adcom wont accept a low level MC.  so I am leaning towards something in the range of the Ortofon Bronze.  I would be curious to hear your thoughts on MM carts in the affordable range, if you have one. ""

Bob

First off you mention Ortofon Bronze. Ortofon uses color name titles for almost all of its cartridge lines. They use it in most of their entry levels and their higher level cartridges also. Their TOTL carts. simply have names.

Typically their cartridges named 'bronze' is reserved for their mellow sounding ones so if it were me, and using AR speakers, I'd say no to any of the bronze models. Their first up models like the 'Red', the middle 'Blue' and up tier 'Black' are in my estimation better suited for AR's as long as their follow-up behind is of equal caliber. But, let me start by saying that I feel whatever starts (cartridge) the chain of electronic sound should be at least as good as the end (speakers). When I first entered and late at that the world of computers, I was told by others more knowledgable than I that what goes into one is important to insure whatever comes out is as good or, AKA "sh_t in equals sh_t out". So for instance with a fotofile if the file is compromised due to poor quality, chances are one shouldn't hope for miracles in the output. Well, it's the same in high fidelity so, in my opinion if one uses a lesser quality phono transducer, (cartridge) the output transducer (speaker) will reflect the same, both should be virtually on equal ground. 

If you're considering to remain with 'MM' cartridges, the AT-440ML is a really good starting place. It's a 'MM' and doesn't require a step up transformer and will allow you to keep costs down. It will also assist in helping any AR speaker serve up a reasonable amount of high-frequencies which most AR's are noticeably deficient in doing. Though when I first purchased mine they were going for $80., I believe they're increased to about $180. presently.

Be that as it may, I believe the classic-line of AR's sorely need a shot-in-the-arm of increased high frequency response so this cartridge is beneficial and addresses the dreaded AR sparse upper range.

Like I've often indicated AR speakers are needy candidates for any help in the upper-frequency range and this cartridge is your basic answer. On the other hand, the low cost MC as I mentioned above is the route to take and a 'SUT' simply plugs into any 'MM' phono input of 47K with-out any further changes needed and presto, you'll have a more realistic and certainly more enjoyable listening experience.

I chose the Cadenza Blue as it was more revealing than their lower priced Cadenza Red and outputs more high-frequency range that their higher cost Bronze as it is a touch more subdued in terms of high-frequency output and better with systems that have 'hot' sounding highs. The Bronze in the Cadenza line was probably introduced to answer the sometime upper high-frequencies of newer more modern sound of current equipment and therefore they've (Ortofon) charges more for it as it's more popular seller. Bear in mind that there are many more listeners of modern equipment as compared with vintage listeners. If you're an avid listener and appreciate having the option of achieving a higher level of listening quality, I'm almost certain you will eventually find yourself in the moving coil cartridge camp.

Certainly there are less costly ways of satisfying one's listening requirements but, look at it this way. Life is short so, here's a toast to feeling good all of the time.

Speaking for myself, I've typically starved myself of certain pleasures through out life and after I had realizations that I'm only getting older and have a limited time to feel good, from now on I will enjoy myself and music the best way I can.

Good luck and if you have any cartridge questions, I will answer to the best of my ability of not being an expert but, an educated consumer who happens to have decades of AR speaker listening experience. I find vintage AR speakers as being an excellent platform on which to build a great listeners system providing one maintains an open eye, mind and ear to the present and future of any helpful additions to assist them.

PS, I'm a fervent believer in absolutely clean and washed vinyl, anyone who isn't is in denial and chasing their own tail.

Here's to feeling good all of the time!

FM

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Frank,

 

Thanks for all that info, I am reading and re-reading,  but I think the time has come that I need to leap into the world of MC.  Sarals also suggested this jump a while back,  I have been busy with other life stuff so reviewing or making the jump isn't top of the heap.  However, adding a nice pre-amp or SUT isnt out of the question and does add a level of interest anyway.

I too agree that life's too short not to spend what you can for satisfaction, within means and reason of course. 

The Denon 301 actually isnt a bad price. actually less than a lot of the MM carts I would consider.  This is certainly worth investigating. 

 

Thanks

Bob

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OK, I said I'd give it a go. I have very little experience with videos, and the file seems huge, but here goes.

My system is probably as basic as it gets around these pages. The AR5's are powered by a Sansui 555a that is a little rough around the edges, and a XB77 tt. I have tried using the Sansui as a pre to the crown you can see in the vid, but seem to get better results from the 555a alone. I'm sure there are amps that would get better results, but I can't could afford any of the top gear. Used Adcom/McIntosh etc rarely come up here in Aus and fetch prices way out of my league. I don't believe the 555a has been recapped, so maybe that would be a step in the right direction. I've never worked on an amp, but would give it a go if recommended.

These 5's had shot tweeters and replacement woofers when I got them. After recapping and installing HiVi tweeters, I then managed to score some original woofers which have really helped. The speakers are 7' apart and 8" from wall, not toed-in.

I usually just listen to spotify prem. via bluetooth, but I am thinking about upgrading the AT95 cartridge. I only caught the AR bug fairly recently and find myself enjoying vinyl again. Any suggestions in the $100-300 range would be appreciated.

 

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Hi crumpets, and thanks for letting us hear and see your set-up. It sounds very good to me.

In my opinion. I'd say room position of speakers is pivotal, and as typical, AR classic cabinets usually don't benefit from 'toe-in' as most other conventional box speakers do. To go into a whole explanation about room placement, if you ask me, I'd say the internet can be your best friend in learning the best way to set-up speakers for best over-all response and following the basics will help.

Do the research and you'll come away with the best options. Do be aware that there is a lot of garbage on the net. Mis-informed folks who express their opinions with this half-baked misinformation can be very misleading. There's much information on this site and others so, I'd say do the reading and utilize the basic and well-known conventional rules regarding placement. The basic rules are your best friend here but, some filtering is necessary.

Regarding cartridge choice, as I've mentioned above, for entry low cost ones, it's hard to beat the Audiotechnica AT-440ML series or the entry level Ortofon Red for moving magnets. For entry level moving coil, it's hard to beat the Denon DL-301II but, you'll also need a S.U.T.and there are single input simple ones that you can find for not much money used on the auction site. Again, do the research and you'll be surprised how much you will learn. Cartridge 'set-up' is very important and once learned it will render the best results you can get.

As I can see, your turntable is not in the best location as it is shown and more vibration isolation will greatly improve your vinyl sound also.  Keeping your vinyl clean should be addressed and will also reward you with the best listening experience.

A word of caution about amplifiers. Unless you have prior experience with electronics, don't even attempt working on any units as it can be dangerous with-out knowing what you're doing.

Thanks for posting your set-up and let's hope others will come forward by doing the same by showing all of us here. One can learn much simply be seeing and hearing another's set-up, it will confirm if they're on the right track and know what they're doing and can inform you of possible options.

In simple words, the best anyone can do for themselves in this hobby, is to 'learn to listen' and 'listen to learn'. I just now put that phrasing together and, it's what I've done all of my life and it has led me to where I want to be.

If you have decent size outboard computer speakers, and turn the volume up on my videos, you'll hear what I'm talking about.

FM

P.S.   I've now entirely used up my 200mb space on this site and may delete these two videos and post others?

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On 6/12/2019 at 8:22 AM, crumpets said:

Any suggestions in the $100-300 range would be appreciated.

Hey Crumpets

Nice system. Regarding the 555A yes--it's nearly a half century old, so a recap would probably be a good idea. You can find the Service Manual and schematic here: https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sansui/au-555a.shtml

What's the other black component in the stack?

What is it you're looking for in the $100-300 range? A cartridge?

-Kent

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