Friday, November 27, 2020
William Russo, Seiji Ozawa and Corky Siegel on DG
The Kid Amp, with Telefunken 6080
I own this very disc since I was a kid, fond of blues and obscure groups and soloists...
I found it quoted on a discography of Siegel/Schwall Band and was surprised the disc was issued by Deutsche Gramophone label!
During the decades, it happened I found two more copies and a 4 tracks DG 19cm/s tape, which I still cherish.
The music is lively, a pastiche of orchestral and harmonica and barrelhouse piano and tambourine, and the recording... THE RECORDING!!! is of awesome quality: dynamic and explosive on attacks.
I listened to this masterpiece yesterday, further exploring the sonic merits of a Telefunken 6080 double triode, so clear and detailed.
The single instruments are incredibly carved in space, rocks steady and real lifelike... the stomping foot of Corky Siegel at the piano are shaking the building... the harmonica moaning are so rich of... harmonics 😊
The mighty little amp is truly extracting the soul of music!
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
Telefunken 6080 U1115005
The King is Naked, folks... this humble tubes - i.e. a non-directly heated double triode - made in Ulm, West Germany in 1965 has its own soul!
I used for years WE421A tubes in my DIY little amp... then, one day, I discovered substitutes... GEC A1834, first, then this German-made tube.
Up to date, the 6080 has a clarity, a natural introspection and a seldom experienced dynamic palette so well discerning from ppp to FFF and all nuances in between... well: Telefunken is the winner... in the next days I’ll extensively try and listen to GEC’s...
BTW - my reference disc these days is Valentine by Bill Frisell Trio on Blue Note label... Bill’s guitar(s) and effects and double-bass and drums are so rich and the recording is first rate!
The Ebronzy Clamp
Here is the 1400 grams “Ebronzy” (Ebony/Bronze) clamp... African Ebony is 25 years old, natural dried, luthier-grade, as used for violin and guitar making.
I was very impressed by ebony sonics as it touches disc label area and sort-of tames bronze resonance. Very natural sound when compared to bronze-only clamp (my previous reference). A couple were made for personal use and two more were lathed... anyone?
Sunday, November 22, 2020
Spindr 301 from The Netherlands
The time has finally come. After nearly two years of fun and hard work, we have designed and produced a ready-to-sell Garrard 301 update. We got turned on immediately!!
The Garrard 301 has been technically improved on many points, while still retaining its classic look & feel.
Most importantly: without losing drive, power and dynamics… the sound character that makes the 301 so popular!
We carry out this update on your own Garrrard 301, provided it has the original serial number, engine and mechanism.
What does the updated player offer?
The deck - as we call the base - is CNC machined from aluminum and finished in high-gloss black. There is room for an arm board and a stroboscope.
The design is more rigid, so vibrations and frequencies are better absorbed.
There is a conical mount for the bearing. This mounting method is seamless and ensures high torsional stiffness and perfect positioning of the turntable. This makes the whole much more resistant to axial and radial loads.
The bearing of course is the spinning center of the record player ...
The bearing structure is based on the classic Garrard 301 design with bearing housing, bushings and spindle.
We produced the characteristic conical shape of our bearing housing in nickel-plated cast iron. This material is extremely suitable because of its mass and vibration-absorbing properties.
Hidden deep in the bearing is a vibration absorber, our player's best kept secret up till now.
The spindle has a coating that provides extremely little friction. As a result, there is less vibration, a constant running speed and therefore less wear on bearings and motor.
A very hard, scratch-resistant layer has been applied under the coating on the contact surface with the bushings, which guarantees a long service life.
The tight tolerance that we use between bearing and spindle requires a special oil. We found an extremely finely filtered oil, which is perfect!
We did something unique with the motor mount: it can be disconnected from the deck and mounted on the baseplate below, to fully detach the motor from the deck.
To divert unwanted vibrations away from the needle and element, the support is heavier than the aluminum original: cast iron, finished with a nickel coating.
The baseplate closes the bottom of the plinth and carries the motor. Due to the design of the outside and the soft coating on the inside, it absorbs any motor vibrations.
The plinth is CNC machined from a solid block of aluminum, and you can feel this!
Because it is mainly the mass that offers many advantages here: "Higher mass lowers natural frequencies."
The plinth is the support of the deck and disconnects the player from its environment by four acoustically insulating adjustable feet.
There is a damping disconnection between both plinth and deck and plinth and baseplate. The finish is matte black.
Then something completely new on the Garrard 301 that we really missed: a stroboscope.
All kinds of attempts with lights on the deck and fumbling with telephones only provide incorrect measurements!
A normal stroboscope flashes at the frequency of the mains, with the disadvantage that it does not work cleanly if there are fluctuations. For our strobe we generate an independent 50 Hz frequency, so that it always flashes at a constant and fixed frequency.
To stay close to the roots of the original design, this version has a beautiful full aluminum turntable.
This platter is much heavier: higher, wider and thicker. Mass is again the magic word: the platter spins evenly and vibrates less. This results in a spatial sound.
A bronze bushing connects the platter and spindle. The arm board is made of solid sugar maple and has a high-gloss black finish. This wood is known for its well-balanced resonance pattern: no preference for low, no preference for high. Not coincidentally the wood that Stradivarius worked with!
The aluminum support for the tone arm stands on the arm board. We always make these in consultation on the basis of your tone arm. After all, your player's engine is completely overhauled by a well-known Garrard and Thorens specialist.
The original mechanism is cleaned and re-coated, greased and adjusted.
The idler wheel that provides the transmission between engine and platter deserves extra attention. These are rounded again and the bearings are replaced.
We offer this complete update for € 10,490 ex VAT (€ 12,695 incl VAT). For questions and delivery time you can email or call us 24 hours a day!
SPINDR, Huib & Dick
Info@spindr.nl
0031643046363
Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant is 53 years old, today
D
S
I loved this disc and title-song for decades... I laughed with the audience at the exhilarating yet serious text... I learned to play it on guitar, too...
So, thanks to Arlo Guthrie and congratulations for the anniversary... 53 years young, today... the world changed...
Tho song remains🥂🥂🥂as I still cherishes my Reprise two-tones Steamboat label early mono pressing.
🥇🥇🥇
My little amp
Time for minor maintenance and cleaning on the little, yet mighty stereo amp, now in charge of Gotorama with its “impressive” 3,5W per channel
After cleaning, I took the time to make some evaluation of alternative double triode tubes to Heinz&Kaufman 5998 - i. e. Western Electric 421A, Telefunken 6080W and GEC A1834, both rounded and straight brown base.
Will be a new winner after the actual king, the WE421A?
Stay tuned....
