What equipment have you bought this week?

[satanfriendly]

A Linn Ittok LVII

And a whole host of jealousy at Bubba for getting the Logic to spin correctly. Actually well pleased it went to a good appreciative home. Swings and round-a-bouts as I bought his JVC DD some time back and equally as happy at my end.

[robgil]

Bought a Marantz CD6000OSE.LE a few weeks back that broke, so I bought a CD6000OSE to replace it , then I fixed it as it was something stupidly simple, now I have two CDP's.

[PK]

Changed my Micromega Stage 1 CD player for the newer Micromega CD 10. Really impressed with my new addition. Took the plunge and went for silver as opposed to black. Other items inc. PT TOO / Orion 1, Kiseki Blue Goldspot powered by the PT Pacesetter, Magnum 150 Pre Power Amplifier, and Gale 402's. Very happy now.

[Squiffything]

I called into the local Pawn shop Wednesday, as I do, to see if the owner had any turntables for me (i'd had a word with him to keep an eye out for any decks and to put them aside for me to have a look at for my projects). He also regularly gets in amps and other bits that are worth having if his price is right.

He had put aside a deck for me and as I arrived he called me over.

'I'm not sure if it's what you're after but I have this one for you if it's any good' He went out the back and brought through a dusty and a bit grubby Ariston Q Deck

(Not the one but pretty much the same)





The arm is about the same condition as this:



and will need a little bit of cleaning up. It had no stylus but did have an Ortofon OMB cartridge.

The lid is in good but dirty condition but no scratches. One of the hinges has gone but I have a couple of spares which might fit although I'm not fussed by this as I prefer to keep the lid off so it would only be used as a cover when not playing.

Now I'm not one who has a great deal of cash to spend on my hobby so having had a word with my bloke I went in yesterday with a couple of Freesat receivers that I had picked up for nothing and had been sat in my shed. (I was intending to stick an arial on the roof and connect up a tele but never got around to it) So for a straight swap the Q Deck came home with me.

I swapped over the stylus on my wooden project deck and tested it out. The auto feature works perfectly, the belt is good and holds a steady speed, the speed change works as it should and is a neat simple solution to change the speed. The arm drop is sticking a little so I'll need to address that when I give the whole tonearm setup a clean.

The platter had on it a DJ style Ortofon mat with bright gourdy wording which I don't really like but turning it over hides that.

Sticking on a LP and I was amazed at how well it plays. My LP's, as I've mentioned before, are not the finest and those that I have picked up have been far from mint but when I stuck it on the crackles and pops almost disappeared. I don't know if it was the mat as the stylus is the same as used on the project and the beast. Both of these had a mat on the platter when playing.

I have decided that this one shouldn't be broken up and will be used as is but will become the recipient of a big ol plinth project. I replaced the stylus back on the project and installed the spare Stanton cart and 500 stylus and tried it again. Different LP and this time the crackles and pops were almost non existant. A lovely sound coming through the Yammy amp and Missions. Very happy bunny with this one

[bubba45]

A Linn Ittok LVII

And a whole host of jealousy at Bubba for getting the Logic to spin correctly. Actually well pleased it went to a good appreciative home. Swings and round-a-bouts as I bought his JVC DD some time back and equally as happy at my end.

Hi SF. How're you?
I was thinking of getting an Ittok for one of my TT's. What TT have you put yours on? When searching for an Ittok I came across the MK2 Origin Live Encounters on eBay going for less than 1/2 price of a new MK3c Encounter.
Something really appealed about it - maybe the loadsa very very good reviews, it's funny looking design or it being a brand new unused arm with a 2 year warranty - I dunno.
I received the new Encounter yesterday evening and I've set it up on the Logic with my ATOC9.
My impressions of the arm? Well I did think at 1st that it's a funny looking thing, but after an evening of tweaking and listening and more tweaking I've grown to really like how it looks. Overall it's an idiosyncratic though excellently thought out and carried off design. Though OL are only a small company this is a very well made arm, easy to set up with on the fly VTA and a simple single mounting hole. My only 2 slight criticisms with the fit & finish are that arm rest doesn't grip the arm tube so it could accidentally bounce out with a firm enough tap and the lift lower device can only be raised by using small plastic washers like the ones you get with cartridges.
The dual pivot bearing design is a bit disconcerting at first because if any other non-unipivot arm had this much play I'd think it was broken and demand a replacement or refund.
As for the sound - even straight out of the box and only a few hours play this is a surprisingly neutral sounding tonearm. Although it's effective mass is just short of 2 & 1/2 times that of a Mission 774 Original they have a similar 'sound' or more correctly a very similar lack of their own 'sound'.
As you said before SF the Logic is like a PT1 but with bass and the Logic / Encounter / OC9 is more of the same but 'better' somehow.
The sound is crystal clear and detailed as you'd expect but smooth without being muddied. The combination has some lovely bass that is getting more formed the more music I play. Origin Live recommend experimenting with the VTA & the like as you may be able to get the sound into even greater focus but actually at the moment listening is a real pleasure anyway and I reckon this must be damn close to optimal.
I sold a couple of TT's to buy the Origin Live Advanced DC motor supply for my LP12 and this Origin Live Encounter MK2 and for the improvements to my listening they have both been well worth the investment. It's more than I have ever invested in one single tonearm but definitely worth it as it seems to be getting down to the real potential of the Logic.
Next item will be a new PSU for the Logic as I'm just using the old Rega motor and simple PCB set up. It'll either be another Origin Live Advanced Motor kit, a Mose / Hercules or a Heed Obit.

[satanfriendly]

Squiffything you have got yourself one wonderful budget level deck (and I think one of the best there has been)in the 'Q-deck'. Not much you can do with it outside of set in a huge block of wood (your speciality?), but that aside in its basic form, great. Enjoy

Doing fine Bubba, one and a half weeks of Mexican torture in the name of work and home again. Glad the Logic is turning out well and performing as it should. Definitely a PT on steroids. So neutral and yet with such low down grunt. I did think of an OL myself, but the Ittok was well recomended by a few for the Oracle and so the way to go. Immaculate condition and with a decent arm cable I can sell on and recoup some of the cost as I have a nice one spare in the cellar.

To be topped off with a DV23R which should arrive within the next week or so thanks to a VE member. Wanted one for years after having a Karat Ruby many many eons back. That is it once the Oracle is running as I don't see me getting much better without taking out a mortgage, and there are limits. I think mine is here.

The Heed or Mose might be a better bet. I spoke to OL about the Logic and even they said it was a problematic deck for DC.

So for this week a DV23R

[Squiffything]

Thanks SF Having given it a bit of a clean up fitted the spare hinge (which was a perfect match to the other one) it has turned into a bit of a jem it sounds lovely and that's just sitting on the carpet.

[duficity]

Another Sota Star, Rekokut b12GH, Russco Studio Pro, and the solid aluminum Empire 208 plinth that was for sale here on this site. Plus about 30 albums. I need to slow down for a while.

[Dinohyus Hollandi]

Hmm no you don't... Live fast, listen to lots of music...
The tax refund came through so I used part of that for a me-present and got myself a nice mint condition used tonearm for the Leonardo:

[Popey]

A secondhand Linn Lingo and Benz Micro Ace SL cartridge

[johnemcgregor]

Nitty Gritty RCM 1.0 $125 from Audiogon.

[Samurai7595]

Rega RP6 (black) + Dynavector DV-20X2 Low-output Moving Coil (MC) cartridge.

Very magical combo playing through my Linn system (via the Linn Uphorik phono pre-amp)!

[bubba45]

Hmm no you don't... Live fast, listen to lots of music...
The tax refund came through so I used part of that for a me-present and got myself a nice mint condition used tonearm for the Leonardo:

Is that an Origin Live Zephyr? Looks lovely. How does it sound?

[Dinohyus Hollandi]

Yes it is. I haven't had the opportunity for a real good listen yet, but it seems to be much more in control than the RB300 which was on here before.