Picked up a Direct Drive very cheaply..

[Dismord]

ARGHHH !!!! I thought I would try the AT95e,,Some type of over tightening thing must have happened with the Shure..One of the lugs at the side you attach the cartridge with has broke off.. ..Never had that one before...Swings and roundabouts it seems..gain a turntable,lose a cartridge..It's just after 2 in the morning here,so I won't know what it will sound like with the AT95e in my system for a good few hours..ah well..If it's too bright seems I'm going to have a cartridge search on my hands..
posting.php?mode=quote&f=18&p=363550#
It is a nice turntable though..

Bad luck. I wouldn't look past a 2nd hand Shure M97E off eBay and installing a new N97xE SAS stylus from JICO.
To my ears you have to spend silly money to get anything better.

[Coffee Phil]

That's why they make J&B weld! I couldn't live without it.

Nice looking turntable. Welcome to the Kenwood DD club.

Phil

ARGHHH !!!! I thought I would try the AT95e,,Some type of over tightening thing must have happened with the Shure..One of the lugs at the side you attach the cartridge with has broke off.. ..Never had that one before...Swings and roundabouts it seems..gain a turntable,lose a cartridge..It's just after 2 in the morning here,so I won't know what it will sound like with the AT95e in my system for a good few hours..ah well..If it's too bright seems I'm going to have a cartridge search on my hands..

It is a nice turntable though..

[lini]

gb: The EPC-U25 basically was a halfinch-mount version of the earlier generation of the Technics T4P carts (like for example the EPC-P24S et cetera) - which also makes it a bit of a rarity. And combined with one of the really good needles for that family it'll be a very good cart. Unfortunately you'd nowadays already have a hard time to dig up something like the EPS-202ED or EPS-22ED - but Jico offers SAS replacement needles for all those Technics models, too (thus you'd even have a choice of several colours...). So that might be another option to consider...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

P.S.: The U25 body also sports a laminated core, btw.

[goatbreath]

Well my direct drive odyssey continues with my new-ishly acquired Kenwood KD7010...I now have a Sumiko HS12 headshell..I just have my AT95e on there for now..I had put it on a cheap metal Altai headshell that I bought for a tenner..Not bad for the price actually..I was finding my cymbals etc a bit in the background although very precise sounding,,very real just a bit recessed with the Altai..It could be to do with capacitance though..This Sumiko headshell may sort it out as it has litz wires..I am thinking of saving up for that Denon DL110 ,,I may manage it in about a fortnight,,it would have to go in the Altai headshell for now,,but apparently Moving Coil cartridges are less sensitive to capacitance loading anyway..Or I've read that..The other headshell I have is the ADC,,but that will be too light for the Denon..It seemed too light for the AT95e..Weird because the 95e works on other lighter arms I have,,although not the Low mass SME and Hadcock,,with un damped tube...

I can't listen through my speakers just now as it is a bit before 6 am here...

One thing I have noticed is how good and stable piano sounds on this deck and the lower mid seems nice and open..I'm still getting it fettled though..One thing I am wondering about is the best surface to place a direct drive on,,I have it on a glass shelf just now..I know suspended belt drives seem to work best on wood,,they don't like glass,,or mine don't anyway..Do direct drives have a preference about what type of material they are placed on..???

Anyway here is a couple of more shots of this big beastie..I keep wondering if I could mount my SME IIIs at the back right hand corner and put the Jico SAS V15 III combo on it too..Or maybe that Technics EPC U25 with a SAS..Probably not space ,,but boys will be boys and all that..HaHa !!! New Sumiko headshell not in these shots..It's the one with the huge logo on it...Just in case people didn't know who made it..

[Dismord]

One of the best surfaces to place most direct drives on ( if you aren't terrified of 'she who must be obeyed') is on two concrete paving slabs ( painted black to avoid divorce if necessary) with a partially inflated motor bike inner tube between them. The very best alternative is to site it on a 1/2 inch (sorry, I'm too old to think metric) slab of slate placed on top of a heavy & damped equipment support itself resting on a concrete floor. Don't defeat the entire exercise by playing LP's with the dust cover in place. these act like drums on direct drives and aren't too kind to belt drive designs either.
OH, and you need a record clamp next.
I must say though the more I look at your new TT the sexier it appears.

[goatbreath]

Well whether you want it or not,,I am updating my time with this turntable...It is very good indeed sound wise,,really stable pitch on long notes,,extremely full of fine detail..The arm tracks really well..As good as the Sondek and Michell just different..Much cleaner..bordering on clinically clean..

Because I can change headshells I have ordered both a Denon DL110 and a replacement Shure M97xe..I couldn't find the bit of metal that snapped off the other one..

Probably the ADC headshell for the Shure and the heavier Altai one for the Denon..So I will have 3 headshells in service..The other a Sumiko one with an AT95e running in it...

Now I have heard direct drive..I think it can sound extremely good..But I believe this was top of Kenwood Europe's range when it came out...I'm loving it personally..It is definitely a keeper..In real life it is a big beastie..A good bit bigger than the Sondek beside it..

Oh!! I already have a Michell clamp,,