buddy wrote:
 

My friends just posted this:

May be skipping a lot in 2020 but not skipping records! Watching Vinyl Nation on April 18th, I was determined to listen to more vinyl, starting with The Spinners. Challenge: Breathing while playing records causes everything to jiggle in our place. The Grady Turntable project was born and, just over 6 weeks later, a 128 lb table was bolted to the wall. The inaugural spin, John Doe's "The Golden State" from A Year in the Wilderness.

The project included: Steel, Teflon, titanium, and Sorbothane, plus a new stereo cabinet, new capacitors, cartridge, and feet for the Harman Kardon plus cleaning all switches and contacts, and a new pre-amp.

========================

She shared 45 photos and videos of the project on Facebook but it's a private post. I told her to throw it on her personal website (which is probably actually more private), so we'll see. He custom-built everything, maybe including the feet for the turntable, I'm not sure but I think so.

 buddy wrote: 
You now have first dibs. 

The journey continues.  One more moving part added into the playback food chain.  A weighted outer ring for placing on an LP to really flatten it out and really tightly couple it to the turntable platter and remove measurable noise.  

The science behind it.  The Universal Record Stabilizing Ring

The one in the video below just became available since January of this year.  The one referenced above has been unavailable for many years.  I just learned of it about 3 months ago on the VPI support forum.  The has been nothing like this for the mid end turntables of different designs other than the ring in the article basically ever.

I've had it now for a couple of months and it does work as advertised.  So the process begins again, but this will be the last time, unless something breaks.  This is a real good thing because my albums are starting to sell now on a regular basis.  They're gone, they're gone.  On the plus side, I'm finally selling more than I'm buying so now all the ripping and listening is part of an actual purpose.  Can't list them unless they're play graded and properly ripped.

This bug has given me the ideal opportunity to spend my time playing music and doing what I do with it.  Little else to do.  And it seems that vinyl sales have picked up as well with all the downtime people are having to occupy.  It's nice when a plan comes together and actually works.  The work part comes where I have to set aside a 3 hour block for each single album.  Once started it goes until its done, no breaks.  Fortunately also is that I seemed have gotten whatever it is that makes listening to music (at least digital) so fatiguing after long listening spells, gone.  It ain't easy listening to a side 3 times in a row, even music you like.  And it is hard, critical listening for pops and ticks and anything else that should not be heard.  But the process is what it is and the result is worth the effort, imho.

The process has become a little more dangerous with the addition of this ring, however.  Operation of this device under certain medications should not be attempted.  The effer weighs nearly 3 pounds and is turned steel with hard edges.  You can see in the video where installing it is a very delicate operation.  Even an untimely sneeze could bring tears.


A little review I wrote about it over at discogs ...

So I pulled the trigger and got one for my SL 1200. So far, very good. The improvement in sound is rather dramatic actually. Played Sgt Pepper's 50th, a 1st press of Talking Heads Remain In Light, The Doors Strange Days 2 X 12" @45 rpm, a warped 1st pressing of 461 Ocean Blvd, a copy of FM Future Games and finally the UK stereo 1st press of Disraeli Gears. The most noticeable improvement came with the older vinyl. The Talking Heads LP, very complex musically was now stunning. I looked at the wav files of a with and without rip, everything else being the same settings and noticed an increase in the amplitude / height of the wav off of the null point for very soft quiet parts from the Sgt Pepper LP. Not a lot but easily visually noticeable. So there is definitely a signal improvement with the improved fidelity. The music sounds very natural now. The more I tweaked the TT, while more accurate the sound was getting harsher. The ring put everything in a much more enjoyable place.

Didn't like to sit on Sgt Pepper, but everything else including the Doors was fine. Centering device works great. It is the newest rectangular one.

Now a week and a half later and a few more albums.

It has taken some getting used to using it and also the sound. The VTA is even more critical now. .25 mm in a height change can be a game changer on some pressings, mostly 70's and 80's so far. I see what it does watching the tonearm. It generally is motionless now. The vinyl is flat taking away almost all vertical movement and lateral movement is now more dependent on a pressing be slightly off center than anything else. I'm using a high compliance AT MM Shibata cart, so woo hoo !!

The music is smoothed out considerably and the soundstage is better placed with a more even center now. The album that put this over the top is Todd's AWATS. I've got a barely played 1st and the change and improvement is breath taking having ripped it about a month earlier without the ring. The bass now has punch at low volume and the high frequencies are really clear. The high frequencies are tough on this album. (I was getting real signal at above 22 khz on both Todd albums.  CD's cut off at 20 khz fwiw)
...
Yeah, a lot of already ripped albums are gonna go one more round. I think this takes an SL 1200 as far as it can go, so this will really be the last time ...

The website if anyone is interested.  Universal Turntable Periphery Stabilizing Outer Ring Clamp SS- T

 miamizsun wrote: 
You're welcome.  This is a great one.  Had signal @ 22 khz on Side 1 and @19 khz on Side 2.  It is there, not distortion.  My cart is rated to 45 khz.  This for me was like hearing Sgt Pepper on a CD for the first time.  Parts of this were almost a religious experience.  I could hear the piano keys tinkle at times.  I am tempted to break out the headphones for this even if it means being anchored to the chair for an hour.

Edit:  And I did put on the cans and gave it a listen.  Yeppers, it does work.  Always nervous to listen to vinyl on headphones because it is just too revealing.  This worked rather nicely even with the couple of things that slipped through the cracks.  Then compared this rip to a pre loudness war CD rip.  The vinyl has more going on, more detail, better depth.  Was very nice to find out.

 kurtster wrote: 

thx going to give it a whirl in a bit

 rgio wrote: 
You're welcome.  It is a lot like work most of the time.  It is something that I have to do and since it is done in real time by playing the album, getting everything done properly keeps that time to a minimum.  It keeps me off the streets and a little something in the pocket now that I am selling more than I am buying.  The wife was most happy to hear about that news.

 kurtster wrote:
 
Thanks for taking the time to share and explain.

I can totally appreciate your relationship with the music, your collection, a residual (or dividend), and the ability to downsize.

I'm too lazy.  I used to make a ton of mixed tapes, but now it just feels like work.  I love the flexibility I get from streaming and my home wireless setup...accepting the limitations of the sound (which is really good...but not album good).

Thanks again for sharing!

 rgio wrote: 
Sorry, it was suggested I keep my reply brief.

I thought that listening to them would speak for itself as far as why being they are of fairly decent sound to listen to.

Hmmm.  Storage requirements ?  Yeah, they are big files.  Much bigger than mp3's.  Still dl's quickly.  Is storage space a major concern you have about digital music ?  I have several terabytes of music. 

The whole point of ripping for me is to capture a playback under the best possible circumstances and play back the rip, never having to play the record again.  Repair and restore the music itself as needed.  As my process has evolved and equipment upgraded and things going astray, I end up re ripping some of them.  The process is now set and this should be the last time for each album now.  Barring normal wear and tear and ooops when those happen.

Been doing it in one form or another for nearly 50 years for mixtapes or just whole album sides to listen on the road.  The files I put up are the same ones that I will be listening to from hereon in.  Now it is also part of downsizing. The record can then be sold or just put away as a master recording source if ever needed again for some reason.  I am trying to sell them off and the files are what I will have when the record itself is gone.  I also make the rips available for prospective customers to hear before buying to make sure that they hear what the actual noise or issues a particular piece of vinyl may have so I don't end up with upset buyers.  Do you remember listening booths in record stores ?  So it also a sales tool.

I just happen to like to do it and the results are the dividend.  That and I have plenty to work with.

 kurtster wrote:
 
Sorry Kurt.....I don't follow

I appreciate the link and the music....but given the storage requirements and time involved...why?  Is there a quality issue I can't appreciate on my end?

rgio wrote:  
AWATS 

Because CLICKY 

 Proclivities wrote: 
Thank you very much for that.  This is exactly why I do this and share it.  I just want to fill the world with smiles.  

I meant to thank you, Kurt, for that rip you did of "Something In The Air" some time back.  The other evening I was my back yard with a beer and a glass of Jim Beam Rye, listening to some music (far too loud) on my headphones and that came on.  I sat back and closed my eyes, and for a little while I was seven years old again...

 ScottFromWyoming wrote:
 

 kurtster wrote:
 

i like ppt and i've heard a little steve wilson

enjoyed that too

to me it sounds better at higher volume (or i end up cranking it up)

headphone music here

 miamizsun wrote:
 

 miamizsun wrote: 
Heh, heh ... and a lot of others, too.

I got this a couple of months ago, unheard and unfamiliar with a lot of the material, or not with as much of his stuff I may have heard over the years here on RP.  I'll be popping it open soon once I get a little more caught up.  5 LP set.  I'm optimistic.  Live sets also tend to be greatest hits collections of materials so this might hit a sweet spot for a big hole in my physical music.  SeriousLee has helped further my interest in SW.  * tip o de hat *

.

 kurtster wrote:
 

you may have 86'd yourself from sfw's holiday list

Just a journal type entry in this thread, saving a thought before it slips away into the great wide open and gets forgotten.

The deeper I go into this, especially with all the bonus time of late, the more things are revealing themselves to me.  Since I'm heavily into cataloging and organizing my collection, prepping it for listing, I read many details constantly.  Mostly the runout / matrix markings in the dead wax of the inside of the LP.  They are like hieroglyphics, but they are necessary to know and understand.  Can contain as much information that includes the catalogue number, pressing company / plant, which specific stamper it is of the many made from the Mother copy, date, who engineered the mastering of the pressing, which company cut the lacquer and even the exact cutting lathe type used to make the lacquer / acetate.  Or very little more than just the catalogue number and stamper number.  But they all matter.  An example using DSOTM Scroll up to the 3rd Issue of the album and you will see 86 different stampers for that issue.  Divide by half for two different sides.  And then the stampers get swapped and moved to different presses and even plants to replace worn out or damaged stampers so there are different combinations of these stampers.  In the case of that 3rd issue of DSOTM, there were also 3 different engineers cutting the lacquers.  Although there were setting charts, each one had their own style resulting in slight differences in the overall sound as well as characteristics of the different cutting lathes themselves.

Back then, as a consumer, we didn't know jack about any of this and just went to the store and hoped that whatever we got was the right thing inside and it played properly all the way through.  Now with places like Discogs, hindsight is 20 / 15.  All these details matter if you are going to sell and if you're going to be a smart buyer they should matter, so you do not end up with stuff that is known to be of poor material or audio quality, or both.

So along the way of dealing with all this attention to credits and seeing what exactly I have in my collection, I have noticed a trend of who was on the other side of the glass making the music I liked enough to actually spend money and get into my grubby little hands.  Five names come to mind besides George Martin and Glyn Johns :  AL Kooper, Todd, Bill Szymzyck  and the Elektra team of Jac Holzman and Bruce Botnick.  These people have been involved in the production and shaping of the music I seem to like the most.  Todd is everywhere.  Kooper has so many pearls out there, too.  Elektra was such attention to detail and their sound had more to it than most, as a rule.  Szymzyck is most notable in that he is not a musician and instead has a gift of being able to shape music for what he thinks it should really sound like.

And the most recent name to add to this list is Steven Wilson.  Evidently he also loves a lot of the same music I do based on his involvement in a mother lode of remixes he has done in the past 10 or so years now.  His ear and touch is just right for me.  The music he reshapes ends out sounding like it should.  Nothing over the top, just more like why couldn't they have done this to it way back when ?  Of course because the tools were different.  Wilson has digital tools.  Sucks the winds out of the analogue versus digital shitstorm.  What he does just sounds good and you don't even think about anything technical, which is the ultimate compliment imho.

 rgio wrote: 
Here's the unit I bought, a 3 X 4 with the long boards running horizontal.  I would have got the 4 X 4 but it would have been too high for the light switch.  On the left are what is left of my original Peaches crates.  They are stacked with a 1 X 12 birch plank running in between each level and screwed into the crates below each plank.  Those are stacked 4 high and are not going anywhere ever again.  The 3 X 4 unit is rock solid, does not wobble in any direction and is not in any danger of falling away from the wall either.  I would not be worried about a 4 X 4 falling away from the wall as well, they are very stable.  The VPI box in the foreground on the left is my MW-1 Cyclone record cleaning machine.  Probably the single most important piece of gear I own other than my TT.  It's going on 3 years old now.