HIfI summer of frustration ( eventually sorted )

[PeterK]

Hi all,

its a long time since I posted but I feel I should contribute to the forum, I noticed it had gone quiet over the last while, is it the summer and long evenings or is it everybody having reached hifi nirvana!!! with no need room for further upgrading. I think not, probably real life intervening.

Anyway this post could take on seriously lengthy proportions. I might add my issues trivial are in the scheme of real life events and can not be taken in any way other than as a irritant and minor at that.

My last contact with the forum and its members was at the analogue get together kindly hosted by Gerry and Fran. Some serious kit was on demonstration and it provided everybody with an opportunity to listen and catch up. For me it was very beneficial in that Fran pointed out that I should check the biasing on my Airtight ATM2. This I did to discover that the KT 88 valves ( airtights own and which are carefully sourced from China according to Airtight ) seriously off. I had Cloneys confirm my suspicions, I was originally blaming my speakers for a strong hissing noise coming from my Quad 2805s but most likely the tubes were at fault. I had spoken to Darius about the possibility of the panels beginning to fail, which according to Darius and Ivan ( Cloneys ) could be seriously expensive depending on the number of panels to be replaced and from experience ( I have had to replace a panel in the 2805s and a previous set of 63s and its seems the cost of replacement has increased significantly ). Anyhow, a full complement of tubes ( all Electro Harmonix ) were ordered from England at approximately a cost of £ 200 from HOTROX. They were installed and after about an hour of use fire and smoke was coming out of the amp. Off went the power and I left it sit idle. After a few hours I turned it on and it seemed all right except bias all over the place. After consultation with Ivan in Cloneys and a check, two of the KT 88s were sourced as the culprits.Back to HOTROX who on checking agreed they were shot and were replaced.

Back to normality and the speakers seemed to be working without hissing sounds. Or so it seemed!! I bought three records from Acoustic Sounds in the US, the Beach Boys Sunflower and Holland and Van Morrison's Common One. Listening to Sunflower I felt that my cartridge was showing its age, its a Van den Hul Super MC1 and I was hearing enormous distortion on the second track on Side 2 especially but overall the needle seemed to be attracting dust more than usual and not sounding as good as normal. Hence, I felt it was time for a retip. I have a Blue Point ( a lot cheaper and has seen virtually no use at all kept specifically to pop in in the event of a retip being required so that music can continue to flow. So off comes the van den Hul and on goes the Blue Point and when finally adjusted sound is only coming from one speaker. Question now is it the Quads, cartridge, amps or cable. After 2 very frustrating evenings ( and using advice helpfully posted on the forum ) it was clear it was the Blue point. This was established when I put the Van Den Hul back in but this time using an electronic tracking force gauge just acquired from Amazon for the princely sum of € 22 ( including postage ). I had been using a manual Shure gauge with the Blue Point.

So in summary, good points is that my vinyl system sounds better than ever, remounting the Van Den Hul seems to have eliminated the distortion and picking up of dust etc. The electronic gauge made mounting much quicker and easier and far more accurate. My Turntable got a good clean up, more cosmetic but a lot of dust cleared off etc and is now gleaming.

Downside is that the Blue Point is lunched! However I have Koetsu Black and I have sent it for a re tip to A. J. Van den Hul to continue with when I decide that the Special is ready for a retip.

Other downside is that whilst no hissing from Quads at moment I suspect it is intermittent and may return, touch wood it won't.

By the way, as an aside, my eldest son who is working in Japan was able to source Airtight KT 88s, but at a price of €110 per tube. Big difference with the Electro Harmonix.

Biggest pluses, Ivan in Cloneys who was extremely helpful ( they always are, Noel is an absolute gent ) and I think they are a prime example of a good retailer and why, even if you pay a premium for gear, which I don't believe they charge, you get it back in spades re advice, customer service and home demos, and last but not least, help that is available on this site!! Thanks Fran!

End result is that I am really enjoying my vinyl!!!

I hope everybody is enjoying the summer, and would love to hear about your hifi on the forum

[Ivor]

Ah Peter that's the stuff of nightmares! so much going wrong at the same time makes it hard to pinpoint the culprit. I've had Quad 63's and 989's and they all suffered from occasional hiss and rumbles. I was told that they can be sensitive to atmospheric changes (odd I know look what we spend on cables!) and I found powering them down for 24 hours worked.

Bad luck on the cart too, a Van Den Hul is working looking after alright.... especially for a man who appreciates the quality of good vinyl. I too have run an Airtight + Quad ESL combination - in my case an Airtight ATM1 (still carrying out sterling duty) and 989s. A magical partnership. It lends itself to long listening sessions without any fatigue at all.

Again, I had a wayward tube a while back, one that had been in the system for quite some time, but it decided to revolt out of the blue. Given the simple nature of the Airtight amps damage was minimal and Fran (blessed be his name) cleaned up all the wiring and replaced a capacitor and resistor. A new set of Tung Sol EL34 tubes and she's back singing like the Wells Cathedral Choir.

Hopefully your troubles are over Peter, we've all been there and most have survived. Some with only minor physiological damage.

[Fran]

Yeah, thats horrible. I've only had good experiences out of hotrox, but maybe its worth looking at a service that tests the tubes before shipping out. Biasing the airtights is not difficult, but there is a procedure to follow - and its different on different models. So caution needed by anyone thinking of doing it. It would be easy to overbias a valve and take out some of the internals - not that thats what happened here from your description. The great thing about them is that the parts are usually fairly easily accessible and not too bad to replace. Certainly easier than SMT components on a PCB.

Glad that its all worked out for you though - makes you appreciate the setup when its "on song". That cart is a nice one, so well worth a retip and VdH has a fantastic rep. They had a setup in Munich where they should you winding the coils on a cart. To say it was tiny is quite an understatement. Hands steadier than mine needed!!


Fran

[patrick]

hi ,
I'm considering changing my cartridge at present. I have a clear audio maestro mm on my Clearaudio performance. I hoping to move to a mc cartridge. The van den huh Mc1 was recommended > As you are familiar with this cartridge , what is your opinion of it in comparison to other similar cartridges .

[PeterK]

Hi Patrick, sorry for not getting back sooner, I have been away and busy with other matters. Van Den Hul MC 1 super is my current cartridge and comes highly recommended. I certainly enjoy it. My Koetsu has been retipped and is awaiting collection. The Quads seem to be bedevilled so Hi Darius, I think you will be going to work on them soon.