November 2018 Hi-Fi Show Pics +

G.I.P. Laboratory

Room 646

GIP Monitor 1 (black)

GIP 225

GIP Monitor 1
+
GIP 225

Ben, Lin and Ayie

Francis, Ben and Mickey

Ben, Joey (Harana Audio), Allan (DEQX) and Suzuki-san (G.I.P Labs)

G.I.P. Laboratory + Harana Audio

Room 647

Tim de Paravicini of EAR
+
Tony aka November Hi-Fi Show head honcho

 A Visit to G.I.P. Labs

'70s Direct Drive Turntables (and Tonearms)

This is a follow up on the road less travelled article. In 2017, I went on a quest for direct drive turntables that I could acquire for under $250. For the past year I've been tinkering and listening to these four 70s era direct drive turntables to find out whether a direct drive turntable has a place in my ever-growing collection of audio equipment.

Each unit has its own unique approach to direct drive turntable design and was available either as an integrated unit (with tonearm) or as a plain motor unit. The Denon DP1250,  Kenwood KD500 and JVC QL5 are mid-priced models from the late 70s, while the Sony TTS2500 was a first generation early 70s top of the line direct drive unit designed to compete with the original Technics SP10, which, unfortunately, was not within my budget. 😞

Turntables

JVC QL5

JVC introduced the world's first quartz locked turntable in 1974. The QL5 employs quartz locked circuitry to control its 12 pole 24 slot DC type motor. Its jet black plinth is made out of heavy particle board. The motor unit was also sold sans tonearm as the QL50.

Kenwood KD500

Instead of the complex electronics found in the Denon, JVC and Sony, the KD500 uses a relatively simple servo circuit referenced to a frequency generator modulating an 8 pole 24 slot brushless DC motor. This turntable developed a following in the late 70s due to the use of a highly inert and heavy synthetic marble plinth.

 This particular unit was loaned to me by my buddy Ding. He's had it stored for many years. It ran way too fast at first turn on so I replaced these four bulging capacitors immediately.

Denon DP1250

Unlike the two preceding turntables, the DP1250 uses an AC motor which minimizes cogging, according to period Denon sales literature. The motor is governed by a unique tape head inspired speed regulating system. The plinth is a substantial plywood/particle board laminate similar in mass to the JVC.

Sony TTS2500

The Sony TTS2500 is the motor unit of the worldwide bound Sony PS-2250/2251. Just like the Denon, it also uses an AC motor regulated by a servo circuit that is claimed to be practically cog-less in operation. This JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) model requires a 100V step down transformer. The half-finished laminated plywood plinth was DIY'ed by yours truly.😎

Tonearms

In a typical audiophile shootout these turntables would have been fitted with the same tonearm/cartridge combination and plinth. But this was not practical since I wanted to test under real world conditions. So to satisfy JE Labs' retro-centric streak,😉 for the Denon and Sony, I chose period correct gimbal bearing type tonearms that are known to perform on a similar musical level as those supplied with the QL5 and KD550.

JVC QL5 Tonearm

The QL5 is equipped with a tonearm that looks like an economy version of their well regarded UA-5045. With an effective length of 245mm, it is a bit longer than the three 237mm tonearms below.

Kenwood KD550 Tonearm

Ding had a Grace 707 installed before moth-balling this KD500. For some reason that tonearm went AWOL. Fortunately I had the original tonearm supplied with the KD550 in my stash. There are claims that this may have been OEM'd either by Acos or Micro-Seiki?

Rega R200

It would've been nice if I had something along the lines of a Denon DA305 to fit on the DP1250. However, the Acos OEM'd Rega R200 I installed is also a well respected 70s classic. 

Grace 540L

I've always had a soft spot for Grace/Shinagawa tonearms ever since the Grace 707 opened my ears that fine quality tonearm design produces nice sounds. This Grace G540L has similar mass to the other three above. The lack of a cuing device and anti-skate betrays its pro-application heritage. It is the oldest of the bunch making it the perfect partner for the TTS2500.

Cartridge

Denon DL103R

 For critical listening I relied on a Denon DL103R mounted on a Sumiko HS-12 head-shell. But this didn't prevent me from mounting a variety of cartridges in my stash ranging from the cheap 'n cheerful AT 3600L to an Ortofon SPU.

Time travel to the 70s

 Without hesitation, I would choose any of these turntables over the 3-point suspension belt drive turntable I used and tweaked to the max in the 80s. The direct drive system has the sure-footed speed stability which eventually lured me to the TD124 in the late 80s. I should've jumped at bargain priced top of the line direct drives to play with in the 90s...alas, hindsight is 20/20.

Since direct drive solved the ills of wow and flutter, and noise which plagued the belt and idler drive system respectively, there should be minimal difference in the way any direct drive motor unit should sound, right? Not quite...

Denon AC motor (top)
Kenwood DC motor (bottom)

My most surprising discovery after living with all these turntables this past year was the difference in sound between the motors that power them. The DC-motor-powered JVC and Kenwood consistently sounded analytical, cold and forward, akin to a digital source, while the AC-propelled Denon and Sony were characteristically more laid back and warm, just like what I associate with analog sound.

 However, to put things in perspective, the Sony still outperformed the other three direct drives in key musical aspects. In particular, there is a "hardness" and loss of composure in complex musical passages that prevailed on the three units with the Sony exhibiting only the very least amount.

Sony TTS2500 + Stax UA-3NL

Still, the TTS2500 could not eclipse the performance of the 301 or the TD124s. But it is the only direct drive in this group to come close in mimicking the stately authority of the esteemed idler driven classics. 

For this achievement, I crowned the Sony with a 12" Stax UA-3NL tonearm.🍻

November 2018 Hifi Show

To all readers based in Manila, please mark your calendars.

Don't miss a guaranteed good time. 👍👍👍

Here's a preview of what I will miss. 😢

G.I.P. Laboratory + Harana Audio Collaboration

Joey of Harana Audio and Shinichi Suzuki of G.I.P. Laboratory

GIP 597A

GIP 555

GIP 815 in Harana Audio V-Vent cabinets

Harana Audio Workshop

Suzuki-san inspecting the electronics - Wavelength Audio SE45 with Magnequest Cobalt OPTs driving the horns and SE300B with Tamura Permalloy OPTs driving the bass, signal source = DEQX HPD5

Suzuki-san is listening

Approved👍👍👌👌

Time for lunch!

Oh wait a moment...

let's have some Beethoven Moonlight Sonata as an appetizer 😁

Visit GIP Labs in room 646 and Harana/GIP next door, 647. 

Cheers to Suzuki-san and Joey.🍻

Kutztown Radio Show September 21-22, 2018

All pictures were taken with a Fuji X-E1 camera + Canon 28mm f3.5 LTM lens.

I wasn't able to attend as many hamfests/radio shows this past summer. So I made sure I went to Kutztown.  

This speaker caught my attention as something I've encountered in a vintage magazine in the past. Since there was no one manning the booth, I went on...

A pair of University Lowboys + an EV Aristocrat

Nice Gates CB77, but I couldn't afford it 😞

Belt-driven Rek-O-Kut

Scott 299, LT110B FM tuner, Fisher KX100, etc.

Fisher PP EL84 mono block

My bud Larry always has a live demo set-up.

Sonographe SD-1: mid-80s Philips 14-bit oversampling chassis with twin TDA1540 DACs, audio section tweaked by conrad-johnson, nice piece but check out that asking price 😲

Tubes galore!

I scored a TDA1543 equipped Magnavox CD player from this booth. 

Lots of 70s-80s Hi-Fi equipment 

Used CD prices are at an all-time low 😃

The speaker I spotted earlier kept haunting me. I just had to give it a new home. My gut feel was right - it's a Stewart Hegeman-designed omni-directional speaker. 😎

Noguchi Transformer Co. Ltd, Closing

Noguchi Transformer Co. Ltd announced that they are closing on September 29, 2018.😞😞😞

Located at the basement of Tokyo Radio Department Store in Akihabara, I was first exposed to their existence in the early 90s through their ads in MJ Audio Technology and Stereo Sound Tube Kingdom magazines. 

MJ 11-1994 

Back in the 90s they ran 2-page ads for Tamura, Tango and their in-house manufactured transformers.

Hashimoto

I was glad to see their store when I visited Tokyo in November 2015. They still had a good stock of Hashimoto, some Tamura and a comprehensive line of their house brand transformers. 

Noguchi + Tamura 

I am speculating that just like everywhere else in the world, the Japanese market for DIY/vacuum tube/single-ended triode amps is also shrinking. This explains why these manufacturers are closing shop, 😞 not to mention the fierce competition from China.

"mid-price" Finemet OPT ad in MJ 12/2015

  

The Noguchi Finemet models represented their finest quality output transformers.

Even if I stretched my budget a bit, it was a good call that I added a pair of PMF-10WS and PMF-15WS + a single Finemet FM3WS-H and a pair of Finemet FM6WS to my collection. 🙂

Sayonara!

!!UPDATE!!

As posted by "dan" in the comments section below, the entire line of Noguchi is now represented by General Transformer in the same location at Tokyo Radio Department Store in Akihabra.