Tish and I were delighted to have our dear friend Tony, organizer of the annual November Hi-Fi Show event in Manila, as our house guest this past week. Even if he presents the latest in high end audio, his hifi set up is quite eclectic and chosen by ear. It consists of bespoke SE-DHT amps, horn speakers using classic Altec drivers, a grease bearing Garrard 301 + contemporary components for digital streaming and headphone listening. He makes it a point to also feature local DIYers in his annual hifi event by subsidizing their demo rooms.
After a long day of digging for tubes, transformers and miscellaneous parts, it was time to refresh and recharge with beer 'n burgers at Kutztown Tavern. 🍻😊
Because of the dearth of units left in the States and my indifference towards engaging in a bidding war versus fellow Asian hobbyists, I patiently hunted them for 20+ years via other channels.
The 405A is a 4" 60-15,000 Hz wide range driver with a sensitivity rating of 92dB/4ft/1W. It's equipped with a massive Indox magnet that's almost the same diameter as its cone.
IMHO and experience, Altec cabinet plans always deliver sonically. Aside from a full understanding of the physics of sound, their engineers used their ears as the final arbiter in a design brief. To me, that trumps any design completely derived from a mathematical formula or computer simulation. So I asked my buddy @ Hommage Audio to fashion a Bonsai pair of Altec 614-style boxes based on the above dimensions.
Interior stuffed with Dacron
For sentimental reasons, I have a pair Realistic Minimus 8s on my test bench. I always thought they were above average, although not extraordinarily special. Same deal with the "Holey Frame" drivers I pulled out of a Sony TC500A RTR machine. To my ears, both FE103 derivatives have an upper midrange resonance, which require an EQ/contour network to make them more listenable.
As soon as I hooked them up to my near-field hifi system, I was pleasantly surprised that they play like their bigger brothers, albeit at a reduced scale.
It's physically impossible for the 4" cone of the 405A to extend much below 90 Hz, but the roll off is gentle and there's enough harmonics to suggest bass lines. I hear a slight trace of peakiness in the presence region. For my taste though, an EQ filter isn't necessary.
Although the Altec 405A can't replace the Altec 755C (much less the 755A) in my near-field set up, its midrange depth, micro dynamics, detail resolution and overall tonal balance makes it worthy of the Altec badge!👍😊
Canon P + Canon 50mm f1.8 Foma 100 in Rodinal 1+50
After many decades of collecting and using classic audio equipment and film cameras, I've learned to accept that sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, but most of the time I break even. And the only reason there is that possibility of breaking even is because I learned to DIY.
This tonearm came with a KS Musicmaster Model 25B12GST idler-driven turntable, which I thought I could resuscitate. Alas, the turntable was beyond saving because a lot of important parts were missing. The tonearm had no head shell slide and the cartridge pin contact points + wiring harness were gone. For many years this tonearm was boxed up along with other parts units sitting in storage.
One day I had an epiphany - will the Karmadon head shell slide fit?
I'm happy to report that the two types of head shell slides that my buddy, Sergiy, manufactures for his Gray Research tonearm clone work on this Japanese clone as well as on my original Gray Research 108C. Above left is a solid shell and on the right is a shell with a hole to accommodate the triple play feature of the General Electric RPX and VRII mono cartridges.
Despite the carnage brought upon the Ukrainians by a deranged autocrat, my Karmadon head shells arrived in less than two weeks. We really have to admire and support these people!
I rewired the tonearm and blu-tacked 4 pennies to make up for the lost hardware.
A blob of 600,000 cSt silicone fluid was injected into the uni-pivot bearing cup.
Since the Karmadon head shell slide is lighter than the original, I used all three copper weights Sergiy provided, added 2 x 5 centavo coins + the GE VRII cartridge = 25 grams.
I misplaced my VRII cartridge pins 😞...but after a bit of head scratching, I hacked two tube pins from a dead octal based tube and soldered them to the signal wires.😊
Voila!👍
For more viscous damped tonearm set up information, please click here!
Even with my 20+ years of experience using this tonearm, it took me a while to dial-in the proper weight compensation due to the missing hardware + adapted head shell slide. Getting a viscous damped tonearm to function properly isn't for the faint of heart and requires patience. If you don't possess these virtues, I suggest you don't consider using one. But I must say the results are well worth it!😊
In the early 2000s, the swinging tonearm mount of the Shield MO-19 caught my attention because it looked like the perfect partner for my Velvet Touchviscous damped tonearm. It turned out that this Japanese 4-speed idler-driven turntable is actually a rebadged NEAT P58H.
I found this interesting phono cartridge on eBay for under $30 shipped.
It was advertised as a vintage Sony magnetic cartridge. After clicking Buy It Now, I asked the seller for more details. Sadly, my inquiry fell on deaf ears...
The stylus assembly is very similar to that from the AT-5.
But the body shape is somewhere between an AT-1 and AT-3S.
After getting a feel of cantilever compliance and seeing the bonded conical stylus under a USB microscope, it felt safe to set VTF at 3 grams. The stylus has yet to skip a track!
Although not quite as dynamic, the tonal balance of this vintage cartridge is reminiscent of my all-time favorite Shure M3D. I’ve listened to it extensively mounted on the Tokyo Sound ST900, Fidelity Research FR54, and Bokrand AS309. I would've recommended this cartridge highly as a nice budget alternative to the M3D or M7D IF the eBay seller didn't go AWOL.
A video of the vintage cartridge Coral CP30D tracing an Abbey Lincoln track.
While debating whether it was still worthwhile blogging about a mysterious vintage cartridge that can't be found anywhere, an elongated box arrived at our doorstep.
Inside the ginormous box was a tiny little box. Apparently someone in the packing department couldn’t care less about conservation.
It turned out to be my order for a phono cartridge, which showed up on my feed while I was searching for Blue Note Jazz LPs on Amazon. No literature was provided aside from the stickers on the outer box and plastic protective case. The cartridge isn’t even identified with a trademark or model number. Henceforth, this will be referred to as the Amazon cartridge and the other, the vintage cartridge.
A phono cartridge for under $18 shipped and taxed is like an early 80s dèjà vu when I could walk into Leonard Radio on Sixth Ave. NYC, listen and browse to my heart's delight, and walk out with a $15 Grado GTE+1.
The plastic body is quite robust weighing about 6.5 grams. Instead of traditional mounting holes, the body is threaded. Over tightening the two Allen head mounting screws can result in stripped threads.
The google translate camera app on my iPhone gave the above info. I suppose 2.2 grams acupressure = Vertical Tracking Force, since it uses a stylus not an acupuncture needle. OTOH, the printed 5 gram weight doesn't match my digital scale's reading.
I haven’t mastered the use of my USB microscope and this is the best stylus image I managed to capture. It looks like a nude mounted rock with traces of facets. Could it be an elliptical or a not too highly polished conical? I'm not an experienced stylus peeper, so please let me know what you think.
I mounted the cartridge on a generic Technics-style head shell and set the acupressure to 2.2 grams on my Bokrand AS309. After a couple of tracks I heard sibilance. Increasing the VTF to 3 grams fixed the problem. IMHO, 2.2 grams is too optimistic!
The metal shield of the Amazon cartridge looked similar to the entry-level Audio Technica AT3600L. So I took it out and, as expected, it sounded comparatively dark and veiled. Switching to the Pfanstiehl conical stylus opened up the sound a bit. However, the full bodied tonality of the Amazon cartridge wasn't at all apparent leading me to believe that the two cartridges don't share the same motor.
The Amazon cartridge is a very exciting performer! Macro and micro dynamics are more nuanced, I hear more air on the top end while midrange vitality and low frequency extension are at par with the vintage cartridge. If I'm forced to split hairs, I'd say the vintage cartridge is a tad more refined compared to this Amazon special.
Same Abbey Lincoln track traced by the Amazon cartridge
As I was about to link to the item on Amazon, my original source was showing as currently unavailable. But a bit of searching yielded a blue/gray variant as pictured above that's listing from $19.46 to $23.99. Happy shopping!
As featured in the two videos, most of my listening and testing were done via my near field hifi. But I also cross referenced the cartridges fitted to the Bokrand AB309 + Garrard 401 downstream to the Altec 753Cs in the main system. Neither cartridge unseated the Shure M3D as my favorite magnetic cartridge but both provide a level musical satisfaction unimaginable at this price point!
Addendum
More stylus pictures
Click on the images to enlarge
I forgot to mention that when I did the AT3600L vs. $18 Amazon cartridge comparison, I was reminded of a Pickering V-15 vs. XV-15 match. Could there be a moving iron motor inside this Amazon cartridge?
Suffice it to say, I've been enjoying my $18 version so much such that I'm not in a hurry to re-mount the Shure M3D.😊
Here's another video of the $18 Amazon cartridge, this time mounted on a Fidelity Research FR54 tonearm tracing a track from Naked Eyes in honor of Burt Bacharach (1928-2023).
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