Audio Hardware Deals: Speakers, Headphones, Turntables, Etc.

[MikeH]

JBL

JBL - Powerful speakers for home and professional sound systems.

upscaleaudio.com

JBL L52 Classic Loudspeaker (pair)

JBL L52 Classic Loudspeaker (pair) Designed and engineered in JBL’s world-famous acoustic engineering facility in Northridge, California, the L52 Classic is a 5.25-inch (130mm) 2-way loudspeaker featuring JBL’s advanced acoustic technologies in combination with the award-winning retro-inspired...

upscaleaudio.com

JBL 4309 2-Way Bookshelf Loudspeaker (pair)

JBL 4309 2-Way Bookshelf Loudspeaker (pair) Designed and engineered in JBL’s world-famous acoustic engineering facility in Northridge, California, the 4309 Studio Monitor is a showcase of patented JBL acoustics technologies. This bookshelf loudspeaker features a 2-way design with patented...

upscaleaudio.com

JBL end of summer sale

 

[MikeH]

from Music Direct:

 

[wokeupnew]

from Music Direct:

View attachment 155575

this reminds me of a deal at Blockbuster Video for PS2. If you bought a PS2 at Blockbuster you got free game rentals for (I think) 6 months. I was too young to drive myself there so I ended up renting maybe 4 games total. I ended up buying a couple of games I wanted anyways and played them instead of renting. A lot of retailers had promos around each console launch and I kind of regretted buying from Blockbuster isntead of the other promos on offer.

 

[displayname]

from Music Direct:

View attachment 155575

Bummer that mofi titles are excluded. That would have been a steal.

 

[HiFi Guy]

Cartridge deal of the century! These are circa 1980-84. No concerns about deteriorating rubber suspension because they used synthetic rubber. Back then they were $240- about $800 today. At $99 shipped, I bought 2. The 1000LT has a line contact stylus. The 1000E is elliptical.

High output MC will work with a standard MM phono input.

More info here with an eBay link.

SAE MC Cartridges (NOS) On eBAY

I just noticed that NOS SAE MC cartridges are now available on eBAY. I purchased one of these probably 10 years ago. They are high output moving coil...

forums.stevehoffman.tv

Also a post with specs from Joseph Long/The Groove Tickler. He’s the guy that made my custom Grado styli.

“I finally got some time to hook one up. The testing results are, in a word, superlative and kind of surprising. This hasn’t even broken in and this one is basically showing zero crosstalk (over 40dB separation) and dead perfect 0dB channel balance. VTF is spec 1.8g.

I have not done a frequency response test but suffice to say that if it’s testing like this, there is nothing wrong with the suspension, diamond or coils. I would expect it to meet minimum FR response specs at least and, really, pass with flying colors.

This is the best deal going on a new moving coil cartridge right now and not likely to be found again any time soon with so many to go around.”

 

[MikeH]

Cartridge deal of the century! These are circa 1980-84. No concerns about deteriorating rubber suspension because they used synthetic rubber. Back then they were $240- about $800 today. At $99 shipped, I bought 2. The 1000LT has a line contact stylus. The 1000E is elliptical.

High output MC will work with a standard MM phono input.

More info here with an eBay link.

SAE MC Cartridges (NOS) On eBAY

I just noticed that NOS SAE MC cartridges are now available on eBAY. I purchased one of these probably 10 years ago. They are high output moving coil...

forums.stevehoffman.tv

Also a post with specs from Joseph Long/The Groove Tickler. He’s the guy that made my custom Grado styli.

“I finally got some time to hook one up. The testing results are, in a word, superlative and kind of surprising. This hasn’t even broken in and this one is basically showing zero crosstalk (over 40dB separation) and dead perfect 0dB channel balance. VTF is spec 1.8g.”

View attachment 156849

Hmmm…is this a good fit with the musical fidelity LX-LPS phono?

I kind of want to replace my Grado with the soundsmith that @AnthonyI has been raving about but think I’d need a new phono as well for that setup

 

[HiFi Guy]

Hmmm…is this a good fit with the musical fidelity LX-LPS phono?

I kind of want to replace my Grado with the soundsmith that @AnthonyI has been raving about but think I’d need a new phono as well for that setup

It’s a good match.

 

[Joe Mac]

Hmmm…is this a good fit with the musical fidelity LX-LPS phono?

I kind of want to replace my Grado with the soundsmith that @AnthonyI has been raving about but think I’d need a new phono as well for that setup

The Otello is a high output 47kohm cartridge. Should work fine with your MM settings on the LX…

 

[MikeH]

The Otello is a high output 47kohm cartridge. Should work fine with your MM settings on the LX…

I might have been confusing that with another cart that I was debating picking up…the Otello is probably the next cart for me then!

 

[Joe Mac]

I might have been confusing that with another cart that I was debating picking up…the Otello is probably the next cart for me then!

You should be fine then. The output is a bit less than you’re used to with the Grado but that just means you need to crank the amp a little more and it will all be grand.

 

[AnthonyI]

I might have been confusing that with another cart that I was debating picking up…the Otello is probably the next cart for me then!

You should be fine then. The output is a bit less than you’re used to with the Grado but that just means you need to crank the amp a little more and it will all be grand.

45 / 47K and I'm barely past 10 o'clock and it's plenty loud

 

[HiFi Guy]

I might have been confusing that with another cart that I was debating picking up…the Otello is probably the next cart for me then!

I almost bought a Soundsmith, but preferred the Grado in my system. I will miss the bass of the Otello, as I told @AnthonyI .

I’m hoping the SAE sounds like a marriage between the Soundsmith and the Grado.

 

[Santi1392]

Cartridge deal of the century! These are circa 1980-84. No concerns about deteriorating rubber suspension because they used synthetic rubber. Back then they were $240- about $800 today. At $99 shipped, I bought 2. The 1000LT has a line contact stylus. The 1000E is elliptical.

High output MC will work with a standard MM phono input.

More info here with an eBay link.

SAE MC Cartridges (NOS) On eBAY

I just noticed that NOS SAE MC cartridges are now available on eBAY. I purchased one of these probably 10 years ago. They are high output moving coil...

forums.stevehoffman.tv

Also a post with specs from Joseph Long/The Groove Tickler. He’s the guy that made my custom Grado styli.

“I finally got some time to hook one up. The testing results are, in a word, superlative and kind of surprising. This hasn’t even broken in and this one is basically showing zero crosstalk (over 40dB separation) and dead perfect 0dB channel balance. VTF is spec 1.8g.

I have not done a frequency response test but suffice to say that if it’s testing like this, there is nothing wrong with the suspension, diamond or coils. I would expect it to meet minimum FR response specs at least and, really, pass with flying colors.

This is the best deal going on a new moving coil cartridge right now and not likely to be found again any time soon with so many to go around.”

View attachment 156849

If you don’t mind me asking, what would be the main difference in conical vs elliptical?

 

[HiFi Guy]

If you don’t mind me asking, what would be the main difference in conical vs elliptical?

The LT is a line contact, not a conical. A line contact traces the groove better than a conical or an elliptical and gives better high frequency reproduction as well. A line contact stylus also lasts longer than the other 2 types.

 

[Melt Face Molly Drop]

Cartridge deal of the century! These are circa 1980-84. No concerns about deteriorating rubber suspension because they used synthetic rubber. Back then they were $240- about $800 today. At $99 shipped, I bought 2. The 1000LT has a line contact stylus. The 1000E is elliptical.

High output MC will work with a standard MM phono input.

More info here with an eBay link.

SAE MC Cartridges (NOS) On eBAY

I just noticed that NOS SAE MC cartridges are now available on eBAY. I purchased one of these probably 10 years ago. They are high output moving coil...

forums.stevehoffman.tv

Also a post with specs from Joseph Long/The Groove Tickler. He’s the guy that made my custom Grado styli.

“I finally got some time to hook one up. The testing results are, in a word, superlative and kind of surprising. This hasn’t even broken in and this one is basically showing zero crosstalk (over 40dB separation) and dead perfect 0dB channel balance. VTF is spec 1.8g.

I have not done a frequency response test but suffice to say that if it’s testing like this, there is nothing wrong with the suspension, diamond or coils. I would expect it to meet minimum FR response specs at least and, really, pass with flying colors.

This is the best deal going on a new moving coil cartridge right now and not likely to be found again any time soon with so many to go around.”

View attachment 156849

Where would this need to be sent to fix when the stylus reaches its end of life?

Any reason this wouldn't pair well with a Pro-Ject Carbon? Thought I read somewhere that certain equipment had limitations with MC carts.

Lastly, what would the gain need to be set at for the Insight?

 

[Joe Mac]

Where would this need to be sent to fix when the stylus reaches its end of life?

Any reason this wouldn't pair well with a Pro-Ject Carbon? Thought I read somewhere that certain equipment had limitations with MC carts.

Lastly, what would the gain need to be set at for the Insight?

I’ve been running a low output MC, Hana SL, with debut carbon for a year now and I’m extatic with the combination. It’s likely a better deck could get more out of the cartridge but it’s still been an enormous improvement on what I had before.

Limitations could come into play with a cheaper phono stage that either doesn’t offer MC or doesn’t sound great when it’s asked to provide the extra gain for an MC.

 

[djdavedk]

The LT is a line contact, not a conical. A line contact traces the groove better than a conical or an elliptical and gives better high frequency reproduction as well. A line contact stylus also lasts longer than the other 2 types.

This is wild! Luckily my amp has MM/MC options... might take a jump if some more xmas stuff sells on the 'bay.

 

[HiFi Guy]

Where would this need to be sent to fix when the stylus reaches its end of life?

Any reason this wouldn't pair well with a Pro-Ject Carbon? Thought I read somewhere that certain equipment had limitations with MC carts.

Lastly, what would the gain need to be set at for the Insight?

There are numerous places that can retip this. I’d recommend Joseph Long aka The Groove Tickler in Connecticut.

I’d set the gain at 46dB and the loading at 47k ohms.

Edit: It will cost $3-400 for a retip. That’s why I bought 2.

 

[HiFi Guy]

This is wild! Luckily my amp has MM/MC options... might take a jump if some more xmas stuff sells on the 'bay.

Looking at the sales history, they will likely sell out in 2-3 days. They started with 400 of each.

 

[HiFi Guy]

@Melt Face Molly Drop see edit above.