Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice
- Thread starter Joe Mac
- Start date
AnthonyI
Well-Known Member
JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
MikeH
Well-Known Member
i picked up a set of those iso puck minis! bought them from a company i had never heard of before yesterday...American Musical Supply...but they were $80 for an 8 pack with a coupon + free shipping. just received them now so looking forward to testing them out!
Mather
Unknown Member
Nice! Yeah they're cheap and seem to work well. According to the very sparse manual you want to have them logo forward because they're built to work on that axis. I mean... okay sure... but anyhow. Also I was told that it's not a bad idea if they're taller than the existing feet to just place them around the existing feet instead of under them because it's better dampening if they're directly connected to the body of the unit.
So I swapped around the ones under my stage to follow this idea...
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
As a bonus that also looks a million times better too!
Mather
Unknown Member
It was legitimately driving me insane.
Last edited:
Since the NAD gear showed up and I’ve decided it’s definitely staying, I ended up rearranging the gear in my rack.
This necessitated moving the Sutherland Duos farther away from the Ultradeck. I’ve been chasing a low level hum since- only when using the turntable.
Last night I checked everything. I changed the connection from the Ultradeck from the Sutherlands to the NAD. The hum was still there but at a lower level. Totally expected- I’ve got the Sutherland set at 46 dB gain- the NAD is fixed at 40 dB.
My wife was here and said “I don’t get what everything does, but the Sutherlands sound way better.” They do. They should, given their cost.
Then I changed the Blue Jeans LC1 from the NAD back to the Sutherland. Hum is louder along with the output. I had a Pangea phono cable in my junk drawer. I tried that. Hum was horrible. This points me to a cable issue.
Then I remembered that some years back I got a bad pair of Blue Jeans LC-1s- they were noisy with a low level hum. I thought I’d returned them. Now I wondered if I returned them at all.
So I ordered another set of RCA cables to see if my diagnosis was correct. But I decided to try something different. I spent a whopping $ 9.34 for a 3 foot pair of KabelDirekt cables from Amazon. They appeared to be well shielded, and are low capacitance, although not as low as Blue Jeans LC-1. Grado says that capacitance doesn’t matter with their cartridges anyway. And the German made KabelDirekt is far lower capacitance than some far more expensive (by 15-45 times) phono cables I’ve seen.
Installed them tonight. Hum is gone. They seem to have a bit more sparkle up top (a good thing given that’s where Grado loses in comparison to more expensive MC cartridges.) The higher capacitance will affect top octave frequency response. They seem to be very well constructed.
At the price, I don’t see how you can go wrong. The Blue Jeans LC-1 certainly is a great value, but along with many other things lately, their price has jumped. The KabelDirect does what it’s supposed to do. It’s quiet. It sounds great. It’s not only a great alternative to using the junk cables most gear is supplied with, but can serve well in higher end systems. I don’t mind spending money on gear, but I find most cables to be horribly overpriced and some to honestly not be suited to high end audio applications at all- exactly the market they are targeting. I see lots of smoke and mirrors when it comes to audio cables.
All I think is needed when it comes to RCA cables is good shielding, low resistance and capacitance along with quality connectors. The KabelDirect RCAs offer all of my requirements at a bargain basement price. You’d spend more than a ten spot to build these yourself.
This necessitated moving the Sutherland Duos farther away from the Ultradeck. I’ve been chasing a low level hum since- only when using the turntable.
Last night I checked everything. I changed the connection from the Ultradeck from the Sutherlands to the NAD. The hum was still there but at a lower level. Totally expected- I’ve got the Sutherland set at 46 dB gain- the NAD is fixed at 40 dB.
My wife was here and said “I don’t get what everything does, but the Sutherlands sound way better.” They do. They should, given their cost.
Then I changed the Blue Jeans LC1 from the NAD back to the Sutherland. Hum is louder along with the output. I had a Pangea phono cable in my junk drawer. I tried that. Hum was horrible. This points me to a cable issue.
Then I remembered that some years back I got a bad pair of Blue Jeans LC-1s- they were noisy with a low level hum. I thought I’d returned them. Now I wondered if I returned them at all.
So I ordered another set of RCA cables to see if my diagnosis was correct. But I decided to try something different. I spent a whopping $ 9.34 for a 3 foot pair of KabelDirekt cables from Amazon. They appeared to be well shielded, and are low capacitance, although not as low as Blue Jeans LC-1. Grado says that capacitance doesn’t matter with their cartridges anyway. And the German made KabelDirekt is far lower capacitance than some far more expensive (by 15-45 times) phono cables I’ve seen.
Installed them tonight. Hum is gone. They seem to have a bit more sparkle up top (a good thing given that’s where Grado loses in comparison to more expensive MC cartridges.) The higher capacitance will affect top octave frequency response. They seem to be very well constructed.
At the price, I don’t see how you can go wrong. The Blue Jeans LC-1 certainly is a great value, but along with many other things lately, their price has jumped. The KabelDirect does what it’s supposed to do. It’s quiet. It sounds great. It’s not only a great alternative to using the junk cables most gear is supplied with, but can serve well in higher end systems. I don’t mind spending money on gear, but I find most cables to be horribly overpriced and some to honestly not be suited to high end audio applications at all- exactly the market they are targeting. I see lots of smoke and mirrors when it comes to audio cables.
All I think is needed when it comes to RCA cables is good shielding, low resistance and capacitance along with quality connectors. The KabelDirect RCAs offer all of my requirements at a bargain basement price. You’d spend more than a ten spot to build these yourself.
kvetcha
Chet Hanks' Filmography Buff
Been using these for years, I like ‘em. The only real issue is that they’re made to European measurements so they’re a touch loose.
They fit tight enough. I’ve actually seen gear damaged by RCAs that fit too tight. The collar doesn’t have to grab like GI Joe with the King Fu grip to make a good electrical connection. The LC-1 fits a bit tighter, but I wouldn’t want any tighter than that.
JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
Seem to be a good, cheap alternative to BlueJeans to try. BJ LC-1 were $30 a couple years ago, not quite the bargain any more they once were at $50 now. But nothing is it seems.
I'm still saving/waiting for my dream interconnects.
Being “anti cable” I don’t have dream interconnects thankfully.
OMC
Well-Known Member
Anti cable? I don’t understand.
JohnnyCashFan
Well-Known Member
OMC
Well-Known Member
Been wondering who to buy a CD transport from and y’all made up my mind. Crutchfield for the win and it will be here Friday with shipping free. Sweet!
OMC
Well-Known Member
Just got my HiFi Guy approved record cleaning brush so off to check it out. Went down to the sound room earlier today and even with the humidifier running overnight the humidity level was 15%. 
The humidifier puts out two gallons of water in 24 hours in this one room. Outside temp is 5*F right now and about 7% humidity. Ugh.
The humidifier puts out two gallons of water in 24 hours in this one room. Outside temp is 5*F right now and about 7% humidity. Ugh.
Mather
Unknown Member
What brush do you speak of? I tried to replace my audioquest brush with literally the same brush and the bristles on this newer one were so coarse that it was actually etching the record with this incredible nails down a chalkboard sound. I emailed to tell them and they just shrugged their shoulders and said "if it's not working for you, return it." I was like, "Bro it's carving patterns into the records, this shit won't work for ANYONE."First use of the brush gets two thumbs up from me.For the asking price it’s a helluva deal! And if it doesn’t work out (it will) it can always be used as a shaving cream applicator.
I have 2. One for dusting my gear, one for vinyl.