Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

[HayesWeighsIn]

The KOB45 and Exodus UHQRs are pretty phenomenal sounding.
I give most credit to the mastering, but the quiet vinyl is cool.

The two one steps I have Relaxin and Folk Singer were ok.
I like the Miles but sold Folk Singer back.

I did order the one step of Dookie after saying I was done buying anymore of them.
90s alternative is pretty slim pickings for high quality reissues.

All this to say yeah buy it for the title and not the plating marketing.

Psyched to hear what you think about Dookie!

 

[MikeH]

The KOB45 and Exodus UHQRs are pretty phenomenal sounding.
I give most credit to the mastering, but the quiet vinyl is cool.

The two one steps I have Relaxin and Folk Singer were ok.
I like the Miles but sold Folk Singer back.

I did order the one step of Dookie after saying I was done buying anymore of them.
90s alternative is pretty slim pickings for high quality reissues.

All this to say yeah buy it for the title and not the plating marketing.

I'd say my favorite one steps have been:

MoFi Dylan BOTT, Mingus Ah Um, Monk's Dream
Craft Eastern Sounds, Black Orpheus, Brilliant Corners
Impex - Getz Gilberto

and for the UHQRs, White Stripes, the two Marleys and Steely Dan - Gaucho are some of my faves. The jazz ones are all great too that I have, but not sure how much of an upgrade they are over the 2x45 APs (Evans and Coltranes). The UHQRs aren't quite as black background as the small batches on my system.

 

[MikeH]

My wild hair of chasing this beauty is over.

4 track player doesn't gel right with the 2 track tapes.
I learned something new and maybe this crazy journey works out differently in the future.

View attachment 225243

A bit confused by this...did you get the wrong reel to reel for what you wanted to use?

 

[Joe Mac]

I'd say my favorite one steps have been:

MoFi Dylan BOTT, Mingus Ah Um, Monk's Dream
Craft Eastern Sounds, Black Orpheus, Brilliant Corners
Impex - Getz Gilberto

and for the UHQRs, White Stripes, the two Marleys and Steely Dan - Gaucho are some of my faves. The jazz ones are all great too that I have, but not sure how much of an upgrade they are over the 2x45 APs (Evans and Coltranes). The UHQRs aren't quite as black background as the small batches on my system.

That Dylan Blood on the Tracks really is just something else!

 

[Jbraswell]

A bit confused by this...did you get the wrong reel to reel for what you wanted to use?

That's the machine I was looking at.
It's a Pro Otari Studio model but had to walk away from it because it won't play 2 track tapes like the AP.
It's 4 track heads.

Let me be honest about something.
R2R is a freaking confusing twilight zone if you ever enter the conversation
I should take a course on it before entertaining the thought of buying a machine in the future.

 

[Jbraswell]

I'd say my favorite one steps have been:

MoFi Dylan BOTT, Mingus Ah Um, Monk's Dream
Craft Eastern Sounds, Black Orpheus, Brilliant Corners
Impex - Getz Gilberto

and for the UHQRs, White Stripes, the two Marleys and Steely Dan - Gaucho are some of my faves. The jazz ones are all great too that I have, but not sure how much of an upgrade they are over the 2x45 APs (Evans and Coltranes). The UHQRs aren't quite as black background as the small batches on my system.

I tend to like the RTI neotech compound over the UHQR clarity stuff.

 

[MikeH]

That's the machine I was looking at.
It's a Pro Otari Studio model but had to walk away from it because it won't play 2 track tapes like the AP.
It's 4 track heads.

Let me be honest about something.
R2R is a freaking confusing twilight zone if you ever enter the conversation
I should take a course on it before entertaining the thought of buying a machine in the future.

Ah I thought you bought it then realized that it couldn't do what you wanted...at least you could walk away from it!

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

Anyone with a Technics 1200 upgrade to an acrylic mat? The winter's in Chicago cause mad static problems and I've read they can help. But I'm worried about making sure it's thin enough that it doesn't fuck up my vertical tracking.

 

[Nee Lewman]

Anyone with a Technics 1200 upgrade to an acrylic mat? The winter's in Chicago cause mad static problems and I've read they can help. But I'm worried about making sure it's thin enough that it doesn't fuck up my vertical tracking.

Hudson hifi makes them in a variety of thicknesses. Seems to me when I bought the one for my orbit, you could look up your turntable to determine which size you needed.

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

Hudson hifi makes them in a variety of thicknesses. Seems to me when I bought the one for my orbit, you could look up your turntable to determine which size you needed.

I was just looking at their website and don't see that option. But it says they are 1/8th an inch which seems close enough to the 3mm that the stock rubberr mats (according to Google) are that I wouldn't need to change the VTA. Sound right to you? Also, pretty sure my table is a 1500 after some thought. Been like 3 years since i bought it and I was blanking.

 

[kvetcha]

SpeedWoofers are arriving today!!

 

[kvetcha]

not strictly equipment-centric, but I found my old Lava Lamp from high school. The water in the globe had evaporated somewhat, so I've ordered materials to clean and refurbish the thing. gotta figure out a place to put it...

 

[Melt Face Molly Drop]

not strictly equipment-centric, but I found my old Lava Lamp from high school. The water in the globe had evaporated somewhat, so I've ordered materials to clean and refurbish the thing. gotta figure out a place to put it...

Nice, mine from 6th grade is still kickin'. Same bulbs and everything.

 

[Hemotep]

not strictly equipment-centric, but I found my old Lava Lamp from high school. The water in the globe had evaporated somewhat, so I've ordered materials to clean and refurbish the thing. gotta figure out a place to put it...

Nice, mine from 6th grade is still kickin'. Same bulbs and everything.

Last year I bought a cool one that had Starfield kinda vibes with the design that was on blowout at Target. $12 and it's awesome.

 

[kvetcha]

Nice, mine from 6th grade is still kickin'. Same bulbs and everything.

Mine pre-dates the move to Chinese production, so I'm excited to get it polished up and refurbished.

 

[Dylanfan253]

That's the machine I was looking at.
It's a Pro Otari Studio model but had to walk away from it because it won't play 2 track tapes like the AP.
It's 4 track heads.

Let me be honest about something.
R2R is a freaking confusing twilight zone if you ever enter the conversation
I should take a course on it before entertaining the thought of buying a machine in the future.

I was ok with the tape cost (the blank tape and reels cost an insane amount on their own) but once I found out a proper deck is around 10k usd I realized it wasn’t for me.

 

[Jbraswell]

I was ok with the tape cost (the blank tape and reels cost an insane amount on their own) but once I found out a proper deck is around 10k usd I realized it wasn’t for me.

I was at $1300 for the Otari, which was very reasonable IMO.
However picking the right machine is key. It gets costly buying the wrong one.
There's a video of a guy on his 3rd or 4th machine because he jumped too quick

 

[kvetcha]

Still getting the gain for the speaker-level sub dialed in, but already pretty happy with how things are sounding! The behind-couch LFE sub is doing work.

 

[MikeH]

not strictly equipment-centric, but I found my old Lava Lamp from high school. The water in the globe had evaporated somewhat, so I've ordered materials to clean and refurbish the thing. gotta figure out a place to put it...

Turn it into a record weight!

 

[MikeH]

Still getting the gain for the speaker-level sub dialed in, but already pretty happy with how things are sounding! The behind-couch LFE sub is doing work.

Where’d you get them from and what wireless adaptor do you use?