Incoming! The New Equipment Thread

Ghost said:
That's good to hear honestly, and it feels good to be at the point of diminishing return. The only thing I'm desirous of upgrading is my digital set-up, I'll probably add a Denafrips DAC or something in the next year or two and then just chill the fuck out for 5 years or something lol. Although my friend is going to let me hang onto his EAR Phonobox.... I'm praying that doesn't wow me cause then I'll get the upgradeitis again lol.

I also keep saying this to my wife, I'm going to look real bad if a year from now I'm like "MAYBE I SHOULD GET A NEW INTEGRATED AMP? GO FOR A MORE TUBEY SOUND!" *itches neck*
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Tube Phono Preamps do exist. Just Saying...
 
Ghost said:
Yes, that makes sense! I guess the goal of a really good turntable should be to actually get the fuck out of the way and make it so all you hear is a quiet background for a cart to show off its stuff. What carts have you really fallen in love with on the G?
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I'm really happy with the 3 in my signature.
The ART9XI was really good too.
Different head shells for each cart. Heavier on the Denon and Mono.
Stock HS with the ART.

I use the Denon for vintage vinyl (warmer sounding) and save the ART for the clean, perfect audiophile titles.
The ART20 is the final stop for a long while. It's really the best I think I can obtain in the price point and doesn't leave any questions unanswered, unless I attend one of these crazy audio fest shows and get some other ideas. The jump up in table is not in the cards even if I stumbled across enough money for an R.
 
ngower said:
I think what you meant to say is the Hana SL is a horrible cartridge that no one should ever consider buying.

(I am trying to be a good responsible adult and not get the SL at $550)
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You should most definitely add an extra $50 to that check and get the SL! It used to be $750 and was a great buy at that time.

I've decided to rest on the Hana SL and ML on my two tables; I'm done with cartridge purchases for a while. The next as interim for when the SL wears out is a SAE 1000LT from the Great SAE Sale of '22.
 
Angsty said:
You should most definitely add an extra $50 to that check and get the SL! It used to be $750 and was a great buy at that time.

I've decided to rest on the Hana SL and ML on my two tables; I'm done with cartridge purchases for a while. The next as interim for when the SL wears out is a SAE 1000LT from the Great SAE Sale of '22.
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I had one of those SAE 100LTs and I cancelled my order like an absolute fucking idiot

I'm throwing this check at debts but also saving up my pennies for the console mentioned earlier and that ain't cheap.
 
bornard said:
I may have done a thing...I definitely don't need another turntable but a deal came across for a new Levinson 5105 that was too good to pass up....need cart recommendations...will be feeding my Andover spin stage into my luxman integrated...help me...ugh.

may sell 1500c to fund cart....and I know the spin stage isn't revelatory, but it doesn't suck...
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ok...the 5105 is here and up and running, quick and dirty setup....sq review to come, as needs tweaking but immediate reaction is that it just gets out of the way
this is a luxury item, I personally love the way it looks, and haters can hate, but this thing is fucking nice and I have a feickert woodpecker, which I think is one of the nicest looking out there...
heavy af, and captive headhsell does me NO favors...any cart without threaded grooves is a nightmare (like my current Denon 103r) and that will be reflected in next cart purchase...
 
bornard said:
ok...the 5105 is here and up and running, quick and dirty setup....sq review to come, as needs tweaking but immediate reaction is that it just gets out of the way
this is a luxury item, I personally love the way it looks, and haters can hate, but this thing is fucking nice and I have a feickert woodpecker, which I think is one of the nicest looking out there...
heavy af, and captive headhsell does me NO favors...any cart without threaded grooves is a nightmare (like my current Denon 103r) and that will be reflected in next cart purchase...
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Pics?
 
ok...so I had some 'meetings' this afternoon and have now been able to dial-in (for my level of nerd and vision) the setup and have been playing music for the last few hours...

so its really a beautiful piece of kit and it sounds real good - ill say the same thing, it gets out of the way yet gives you more...

so what does that mean, well I read Ghosts nice piece about their new 1200G and thought he reflected well on what spending a lot of money on gear does, and ill echo those statements. Diminishing returns is real. But I'm a music guy not an audiophile, im not listening for things, im trying to feel something with the music - and the ML delivers

The first nice turntable I ever owned was a 1200mk3? circa 1992 and there is something special about slamming the start stop button and swinging the arm over and being able to really cue a record - aint doing that on the ML, but this thing plays record sides real nice. Since then Ive had a bunch of decks and none of them are as fun as those 1200s I actually still have.

either way, hands down best sounding turntable I ever owned was a Linn LP12 and at the same time the most annoying, least fun turntable I every owned was that Linn LP 12...and I think it sounded so good because of all the fussiness in setting the fucker up, and all the color the 'dressing' adds and that cheap ass platter and I think suspended turntables are better, yet I keep buying high mass belt drive...ugh

..so what does that have to do with this new ML...well I just think everything has gotten to 'accurate' to use an imprecise word...and all this 'accuracy' takes away from the music, which should be the fun part...Fremer and the audiophile press fetishize every adjective, but at home on your couch who wants to be thinking what that guy thinks of your rig, you should only be thinking about Knopfler's guitar or the someone sitting next to you who's real cute.

if im honest the 1500c I was running was perfectly fine in my Tokyo system and the only reason I bought it is the literally stupid price I was able to get it for (and ease of selling the 1500c)...but it looks cool as fuck, sounds good and doesn't have a dust cover. im using my denon 103r and im not sure its the right match...have to think on that for the future, but why all cart makers can't do threaded holes is beyond me

I also think this doesn't sell well in Japan, it's just not otaku enough for this market and probably only speaks to ML fans here - so should you buy one? Sure.

I dunno, dry January sucks.
 
bornard said:
ok...so I had some 'meetings' this afternoon and have now been able to dial-in (for my level of nerd and vision) the setup and have been playing music for the last few hours...

so its really a beautiful piece of kit and it sounds real good - ill say the same thing, it gets out of the way yet gives you more...

so what does that mean, well I read Ghosts nice piece about their new 1200G and thought he reflected well on what spending a lot of money on gear does, and ill echo those statements. Diminishing returns is real. But I'm a music guy not an audiophile, im not listening for things, im trying to feel something with the music - and the ML delivers

The first nice turntable I ever owned was a 1200mk3? circa 1992 and there is something special about slamming the start stop button and swinging the arm over and being able to really cue a record - aint doing that on the ML, but this thing plays record sides real nice. Since then Ive had a bunch of decks and none of them are as fun as those 1200s I actually still have.

either way, hands down best sounding turntable I ever owned was a Linn LP12 and at the same time the most annoying, least fun turntable I every owned was that Linn LP 12...and I think it sounded so good because of all the fussiness in setting the fucker up, and all the color the 'dressing' adds and that cheap ass platter and I think suspended turntables are better, yet I keep buying high mass belt drive...ugh

..so what does that have to do with this new ML...well I just think everything has gotten to 'accurate' to use an imprecise word...and all this 'accuracy' takes away from the music, which should be the fun part...Fremer and the audiophile press fetishize every adjective, but at home on your couch who wants to be thinking what that guy thinks of your rig, you should only be thinking about Knopfler's guitar or the someone sitting next to you who's real cute.

if im honest the 1500c I was running was perfectly fine in my Tokyo system and the only reason I bought it is the literally stupid price I was able to get it for (and ease of selling the 1500c)...but it looks cool as fuck, sounds good and doesn't have a dust cover. im using my denon 103r and im not sure its the right match...have to think on that for the future, but why all cart makers can't do threaded holes is beyond me

I also think this doesn't sell well in Japan, it's just not otaku enough for this market and probably only speaks to ML fans here - so should you buy one? Sure.

I dunno, dry January sucks.
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Love the review but that last sentence killed me! 🤣
 
Angsty said:
You should most definitely add an extra $50 to that check and get the SL! It used to be $750 and was a great buy at that time.

I've decided to rest on the Hana SL and ML on my two tables; I'm done with cartridge purchases for a while. The next as interim for when the SL wears out is a SAE 1000LT from the Great SAE Sale of '22.
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Eager to hear a proper comparison between the Hana(s) and the SAE given how similar they reputedly are.
 
ngower said:
I think in the SHF thread when the NOS carts were all the rage, some might have some comparisons to Hana?
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Yeah, someone noted they were made by Excel and that the generators are *extremely* similar (nee identical?) to the Hana SH.

When I talked to GrooveTickler (a cartridge retipper) he mentioned that they are very much alike. He actually slightly preferred the SAE.
 
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