I prefer belt 1

tokenbrit wrote: ↑2022-05-18 03:43

John wrote: ↑2022-05-18 01:53 Linn Belt comparison using Audacity. Can you tell which is older?

There was something a little odd in both, but I found Belt 1 a little more agreeable... Belt 2 exaggerated the sense of awkwardness in the timing that made it less musical for me.

And, to answer your question: unless it's the same '10YearOldBelt' just 'Inside Out direction changed' in the second clip, then I'm going with yes ;) Which reminds me, I have some Scotch that's older than that, & needs my attention - a good whisky should be sipped, not belted :)

I had a hard time telling the two belt recordings apart. I discovered what I thought was a new belt was actually one that was already used. So the recent recordings were all with old belts.

I discovered the “new” belt stored along with a couple charges of Linn oil that I had obtained at the same time. For some reason I kept around my old belt in a box where I store my Allen wrenches and cartridge hardware and mistook it for new.

I decided to replace my three year old Klyde with a newly rebuilt Goldring Asaka. I’ll put out a recording of the new cartridge and belt with some of the recent songs I’ve posted here for comparison. Sorry for the confusion.

John wrote: ↑2022-05-18 17:58 .. I discovered what I thought was a new belt was actually one that was already used. So the recent recordings were all with old belts.
...
I’ll put out a [new] recording... Sorry for the confusion.

No problem. That's a new Linn belt, right, or are you still listening to the blue belt as well?

Ol’ Linn Belt might deliver you some Blues

tokenbrit wrote: ↑2022-05-18 22:50

John wrote: ↑2022-05-18 17:58 .. I discovered what I thought was a new belt was actually one that was already used. So the recent recordings were all with old belts.
...
I’ll put out a [new] recording... Sorry for the confusion.

No problem. That's a new Linn belt, right, or are you still listening to the blue belt as well?

Yes, a genuine Linn Belt obtained from ThomasOK during a visit to his shop. Listening to an old Ray Charles album from 1958 called “Soul Brothers” and it’s sounding real lively. Belts and phono cartridges degrade gradually and it’s not till you replace them that you notice how significant. I appreciate those that listened and gave their opinion. It prompted me to get the deck sorted out.

The Blue belt is put away. It was causing motor noise and I was concerned about it damaging the motor. It’s smaller than a stock Linn belt but stretchier. When the Linn belt is running at 33.33 and I put on the Blue belt it runs at 32RPM and rubs against the bottom of the belt guide. The tilt screws need to be adjusted to get it running at correct speed with the belt riding the center of the pulley. I ran it for 8 hours overnight but to no avail, still the motor noise, the Linn belt is dead quiet.

I have some filter caps on order for a project to replace the 10 in my Exposure phono pre, line pre and power amp. I replaced them in my Exposure 15 some years ago. Will see if I get the courage up to tackle that one myself. Those amps are 22 years old so it’s probably a good move to replace them.

John wrote: ↑2022-05-19 00:30 Yes, a genuine Linn Belt obtained from ThomasOK during a visit to his shop. Listening to an old Ray Charles album from 1958 called “Soul Brothers” and it’s sounding real lively. Belts and phono cartridges degrade gradually and it’s not till you replace them that you notice how significant. I appreciate those that listened and gave their opinion. It prompted me to get the deck sorted out.

The Blue belt is put away...

Sounds promising as long as "real lively" is a good thing - I took it to be. This thread (& forum) is great for helping sort things.

John wrote: ↑2022-05-18 17:58
I decided to replace my three year old Klyde with a newly rebuilt Goldring Asaka. I’ll put out a recording of the new cartridge and belt with some of the recent songs I’ve posted here for comparison. Sorry for the confusion.

Hi John, if you want to do another clip together at some point when you get things sorted out I have Wayne Shorter, The all seeing eye in Tone Poet and what are the chances you have Chico Hamilton, The Dealer on Vintage Impulse?

tpetsch wrote: ↑2022-05-19 02:57

John wrote: ↑2022-05-18 17:58
I decided to replace my three year old Klyde with a newly rebuilt Goldring Asaka. I’ll put out a recording of the new cartridge and belt with some of the recent songs I’ve posted here for comparison. Sorry for the confusion.

Hi John, if you want to do another clip together at some point when you get things sorted out I have Wayne Shorter, The all seeing eye in Tone Poet and what are the chances you have Chico Hamilton, The Dealer on Vintage Impulse?

That would be good. I have most of Wayne Shorter’s catalog but the ASE album is one of those 305 Park Ave BN reissues. I only have the three Tone Poet’s mentioned up thread. No Chico, but need to explore his music. Most of my jazz reissues were purchased in
the 90’s.

Have these Music Matters

https://www.discogs.com/release/5504237 ... night-Blue

https://www.discogs.com/release/2725550 ... e-Big-Beat

Different label

https://www.discogs.com/release/4440804 ... -Roll-Call

https://www.discogs.com/release/1038695 ... ul-Station

Arjen wrote: ↑2022-05-18 23:28 Ol’ Linn Belt might deliver you some Blues

Ow was it de Blue Belt gee de Blue?

Clip comparing Kan 1 to Kan 2 for anyone interested. Same recording session, same speaker positions.

Took several attempts to find a decent pair of Kan 2's for some reason. This is the pre-Kustone version.

Still prefer the 1's myself although it was closer than anticipated. The 1's are the final iteration with same drive units as the 2's.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gjq9llilzlnfj ... 4.mp4?dl=0

Charlie1 wrote: ↑2022-05-24 12:26 Clip comparing Kan 1 to Kan 2 for anyone interested. Same recording session, same speaker positions.
...
Still prefer the 1's...

There's not much in it but with you on the preference: listening to with 2s; being one with 1s.
There's just something a little cold or analytical about the 2s in comparison - were they warmed up; played in as much as the 1s?

Must admit I'd played 3-4 tracks on the Kan 1s beforehand.

Charlie1 wrote: ↑2022-05-24 12:26 Clip comparing Kan 1 to Kan 2 for anyone interested. Same recording session, same speaker positions.

Took several attempts to find a decent pair of Kan 2's for some reason. This is the pre-Kustone version.

Still prefer the 1's myself although it was closer than anticipated. The 1's are the final iteration with same drive units as the 2's.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gjq9llilzlnfj ... 4.mp4?dl=0

Something really good about those 2's though IMO.

You're not alone in preferring them.

They both sound pretty good but the Kan 1s have more life and energy to them. They would be my choice.

Charlie1 wrote: ↑2022-05-24 12:26 Clip comparing Kan 1 to Kan 2 for anyone interested. Same recording session, same speaker positions.

Took several attempts to find a decent pair of Kan 2's for some reason. This is the pre-Kustone version.

Still prefer the 1's myself although it was closer than anticipated. The 1's are the final iteration with same drive units as the 2's.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gjq9llilzlnfj ... 4.mp4?dl=0

Listened twice and still found this one difficult.

Something is lost and something is gained. It's like the design can only handle so much and they took some qualities out and replaced them with others.

Not sure which pair I'd choose. (Leaning towards 1 but am afraid I'd find them a bit shouty in the long run).

I found the Kan 1 much better but this finding is not based on this video. Maybe the strength of the Kan 1 can.t reproduced in this video.

Seems to me it is time for a little more play in the playground. Try these out for size, two tracks same change:

A1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1b33kr1w6rd0 ... M.mov?dl=0
A2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jec6d9qvvw0ee ... M.mov?dl=0

B1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n88711gb92bsa ... M.mov?dl=0
B2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q8gcfkxw76a7g ... M.mov?dl=0

A couple notes. Track A is a little noisy, I suppose it's time for a record cleaning. Also on A2 Lily decided to help things out by scraping around on her mat a bit. But I think you can still hear through that. The volume level on both tracks could be a bit higher too but I feel it is high enough to hear what is going on.
Enjoy!

Lily settling in to get full enjoyment of the 2 tracks, perhaps?

I like the A2 and B2 versions better.

On A2, Holly Cole's typical almost sleepy vocals are even more insistent, percussion and double bass are more contoured, the piano interjections are more immediate.

On B2, the notes of the sitar(?) at the beginning of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" resonate better, John Lennon's voice and the choral singing are a little more expressive, the music flow is more coherent.

Are we listening to a further development of the SINGularity phono preamplifier?

I can nail down B1 as more musical than B2 for now. B2 seems a bit disjointed and less haunting when compared to B1 IMO.

I don’t know whether it’s my headphones, but all the recordings are so distorted I wouldn’t like to state a preference.

I prefer A1 and B1 although not a lot in it for me, esp on the Beatles track.

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-06-08 17:35 Seems to me it is time for a little more play in the playground. Try these out for size, two tracks same change:

A1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k1b33kr1w6rd0 ... M.mov?dl=0
A2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jec6d9qvvw0ee ... M.mov?dl=0

B1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n88711gb92bsa ... M.mov?dl=0
B2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q8gcfkxw76a7g ... M.mov?dl=0

No distortion here.

I don't know what this is about, but I doubt it has anything to do with SINGularity, which I believe are in version 1.5 (latest version, released in November 2021).

The B track is easiest for me. On B1, I find the sitar(?) more haunting and I find it easier to follow it at the same time as John is singing and the bass is playing. On B2, the sitar appears tightened up (less wobbly and resonant), the bass as well (notes seem to get more attack, less decay and the playing is a little more "forward") and I find it harder to follow them both while John is singing. B1 feels loose and coherent. B2 feels remastered.

I vote B1.

I listened to these once through in reverse order and really enjoyed the comparisons. B2 sounded like a music student playing for a grade. B1 sounded like a seasoned professional showing their stuff. First impression of A2 was, 'this is fun and funky.' A1 was, 'this is music!'

A1 and B1 for me.