Radikal reset

We use the Tune Method to evaluate performance

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Matteo
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Radikal reset

Post by Matteo »

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Re: Radikal reset

Post by Charlie1 »

Thanks for the link.

I wonder if swapping old for new belt has a similar effect because it took my Radikal ages to drop the power following each swap over. May have taken a minute or more instead of a few seconds. I guess it memorises the last used speed.
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Ron The Mon
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Radical Reset?

Post by Ron The Mon »

Matteo wrote: 2019-05-31 10:24 Interesting thread:

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/1340 ... proves-sq/
Hmmmmmm! Only a couple responses on the linked site and none here?

I decided to try this only to prove Peter Cymbiotic wrong as I'm not a fan of his. My preconceived notion was I was rooting for this "reset" being bogus. Here's what happened:

I have a large stack of records near my LP12 that are in regular rotation. I am very familiar with how they sound. I also have a ritual that if I know for sure I'll be playing records, I turn the LP12 on. My Radikal is always powered but I find there is a sonic improvement after the platter has been spinning 20-30 minutes. I also find a further improvement after 2-3 hours. It seems the noise floor drops and the music just flows. I have made recordings of this phenomenon and always thought it had to do with warming of the electrical circuit. Now I think it may have to do with the way the Radikal records rotations during each listening session.

So three days ago I warmed up my LP12 for about four hours before listening. I played several songs, then did the reset. It took almost three minutes for the red light to dim and I was becoming worried I broke it. Then I played the same songs back. Low and behold it sounded terrible. Tune-dem was definitely better but everything else sounded worse. It was nothing but a trade-off; and for the worse.

So I kept the platter spinning and listened again the next evening. WOW! Much better. Last night I threw on an old favorite by Patti Smith from her Easter album; "Because The Night". Improved again. Keep in mind that the LP12 platter has been in constant rotation for about 70 hours. I just played "Because The Night" again and Smith's breathtaking vocal emoting is now just exquisitely oozing out of my Isobariks, the drums are powerful and dynamic, and Ivan Kral's potently aggressive guitar solo now make me raise my fist and say "HELL YEAH"!

A few months ago I realized I had been becoming dissatisfied with my LP12. I told my wife I was going to buy a Keel and she got a bit perturbed. We were getting ready to launch our boat and live on it most of the Summer and thought the Keel an unwise investment as I won't be playing records for months. So I secretly bought a new cartridge online and installed it myself with a niggling in the back of my mind I should really let Tom O'Keefe do this.

I am now realizing that all along I probably have been having a slight steady degradation of the Radikal over six years of constantly being on and used regularly. I am going to turn my LP12 off tonight. I won't be able to listen to it again for a week or two or three but I'll report back my findings.

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Last edited by Ron The Mon on 2019-10-30 14:41, edited 1 time in total.
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Matteo
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Re: Radikal reset

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Thanks Ron

Very interesting post

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Re: Radikal reset

Post by Charlie1 »

Thanks for posting Ron.

I did try this briefly the other night, having been away, and thought it sounded better afterwards but didn't have much time to listen for long and don't feel I can quantify the improvement.

I'm intruiged what is going on here. Any theories anyone? Is this the crazy world that Fredrik found when trying to develop a streamer - i.e. does the Radikal's memory somehow impact performance?
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Re: Radikal reset

Post by tokenbrit »

You hit reset when you didn't have time to listen... ?!? o_o That's rad ;)

Any thoughts as to what's going on would be pure speculation on my part... and it's not like Linn in its kurrent inkarnation will acknowledge or admit anything to really know. Which leaves us with just listen, and if it sounds better it is better :)
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Re: Radikal reset

Post by lejonklou »

I did this Radikal reset a couple of years ago, when I first learned about it. I was told the reset was only necessary after having replaced any part of the Radikal kit (motor or circuit board). I felt it was a small improvement on my own Radikal (no parts being exchanged) but resulted in no audible difference in two customer's Radikals.

Technically speaking, it's indeed interesting if a reset results in an improvement. If it's related to the memory being reset, the first thing that springs to my mind is how the (very small) memory in the Sagatun preamps needs to be all 1's and no zeroes, otherwise the preamp sounds clearly less musical - despite the fact that the circuit that holds the memory being asleep when the indicator light fades after three seconds!

This phenomenon was discovered pretty early in the development process, but I stubbornly thought it was due to something else until I finally had excluded all other factors and had to admit that the internal memory (which was planned to be used for storing various user settings, which would then all be remembered after a power down) could not be used without the sound quality being compromised.

I quickly decided that any storage of user settings would not be possible. Musicality comes first. All 1's the internal memory!
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Re: Radikal reset

Post by Freddy »

Did a reset yesterday. I'm pretty sure it was an improvement not very impressive at first but after some time it seamed to improve to a level better than before. Thanks for this information! I try again in a couple of months.
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Radikal Resit

Post by Ron The Mon »

tokenbrit wrote: 2019-06-08 19:03 You hit reset when you didn't have time to listen... ?!? o_o That's rad ;)

Any thoughts as to what's going on would be pure speculation on my part... and it's not like Linn in its kurrent inkarnation will acknowledge or admit anything to really know. Which leaves us with just listen, and if it sounds better it is better :)
tokenbrit,
I have a lot more time to listen than I let on; I semi-retired a few weeks back. That combined with the rainy weather has allowed some catching up on vinyl purchases from several years ago. Unfortunately, I just bought more so I may never catch up.

After what I wrote above, I have done several other tests the past few days. First is this reset is a large improvement in my case. My Radikal has been on for six years straight, never unplugged more than a minute. Belt is the same from new. I have an appliance that keeps track of power outages; I have had 47 outages less than two minutes and six longer than two minutes over that time. Only one outage (recently too) was 12 hours long. My dissatisfaction with vinyl replay has been going on for about 18 months.

Do brown-outs/black-outs affect resets? Long periods on or off? Belt stretching?

To be clear, this reset did not improve my LP12's performance. It simply brought it back to its' original functioning. If I would have done this reset several months ago, I never would have researched and bought another cartridge. Now I'm really glad it worked out this way as I am now experiencing the best my hi-fi has ever sounded for a nominal outlay.

One aspect that hasn't changed is it still takes about 20-30 minutes from when the LP12 is switched on for it to stop sounding what I call "disjointed"; meaning the bass is out of time with the other instruments. It still takes another 2-4 hours for the music to completely flow. Anything past four hours seems the same but it certainly doesn't sound worse.

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Re: Radikal Resit

Post by lejonklou »

Ron The Mon wrote: 2019-06-15 16:34One aspect that hasn't changed is it still takes about 20-30 minutes from when the LP12 is switched on for it to stop sounding what I call "disjointed"; meaning the bass is out of time with the other instruments. It still takes another 2-4 hours for the music to completely flow. Anything past four hours seems the same but it certainly doesn't sound worse.
Same here, although I'm unsure about when the 2-4 hour improvement kicks in.

The moment I start the LP12, it takes one LP side until the real boogie begins. Sometimes I start it, take the dog for a walk and play the first record when I've returned. Other times I play side A, flip it over (thinking side B is really great) and then play side A a second time.

Then after a couple of records, not really sure how many, I get the impression that performance has taken yet another step up. Far from as big as the first one, but there's something about the groove seeming even smoother.

Now what exactly is causing this? I'm fascinated by how sensitive it is. If there's a part in the Radikal (or the motor?) that heats up and takes more than 20 minutes to reach the temperature where it starts performing optimally, I would think that this high performing temperature range is pretty narrow. It would be fun to go to the bottom of this.
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Re: Radikal reset

Post by Charlie1 »

Has either of you ever noticed a similar effect with Valhalla / Lingos?

Could it be other elements of the system, like speakers also loosening up?
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Comparisions?

Post by Ron The Mon »

Charlie1 wrote: 2019-06-15 21:12 Has either of you ever noticed a similar effect with Valhalla / Lingos?
Yes, but not to this degree.
Could it be other elements of the system, like speakers also loosening up?
Definitely not to speakers and amps as no music is playing.

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Re: Radikal reset

Post by Tendaberry »

I have noticed the same as Ron and Fredrik also and that the improvement takes place, even if the system has been playing radio or some other source before. I'm also unsure when the second improvement kicks in, but I think it's closer to 2 hours.
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