Check Out Our New Audio Advice Section
When our customers ask for audio advice, we never hesitate to give it to them. (We also give out plenty of advice that nobody asked for.)
We want to help our customers pursue the kind of equipment that we know through decades of experience is probably superior to most of what is available in audiophile salons, regardless of price.
(In 1976, at the tender age of 22, I heard something at an audio salon that rocked my world: tube equipment. Everything changed that year.)
Robert Brook has taken our advice and ended up with much of the same equipment we currently use. He seems very happy with the analog sound he is getting these days, especially from his Triplanar tonearm.
And now Aaron B. has made a great leap forward into better sound. He wrote to tell me all about the differences he is hearing now that he has a system that is designed to reveal what’s actually on his records. His previous system was better at hiding the imperfections and shortcomings of many of the albums he was playing, but he’s decided he doesn’t want to go down that road anymore, and we couldn’t be happier for him. His letter:
I’m feeling another huge dose of gratitude for you, Tom.
I installed the Tri-Planar arm on Friday, and I could tell right away that things are sounding just wonderfully better.
My whole setup is getting really close to your full recommendation. Dynavector 17dx mounted in a Tri-Planar tonearm, mounted on a VPI Aries 1 table, going into an EAR 324, out to a [redacted] amp, driving Legacy speakers.
I managed to buy everything except the cartridge used and in good shape. The total cost for my current system is a hair above $10K, and it is sounding nearly as good as I’ve ever heard vinyl sound, or any recorded music for that matter.
The Triplanar tonearm is a game-changer. This is the most dramatic improvement since I first replaced my B&W bookshelf speakers with the Legacys. I’m frankly stunned by what a difference it makes.
The difference the tonearm makes is evident in nearly every aspect of the sound.
First, the problems I was having previously have cleared up. This includes vocal sibilance, occasional graininess to the sound, and what I mistook for groove wear, even on some hot stampers that otherwise sounded great.
Some that I returned to you, I now wish I could have back.
Beyond fixing the last of my playback problems, the Triplanar is bringing out more of the life and energy in the music than any other change I’ve made since you started advising me.
The attack on instruments is arresting. I’ve come to believe that the aspect of live music that’s hardest for any recording to capture is the attack. That’s where the energy of live music is to be found.
I am hearing more details and overtones to the music that I ordinarily needed to turn up the volume to hear. Also, there’s greater depth to the soundstage, even in my small room.
I’ve said this to you before, but it bears repeating. I love the records you sell. I’ve got 15 hot stampers now, and they are the crown jewels of my collection. But, it’s the education you’ve given me that’s truly transformed my music listening experience.
Today, for that, you have my deep gratitude.
Aaron
Aaron,
Thanks for taking the time to write and say all those nice things about our records and the equipment we have recommended you play them with. As you can clearly see now, it takes the right stereo to really bring our records to life. Glad to hear yours is working so well.
I have long held that the best way to do audio is to find a system in someone’s home that sounds amazing and just buy all the same stuff that person has and set it up the same way he did. If a stereo is sounding good, much of it has to be working right. Start there, then make your own improvements based on a proven model of success.
I did this to the extent it was possible back in the 80s, copying my friend George Louis’s system, comprising four 140 watts per channel transistor amps (four times the power I have now), an electronic crossover, two sets of adjustable electrostatic tweeter arrays (RTR for one and Janzen for the other), a large number of woofers in the main cabinet and a couple of dual 10″ subs thrown in for good measure.
It was certainly impressive on some material, but, truth be told, probably not nearly as impressive as I thought it was at the time.