Hi to all a Merry and a Happy and Healthy. Haven't been on the group as I have
been doing some more of my senseless experimenting. I have done some
modifications to a VPI HW 19 MKIII that is sitting idle here doing nothing. Now
it is doing more than nothing. It is singing BIG TIME! Probably is worth less
now that I have modified it even though the sonics of the table are
substantially better than when it was new. The platter? The bearing? The
suspension? ALL NO TO THE PRIOR! The belt made all the difference in the world.
The music is more vibrant and it is much more musical that it ever was. Could
the table be broken before? No it was running right on mark with a strobe disc.
It is actually the same now. Can't tell you why that happened but shortening
the belt did more than any platter or bearing so called upgrade can do. Now if
you present this to Mike or anybody at VPI they'll tell you it's a NO! NO! But
if they sell it as an upgrade it's the greatest thing since the invention of
the wheel. After all, it is not factory authorized so it's not official. GIMME
A BREAK!
I also have a close friend that told Audio Research how to get rid of a
thumping problem on turn off of their D series amps. They told him that it
wasn't the proper way to do it. Guess what? They later came out with their mod
to get rid of the "THUMP" when turning off the amp. He took a peek at what they
did and it was exactly the same thing he did and was told it wasn't correct.
EVERYBODY! DO YOURSELVES A FAVOR AND STAY AWAY FROM THESE SO CALLED UPGRADES. A
resistor change here or a cap change there. Nip and tuck on your face and ears.
Where does it end and why use the factory to do what you think you can't do?
That's what this group is about. DO IT YOURSELF! Factory upgrades and the Mark
453 version of the original is just a way to get people to spend money on what
they think they will hear and are gritting their teeth and squinting your eyes
to hear it. If the upgrade(so it's called) is very noticeable immediately then
think about this. MAYBE THE EQUIPMENT YOU HAD WORK DONE TO WAS IN FACT BROKEN
IN THE FIRST PLACE AND YOU DIDN'T KNOW IT or MAYBE! JUST MAYBE THE ORIGIANL WAS
A FLOP AND IT'S THEIR WAY TO GET YOU TO SPEND MONEY ON SOEMTHING THAT SHOULD
HAVE BEEN DONE THAT WAY IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Thanks to all for letting me vent! Sheesh!
Happy New Year to all!

I did a mod on my old analog Akai AT2600 tuner ......
I think Akai never should have donne it this way .....
http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2...es/AT2600.html
Front end and stereo decoder are still original , but ......

Ronald .

Hi RATs!

Yup. Richard VanDerSteen used to quip:

"You can change the sound of my speakers, but, you can't improve the sound!"

What a crock of bull

Relax and try anything you please, it is just harmless fun. If you start a fire
and kill your family, well, Hell, life ain't never fair.

Waiting for an Earthquake is not the most fun a person can have ...

Happy Ears!
Al


Alan J. Marcy
Phoenix, AZ

PWC/mystic/Earhead

Relax and try anything you please, it is just harmless fun. If you start a
fire
and kill your family, well, Hell, life ain't never fair.

But what if you end up with ears like Nicki Lauda ?? ;-))
My Akai is getting pretty hot after some hours .....
I still need to make the venting holes ......
Guess I'm living on the edge right now ;-))))

Ronald .