Day of the Dead audio in San Antonio

Interview with J.G. Thirlwell, aka Foetus, on WTUL, Tulane University. Pardon the idolatry; I had wanted to meet the man for years. He was really quite gracious to do the interview.

I decided to upgrade the Technics, just to see what all the fuss about this turntable is about. I replaced the entire tonearm assembly, the footers, and added a thick mat and record stabilizer.

New tonearm assembly (I bought these second-hand from a guy via AudioAsylum, and they’re all from KAB:

1. Technics SL-1210 M5G tonearm (which is wired with OFC copper)
2. Tonearm Fluid Damper
3. PC-1200 phono interconnect mount
4. LTD gold wire leads

New feet:

New mat and stablizer:

1. SuperSonic record stabilizer from Herbie’s Audio Lab
2. 1/4″ thick Supermat from KAB

General assembly tips: When taking apart the 1200, you’ll encounter quite a variety of screws. Be sure you remember which goes where when you put the table back together (an empty egg carton is a good way to keep your screws organized). I also downloaded a .pdf of a 1200 repair manual, and referred to that quite a bit.

To remove the tonearm/mount assembly, you have to remove the bottom cover of the table, which is made of rubber. You then remove the second cover, which sits between the rubber and the metal top of the turntable and is made of hard plastic. From there, you just remove the tonearm’s ground screw from the chassis, remove the three screws securing the tonearm mount to the chassis, and drop it out.

You have to keep the turntable upside down to do this. I did this by putting the dust cover on the table, and then resting the dustcover on some of that gray spongey packing material.

(closeups of fluid damper)
(closeups of PC-1200 mount)
(closeups of new feet)
(removing the original arm)
(picture of table with Supermat and SuperSonic stabilizer)
(my Juicy Music Tercel phono preamp, just ’cause it’s so pretty)

OK, OK, so how did it sound?

Whoa, this thing tightened up quite a bit. Pinpoint imaging, tighter bass, and cleaner highs. It easily trounces the Music Hall MMF-5 and Lenco L75 I had for a few years. There’s much more music coming out, but it’s also easier to listen to. And yes, this is all with a mono cartridge.

Granted, I can’t say exactly which part caused which improvement, because I did them all at once. But it was a fun project and well worth it.

You oughta hear how good the Monkees and Sinatra sound in original mono on this thing. Pretty soon I’ll put a stereo cart on it — gotta love those bayonet headshells.

I recorded these shows with cheap Normal grade audio cassettes, which are starting to deteriorate. So sound quality is likely to be spotty. I’ve had some tapes come off of their spools, so I can’t even play them. Bummer.

1. 1988 Groovin’ on the Grounds promo carts (14MB, 20 minutes) –– This one features John Arrizza doing his martini-hound schtick, Rob Cambre doing his dago hunk schtick, Jimmy Ott doing his Cheech Marin schtick, and Andrew Nackley doing a hilarious Morrissey impression.
2. The "audience show" (50MB, 45 minutes) –– from April, 1988. I used recordings of audiences during my voiceovers. This was a pretty rocking show: AC/DC, Scratch Acid, Dinosaur, etc.
3. The "Boojie Boy party show" (55MB, 45 minutes) –– this is a show I did before I went to a party at Boojie Boy’s house. This was a late-evening show, heavy on Gothic and Industrial music — Foetus, Legendary Pink Dots, SPK, Skinny Puppy, Dead Can Dance, and so on. Oh, and Fish and Roses’ big hit, “Have A Nice Day, and Fried Rice.”

Stay tuned, there are more on their way.

I am fortunate in that I own three museum-quality McIntosh amplifiers: two MC30 tube amps, and one MC2505 solid-state amp. The MC30s are my primary amps — they sound wonderful, open and warm, and are completely non-fatiguing. Their midrange is nothing short of magical. 

But every now and then I like to shift things around, so I put the MC2505 into the system. What a difference. The solid-state MC2505 controls bass very well, so the system’s soundstage exploded in all directions. The midrange isn’t nearly as magical as the MC30s, but it make up for that with tight bass and pacing. My Klipsch Cornwalls like to be driven by the solid-state as much as the tube amps; it must be that McIntosh/Klipsch synergy audiophiles frequently get teary-eyed about.

Most surprising is how the MC2505 is making me listen to different music. Rock stuff from the 90s and later sounds really good now — more punchier, more rocking, more energetic. I find myself dancing with my daughter more than I used to.

But I do enjoy summer blockbusters and I think some films should be seen on the big screen. I made a point to see all of the Harry Potter, Matrix, and Lord of the Rings films on the big screen. And I cannot wait to see the new Batman film.

But I’m seriously thinking twice about it. In the past two weeks I’ve seen Iron Man and Speed Racer. Two weeks ago I caught Iron Man. There were only about 30 people in the theater, which was good. But the volume was so fucking loud my ears hurt. I mean obnoxiously loud. And the sound was mixed poorly and the upper frequencies were far too shrill. I honestly spent most of the theater with my fingers in my ears.

Last night I saw Speed Racer in a different theater. Not even 20 people in the theater. But I had my earplugs with me this time. And you know what? It was still too loud. The earplugs made it bearable, but during the loud passages I was still feeling pain.

I’ve heard loud music. I saw My Bloody Valentine live, for crying out loud. In 1982 I saw AC/DC live and couldn’t hear my teachers in school for two days. I know loud music.

I also know what noise is, and I don’t appreciate being subjected to it when I drop $10 to see a film. I should not have to use earplugs in a movie.

I just bought a Zu Xaus phono cable. I got it off of eBay for a paltry sum, compared to what Zu sells it for retail. I put it between my VPI Scout and JuicyMusic Tercel and a whole new world appeared. What I got for what I paid is astounding.

Last night I put on a 2-eye Columbia of Dave Brubeck — one of those red Columbias that was remixed for stereo and has tons of cheesy panning and dubious soundstage choices. I was hearing the piano about four feet behind and to the right of my right Cornwall, and it sounded like the bass player was in my dining room. This is not the kind of imaging I was getting before. And the cables only have about three hours on them.

Yikes. I cannot wait for these things to break in.

I sent the unit to Juicymusic Audio owner Mark Daneen and had him install a new pair of gold tiffany RCA jacks. He does very good work:

Isn’t that lovely? My new Nordost Black Knight interconnects fit perfectly in these jacks.

I used one sheet of Herbie’s 1.6mm Grungebuster damping sheet with adhesive for this. It costs a little more than the 3M or Dynamat damping sheets, but I really respect Herbie’s products and had think they’re well worth the money. Your mileage may vary, of course. Don’t yell at me if you don’t hear any improvements or you ruin your player.

Step one is to dampen the CD sled. This mechanism is quite wobbly and noisy in its stock state. Applying strategic pieces of damping around the sled quietened it significantly, and this is sure to increase the laser’s low-level detail retrieval.

I plugged in the unit and opened and closed the sled as I applied the damping pieces, and could hear it getting smoother and quieter. Do not put any damping sheet in a place where it will impede movement of the sled. If you do this, remove it immediately as you don’t want any adhesive gumming up the works.

Then dampen the lower chassis with pieces of damping sheet. Be sure to put pieces on the side and rear walls and near the terminals. I also ended up putting pieces near the screws which secure the sled to the lower chassis.

Dampen the top chassis with bigger strips of damping sheet.

I had also intended to replace the stock fuse with a ceramic fuse, but it doesn’t look like the fuse is meant to be replaced. So I didn’t do it. Here’s a picture of the fuse — I had to remove the IEC cord wires to take the picture.

Rewired with DNM Reson cables, straight to the crossover. Plumber’s caulk applied to the woofer cage and squawker:

The result? Tighter bass, better imaging, less fatigue. The speakers work less to make more music..