Short Take: BLISS Shibata Stylus for Ortofon Super OM Cartridges

The Ortofon Super OM 20 cartridge has been discontinued for some time now.  This is a shame, especially for owners of turntables with lightweight tonearms like my long-running Dual CS5000.  The Super OM 20 cartridge provided a warm but still lively sound and seemed to have a synergistic match with the Dual.  Given my last one was in need of replacement due to wear, I began researching a replacement cartridge or stylus.

There are a few makers of high compliance cartridges out there but I have ventured in that area without too much success, at least compared to the good sound I was getting with the OM 20.  With that in mind I decided to buy a replacement stylus.  I could have gone with the OM 30 or 40 replacement, but this aftermarket unit available at TurntableNeedles.com caught my eye.  The Shibata needle profile, in theory, will pull in more detail and have a better high-end response than the ol' nude elliptical of the OM 20.  It's also priced lower than the higher end OM models so I decided to give it a chance.

Given that the cartridge body is the same and the only difference is the stylus, needle, and cantilever what kind of changes did I expect?  Not too much.  The body of the music is the same, as is the fun liveliness nature of Super OM series.  But, compared to the OM 20, there is more fine detail and treble information.  A minor step up to be sure, but one that is the worth the small price difference between a stock OM 20 stylus and its aftermarket Shibata replacement.  Highly recommended.

Review: VPI Aries 1 turntable

Introduction:
I've been having turntable envy for years.  While I soldiered on with my old VPI HW19 Mark III, my good friend had the much better Mark IV version of the same table.  This included a much thicker platter, plinth, and the well-regarded SME309 tonearm.  These tables are fairly rare, only popping up on Audiogon or Ebay every once in awhile.  I thought of upgrading my own table with a better tonearm and slowly piece together the parts to bring it up to Mark IV status.  However, the parts for these old models are getting harder to find, and frankly the dollar amount made me skeptical of that direction.

Obviously VPI - and other manufacturers - are still making turntables, but most of them lacked an option that I thought was of utmost importance: an active suspension.  The original VPI HW19 turntables were suspended designs, using heavy duty springs in the corners to isolate the plinth, tonearm, and platter from the surrounding environment.  This is hardly a new idea - it has been done with countless turntables like the classic AR, Thorens, and Linn.  On the other hand, I've always associated solid plinth (or non-suspended) turntables with the dreck that came out in the 1970s and 1980s - notably the cheaper Japanese turntables that sprouted up everywhere and gave some of the bad vinyl experience that made consumers flee to the digital world.

So where does the Aries 1 fit into all of this?  Though it is non-suspended, it was also VPI's first foray into this type of design.  It was also supposed to be a cheaper alternative to the TNT, their top of the line model.  So basically the Aries sports the TNT's platter but instead of a spring suspension, it uses a solid (and very thick) plinth.  The tonearm is also an upgrade over the normal Scout of Scoutmaster, using the JMW10.5 instead.  For some reason, not many Aries seem to be sold.  The sit in a sort of middle of the road position in the VPI lineup - more expensive than their entry-level models, but still expensive enough that the alternatives: the HRX, The Classics, or the TNTs are almost direct competitors.  That means you don't see too many Aries around, and the 1 seems to be even rarer.

Based on the reviews, Arthur Salvatore's recommendation, and the quality of the platter and bearings, the Aries 1 has always been on my list of possible upgrades.  Though it lacked a true suspension, I thought that perhaps with enough mass loading, even having the "limitations" of a solid plinth could be overcome.  When a conversation with the owner of local record/stereo store brought up the Aries 1, I knew this was one table I had to try and snag.  He was willing to sell it for a lower price than I was seeing on Audiogon, and it would also mean no shipping.  That means a lot when buying something so fragile.

It only took one glance at the beautiful piano black plinth, the super thick 25lb TNT platter, and the well-made JMW tonearm to know that I would be willing to put a sizable dent into my credit card.  So off I went, heading home with a lovely turntable and a bite of debt.

The Design
As mentioned before, the Aries 1 table sports a heavy-duty platter composed of aluminum and acrylic, weighing in at a heft 25pds.  Supposedly - and I have no direct experience with this - this earliest version is superior to the later lighter frosted acrylics platters.  Beneath this is the thick solid plinth made of MDF and painted with a glossy black.  Like the Scout and Scoutmaster, the motor is not bolted to the plinth. Instead it sits inside a carve out with no direct connection to the turntable except for the belt.  The motor chassis itself is very, very heavy and does not move or rock back and forth when turned on.  The tonearm on this particular version is the JMW 10.5i which has Nordost wiring.  It's a unipivot design which essentially has the entire arm resting on a single minute point.  When moving the tonearm over the records, this can lead to some unsettling rocking side-to-side motion.  However after prolonged use, one realizes how sturdy the whole contraption feels.

Initial Impressions:
Since I only had a Denon DL-110 on hand, that was the first cartridge I plugged in.  With some additional headshell weight - an additional metal tab provided with the cartridge - I soon had the tonearm dialed in.  The supplied VPI jig certainly helped, along with my digital pressure gauge.  More details for setup here.  One thing I really liked was the tonearm connection "junction" box that allows interconnects to be plugged directly into the table.  This is certainly better, at least if you enjoy swapping cables around, than dealing with one set of wire that could possibly be too short.

I threw on a copy of Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall (Pallas) which is a high quality recording.  I was struck by the sheer quietness of the Aries turntable.  The normal background rumble and wash that I unconsciously filtered out with my other tables was suddenly gone.  The effect reminds me, oddly enough, of the CD!  However, the Aries is not lacking in detail, nor are subtle musical cues missing.  Instead the separation of motor, the heavy plinth and platter, along with the tonearm has given this turntable a foundation that allows the music to spring from total blackness.  Simply amazing.

Not only is the background incredibly quiet, but the dynamic and bass control also reminds me of the better parts of digital.  For example, listening to The Police - Synchronicity (Japanese) and there was terrific low frequency control and detail that gave a bouncy excitement to the music.  The dynamic sweeps, from softest to loudest, seem almost infinite in scale.  This is not your father's turntable.

Upgrading the Cartridge:
The Denon DL-110 phono cartridge is no slouch and is certainly one helluva a bargain at $139.  Nonetheless, I felt the urge to upgrade.  A better match for the tonearm was the Dynavector 10X5, a cartridge that I had run before with much success.  Thanks to a friend, I was able to procure one with low hours at a price lower than new.  Once again installation was a breeze.

The Dynavector 10X5 brought further refinement to the sound: more detail, deeper bass, a controlled treble, and a large sense of scale.  The sonic attributes already mentioned: black background and dynamic scale were only improved even more so.  After listening to several records and doing some dialing in with cable swaps, speaker positioning, and tonearm adjustments, I came up with following impressions:

Sonic Attributes:
Bass: This is one of the major strong points of this turntable.  It can reach Stygian depths, the likes that are normally the province of the digitial medium.  Along with this extraordinary depth comes control and slam.  This makes rhythmic music gel together in a foot-tapping way, but also adds to the foundation of the performance.  This level of bass performance is simply wonderful. 

Midrange :Like the bass, the keyword here is control.  The lack of muddiness and the washed out effect that lower turntables generate, leads to clarity.  Minute details are more apparent.  The end result is a very refined sound, but not one that is overtly so.  That is to say the turntable serves the music embedded in the vinyl, not the other way around.  This allows the character of the recording to come through with delicacy, aggression, or whatever was intended by the artist.  This bloom and body is something that the digital medium has a hard time with, and lesser turntables can only catch a glimpse of.

Treble: Refined is the first word that comes to mind.  Like the midrange, the lack of fuzziness brings plenty of detail to the table.  A poor recording will sound harsh, while a good recording will bring out the delicate reverb of the hall or the sweeping shimmer of the cymbal.  There is no glossed over warmth here, or masking effects from roll-off.

Other: If I could fault the Aries in any way, it would be the slight mechanical reproduction of the music.  You see the lack of muddiness leads to an extremely open sound that honestly reminds me of digital in many ways.  Now don't get me wrong, this is no Magnavox CD player, but an extremely musical machine that is also ruthlessly revealing.  This lack of uber-analog warmth my turn off some listeners used to a richer euphonic sound.  Personally I prefer gear that speaks to what the recording has to offer, not to give a pleasant coloration.

Conclusion:
The VPI Aries 1 has been a major upgrade.  Not only has this turntable blown away my expectations of solid versus suspended plinths, it has also brought my entire stereo up another notch in fidelity.  It's quite common to get carried away with a new piece of gear, but lengthy listening has proved that the Aries is no flash in the pan.  In the wide world of turntables, I'm sure *better sonics could be found, but expect to pay for it.  Highly recommended.

* I see that the VPI Aries 3 has an asking price of $6000USD.  I'm not sure if this would be a good bargain, so if you are interested in this particular model, be sure to shop used.  An Aries that has been well cared for will be a better deal than many new turntables in the same price range.

Review System:
VPI Aries with JMW 10.5i tonearm and SDS Power Supply
Dynavector 10X5
Cardas Cross 1M interconnects
Quicksilver preamplifier with Mullard short-plate 12AX7s, RCA 12FQ7s, Raytheon black-plate 5814
Cardas Quadlink 5C .5M interconnects
B&W Bass Equalizer
Cardas Quadlink 5C 1M interconnects
EICO HF-60 monoblocks with Mullard XF2 EL34s, EF86s, 5AR4s, and GE 6SN7GTAs.
Cardas Hexlink speaker cable
B&W Matrix 805 mini-monitors
VTI UF29 stands
VTI BL503 equipment rack

The Most Important Preamplifier In the World: The Dynaco PAS

Introduction:
The venerable Dynaco PAS is perhaps the most famous stereo preamplifier of all time,  Much like the Dynaco ST-70, it introduced the magical sound of tubes to thousands of audiophiles throughout the past decades.  The PAS is still a popular model, both in stock form or as a platform to be tweaked and modified.  In this article, I will touch on a general outline of the circuit, the sonics strengths and weaknesses, some of the more popular modifications, and an idea of what to look for when rolling tubes. 

The Circuit:
So what is a Dynaco PAS?  There are three iterations.  The PAS-2, the earliest stereo version, with circuitry taken from the PAM-1 mono unit and a gold faceplate with brown knobs.  The PAS-3, with a more modern silver faceplate with matching knobs.  And finally, the PAS-3X with improved tone controls.  This is a full-function preamplifier with tone controls and inputs for phono, reel-to-reel, tuner, and others.  Gain, of course, is higher than modern preamplifiers since this was the days before high output CD players.

All PAS preamplifiers share the same circuit: For the phono stage, one 12AX7 per channel, each section in series, using loop negative feedback connected to a capactior and resistor network to provide the RIAA equalization.  For the linestage, a 12AX7 per channel, each section in series, utilizing loop feedback to lower distortion and provide a low enough output impedance to drive cables into a high impedance input of an amplifier.  Power supply rectification is handled by a 12X4 tube.  Filaments for the 12AX7s come from a voltage-doubler circuit, which - as the namesake suggests - doubles the supplied AC voltage from the transformer and smooths it out to DC.  Having DC on the filaments also helps to reduce hum.

Stock Sound:
My own experience with this unit started back in 1990, after the electrical failure of my first preamplifier, a solid-state SAE Mark XXX that I was using with my first ever amplifier, a Dynaco 70.  Compared to the SAE, the Dynaco PAS-3X had a more organic sound that was imbued with a mellowness that is often attributed to the term "tubiness."  Such a strong sonic fingerprint can mask detail and transparency, but the PAS never suffered from being unmusical.  Since that initial PAS, I've owned many other preamplifiers, each with different strengths and weaknesses, but none having quite the same magic as old vintage tubes.  Some of that is due to nostalgia, and the urge for musical enjoyment over technical perfection.  No, the Dynaco PAS is not a perfect preamp, but it sure is a fun one.

In the bass department, a stock PAS suffers from a little sloppiness and lack of control - usually a sign of aged power supply capacitors - but with a pleasant warmth reminiscent of a good tubed radio or an underdamped woofer.  Rhythm, which carries the beat and timing of a song, suffers compared to some of the better tubed and solid-state units.

The midrange is the Dynaco PAS strongest point.  There is a golden coloration throughout the music, which, though definitenly not neutral, is a pleasant addition for digital sources or hotly mastered albums.  This same effect shortens soundstage depth and width, diminishes transparency, and hides inner detail.  However, the listener may not care since the sheer musicality outweighs the apparent weaknesses.

Of course the treble follows the same character of the midrange: smooth and pleasantly colored.  Ultimate extension is limited, giving a rolled-off effect that may work to the benefit of the user, depending on source and material being played.  However, with some vintage speakers, the end result may lead to a rather dead sounding system.

The stock Telefunken smooth-plate 12AX7s are perhaps some of the better tubes for a stock Dynaco PAS.  The top end 'hotness' compliments the circuit limitations better than say, a Mullard long-plate, but still, the Dynaco PAS is remarkably tolerant of many different types of tubes from the lowliest Chinese 12AX7B to an expensive Amperex.

Modifications:
The number of changes that can be done to a Dynaco PAS are practically innumberable.  There are simple improvemnts on the stock circuit to full-bore modifications that use nothing but the chassis and power transformer.  Personally I prefer to keep the general character of the PAS intact, but improve the weaknesses to the point that the preamplifier can be used as part of a high-end system.  Some of these mods are simple to perform but many will require experience working with high voltage electronics.  Be warned!  If you don't know how to solder or understand electronic safety, please have the work done by someone who does.

Bypassing the tone controls [link] is an easy modification with a great improvement on transparency and detail.  Since the signal path is shortened and the effect of various capacitors are removed from the circuit, the overall quality take a jump for the better.  Bypassing the loudness switch is also a good idea since these older slider switches can be troublesome.

Signal capacitor replacement is another simple change that benefits detail. treble extension, and transparency.  The stock green paper capacitors are hardly high-end fodder.  As to what capacitor to use, that is up to the individual user.  However, space on the PCB is limited, so gigantic oil caps in metal cases may lead to troublesome short circuits.  For the budget-minded, any metallized polyproplene - Orange Drops, Panasonics, Russian military - will be an improvement.  Auricap, Obligatto, and Jantzen are well-priced improvements over the cheap units.  After that, the sky is the limit with some of the better Teflon, film and foil, and oil capacitors beckoning the well-heeled audiophile.  All have a slightly different flavor that will work better to varying degrees depending on other system considerations: type of amplifier, speakers, room, and signal source.

The next improvement can be a little more problematic.  Since the power supply capacitors - for both the main and the filament - are aged beyond any margin of safety, this should be a no-brainer.  However it will be noted that this step does heavily change the character of the Dynaco PAS.  Bass extension especially improves, but some of the golden glow is lost since the replacement electrolytics discharge faster and provide better regulation than the vintage pieces.  Replacing the stock selenium rectifiers with moderm diodes is a necessity.  If one doesn't want to source the can cap and two filament electrolytics, there are PCBs available - notably SDS and Curcio - that can be used. These boards also give the option of using solid-state diodes instead of tube rectification.  Personally I prefer the 12X4 rectifier, but some may prefer the solid-state replacement.  The end result is a more modern sounding preamplifier that can run with some of the entry-level pieces from Conrad-Johnson, Audio Research, etc.

The next modification isn't particularly difficult but requires some mechanical work to do it.  Replacing the stock carbon volume control with a Noble, Alps, or even a Goldpoint will lead to better channel tracking and improved transparency.

The final modification is one that won't necessarily change the sonics, but will stop the user from pulling out their hair in frustration.  You see the stock RCA jacks are cruddy little ceramic units that don't work particularly well with modern cables.  Various vendors offer replacements that bolt into the stock location.  This will require much wire tagging and soldering to accomplish, but the end result will be worth it.

End Result:
A fully modified Dynaco PAS loses some of the coloration, much of the excessive bass warmth, and the rolled-off treble.  Transparency and detail is much improved and is now a good match with many more amplifiers and speakers.  The phono and line sections, though still warm and full-bodied, now reveal more subtle differences between phono cartridges and DACs.  Though not quite top tier material, such a PAS can easily serve as the heart of a moderately priced or even a lower-priced high-end stereo.

Simple modifications after this are of a minor nature: better signal wire, source selector switch, tube rolling, and various damping and vibration control products.

Of course major changes are still possible - whole new PCBs and circuits - but be warned that these updates will drastically change the character of the preamplifier, making it sound much more modern but losing that vintage magic.  However, the amount of money one could throw into such a project may be better spent on buying a used but newer preamplifier from Quicksilver, Conrad-Johnson, Audible Illusions, or whatever your budget can afford.  After all, the Dynaco PAS is a fifty-year old unit that can now have several mechanical issues: switches, AC cord, and RCA and AC jacks that will need to be addressed if long-term service is of importance.  As is, the Dynaco PAS is much like a old car, requiring some work to run its best.

Acrosound 20 amplifier update

 The job of updating the Acrosound 20 monoblock amplifier became much easier once I saw a PCB for sale on Ebay.  It's a modern iteration of the same circuit, but with all new resistors, capacitors, and tube sockets.  Replacement was an easy job and with all the leads soldered into position, the amplifier fired right up on the first try.  Now that's always good news.

Some new power supply capacitors are still needed, but I'll wait until I have another matching amplifier before I make that move.

Listening in mono through a fairly efficient test speaker, it's a pretty good sound amplifier.  The Acro has some of that general "Class A" sonic footprint - an ease and naturalness to the music that makes tubes worthwhile.  It does run quite hot, and appears to be exceeding the maximum plate dissipation of the 6BQ5/EL84, but hey, this is a cheap little tube, so no worries there.  Buy 'em cheap and burn 'em up!