Audiophilepure

Suddenly, Miller’s right hand “pops”—or pulls the bass strings away from the fretboard and quickly releases it, snapping it back into the board—and drops into a blazing thumb-slap fest! Williams joins in with loud cracks of his snare in four/four time as the crowd cheers and claps, with Sanborn and Grolnick leading, as Miller holds court with his sizzling solo. Then, the rich, resonant, and bright tone of Sanborn’s alto sax’s melodic wail cuts through the drums, bass, percussion, keys, and guitar to take the lead. One of the gems on this 1986 Grammy-winning LP for Best Jazz Fusion Performance, this song is even more gratifying with the increased clarity afforded by the Record Doctor X! The vinyl’s luscious, rounded, and full-fleshed waveforms, the balance of textural detail and tone, as rendered by the Ortofon MC Cadenza Bronze cartridge affixed to a GrooveMaster 3 tonearm with a Korf HS-A02 ceramic headshell—shines unencumbered with the elimination of tiny particulate matter.

https://www.analogplanet.com/content/axpona-preview-analog-audio-design-tp-1000-reel-reel-tape-player

Some additional company background now. Analog Audio Design was founded by Christophe Martinez in France in 2020. An engineer with extensive experience in electronics and firmware who worked on flight simulator design for 25 years, Martinez also had previous association with the Mulann Group, the French industrial conglomerate that “currently holds all the knowledge and the processes for high-quality magnetic tape that originated in Europe,” and owns the (all one word) RecordingTheMasters brand.

The cartridge and the Power Supply are such delicate equipment that in order to prolong their operational lifespans, AN-UK instructs the user to switch off the unit if not used for more than a few days. Throughout the owner’s manual, this instruction is mentioned several times, one of them especially noteworthy for its all-upper-case font and concluding exclamation mark. Of course, I just needed to hear from Peter if he had further to add, and he did: “Switch the cartridge power off if not being played for over fifteen minutes, and turn the Power Supply’s main power off if not used for more than several hours. Before turning the cartridge on for the first time, users are urged to break out a voltmeter and measure the voltage off the cartridge’s pins. The voltage/current should be set to around 1.2 volt at 0.4 – 0.5 amperes measured at the terminals on the cartridge, using an accurate and calibrated meter. This is to make sure that the energizing coil has the ideal voltage and current.” An electrician friend of mine stopped by and confirmed the measurement in exchange for a collector LP that he’s been lusting after.

Before I bring this evaluation to a close, I would be remiss not to mention how effectively the in-tank filter system performs. The pump efficiently cycles the tank, and throughout all the record cleaning sessions I never saw an accumulation of detritus in the tank. In contrast, with my 40kHz tank I needed to use a flocculant additive so contaminants could settle to the bottom of the tank. I then had to filter the fluid or change it for a new batch. The CleanerVinyl system effectively keeps the tank clean and eliminates any materials from redepositing on the records. Secondly, the 132kHz tank is noticeably quieter than my 40kHz unit. When I mentioned this point to Rudy, his response was that the harmonics of a fundamental 132kHz waveform are higher than the 40kHz tank, and either out of our hearing range or the subsequent fundamentals that do approach our auditory bandwidth have lost significant amounts of energy and have a lower dB level. When we finally get down to the harmonics within our hearing spectrum, there is significantly less intensity being radiated, so the process presents as “quieter.” The benefit of this is I can keep this cleaning system in a room adjacent to my listening room and have it running while I play music or take care of other activities. Alternatively, I keep the 40kHz tank in my garage, as it is distractingly loud. Finally, this tank is compact and does not take up a substantial portion of real estate. On the flip side, this also means that you need to pay attention to positioning the gantry and the in-tank filter system, to maintain sufficient clearances for the records. This is not a complicated task and after you work through it once or twice it will become second nature. This entire system is neatly laid out with a “form follows function” blueprint, and users have a purpose-built tool for cleaning their records that does not have an extravagant price tag

Designed with the high-end audio system in mind, the ULTIMO is the ideal power solution for JCAT USB and network cards, the Master OCXO clock, as well as any other component requiring 5V or 12V PSU such as a network switch. Its advanced design ensures that these critical components receive the most stable and clean power, unlocking their full potential and delivering an audio experience that goes beyond hi-fi.