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RE: Tweeter difference problem with 3.3Rs and more

The Melos was supposed to be a “poor man’s” AR SP10. Just without the forest of tubes and giant power supply, and thus without the pricetag. The S/N is a real figure, and with a MM you get the tape hiss way above the tube noise. Even with the noisier Mullard/National I put in now, the noise floor is quite low. I am sure that the step up would improve the perceived S/N but quite frankly, it is the lowest I have seen on tube gear under $10K and is competitive with most SS devices.
The Dual Mono does not have adjustments, it has a bona fide MM stage without additional pretensions.
I see that you already know how to load the Denon, so I will just follow the numbers here. So 100 to 470 on the high gain active, and try 1:10 and 1:13 on the Head with the resulting loadings of ca. 470 ohms and ca 250 ohms, then see what they are like feeding theHead into the Melos with say the 23k loading.
On the Audible Illusions, I’ll try all of them, the Dayton Wright, the T2, and the Head. If you ever look at Salvatore’s http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-PhonoStages.html, half his recommendations are tube preamps from the 80s and early 90s with Bruce Moore’s designs getting half of them. These are supposed to be heavily modified with all film caps for power supplies and teflon caps for signal. You will find his MC step up recommendations familiar http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-Step-ups.html “the head” is the EAR MC3 here.
I avoid using commercial cleaners in general, and only resort to using a stylus cleaner when there is some gunk that won’t come off any other way. I have a tight rough stylus brush that does a very good job. When a record needs a cleaning beyond the AQ carbon brush, the Discwasher brush + standard water rubbing alcohol + a drop of dish washing detergent solution is used, and then steam cleaning if necessary – by far the most effective cleaning method. If there is stubborn gunk on the stylus, I just wet an LP and play the record. At some point the needle is covered in goo, and I clean it again with the rough stylus brush, normally, the old gunk is dissolved into the new goo in one go maybe two, then it comes off with the brush and you can finish by drying the record. I avoid all the treatments because they leave behind a layer of scuzz, whether it smooths things out and lubricates is irrelevant, it changes the effective shape of the groove and eliminates the possibility of getting what the cutting lathe put on the master. I did some tribology work, and can say that there is nothing that can lubricate the kind of undulating surface we have but for small molecules like water and alcohol. It can’t be short chain olefins and such because they swell the vinyl. Even thin layers of those will be in the way of tracing the shape of transients and high frequency tones. Perhaps Last brand does something different.
The mods to the DL103 sound similar to what Zu Cable (and Druid speaker fame) do here with these, and what Soundsmith do in retipping most MCs.
I am sure the VTA and VTF will be rather straightforward since you have your numbers recommended from hands on experience. 1.25 g for the 304, 1.6 for the Troika.
I did look at the postings but I don’t really speak “Linnie” that well.
Re tracking, I like my Garrott for its tracking ability, it will stay on the mark on everything but the worst wave warps. I just listened a few times last night and before to a bowl warped record elevated over 5 mm at the rim. Tchaikovsky Piano Fantasy, I just raised the VTA and then lowered it back as the tone changed later in play. If there is one thing that drives me mad it is cartridges that don’t track well. Like what’s the point? If it won’t stay in the track how would it play anything? If it has trouble tracking my favorites, then it is simply not going to be used. Actually, that is how most all MCs ended up staying in the stores.
I am intending on getting a new clamp for my Technics deck, I was very used to using the aggressive screw on clamps from the Oracle tables, but KAB – after years of offering a screw tap and screw on clamp found that there are problems doing this, and stopped offering the service and the clamps and took a year to come up with a new xlamp, a reflex clamp, so I am ordering it.

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