Turntable Reviews

HiFiction Thales TTT-Slim II turntable & Simplicity II tonearm Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: Garrard 301 and Thorens TD 124 turntables; EMT 997, Sorane ZA-12 tonearms; Ortofon SPU Century and EMT TSD 15 pickup heads; EMT TSD 15 N SPH cartridge.
Digital Sources: Apple MacBook Air laptop computer running Roon v.1.5, Hegel Music Systems Mohican CD player, Mytek Liberty D/A processor.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Hommage T1 & T2, Audio-Creative Mediator 40, and EMIA Phono step-up transformers, Shindo Laboratory Monbrison (2017) preamplifier.
Power Amplifiers: Shindo Laboratory Haut-Brion and Montille CV 391.
Loudspeakers: Altec Flamenco, DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93.
Cables: Digital: AudioQuest Carbon (USB). Interconnect: Audio Note AN-Vx, Luna Red, Shindo Laboratory. Speaker: Auditorium 23, Luna Red. AC: manufacturers' stock.
Accessories: Box Furniture Company D3S rack (source & amplification components), Audiodesksysteme Gläss Vinyl Cleaner Pro.—Art Dudley

COMPANY INFO
HiFiction AG
US distributor: Wynn Audio
Unit 31, 20 Wertheim Court
Richmond Hill, Ontario L4B 3A8, Canada
(212) 826-1111
wynnaudio.com
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
volvic's picture
Submitted by volvic on August 2, 2019 - 3:25am

Used to spend hours in the late 80's looking, adjusting then readjusting then tightening my cartridge on my Dennesen protractor only to go back and look at the cartridge from another angle and start all over again. Got so frustrated, I nearly gave up on vinyl. Fortunately, I did two things that cured my nervosa; I purchased an SME tonearm with its fixed mounting for cartridge and its sliding rail for overhang adjustment, voila overnight everything came into place. Secondly, purchased a Shure V15 MK V cartridge that came with this ingenious overhang slot gauge that further took away the guesswork of aligning the cartridge. Have three Shure V15's and still use them to this day. Have slept soundly since.

I think it might just be bad luck on your part Art, the DG recordings I own are very quiet unless, and it has happened, some previous owner's stylus was not up to par, but that is rare and have been very happy with the quality of the DG vinyl I have purchased. Not as good as Philips pressings but good enough.

So if the Jochum Bruckner 8th is one of your two favourites which is the other one? It must be the Furtwangler with the VPO from 1944 right? It has to be.

Anton's picture
Submitted by Anton on August 1, 2019 - 10:29pm

I wish they were done by all.

p.chas's picture
Submitted by p.chas on August 2, 2019 - 4:37am

Many thanks Art for another interesting review, although more comment on the several audible advantages of tangential tracking would have been appreciated (see the review of the Thales AV arm by Michael Fremer d/d 31 Oct.2010).
Even though the Simplicity arm does track tangentially, the offset angle still requires compensation of the skating force, and this is achieved by two very small (non-adjustable) magnets integrated in the counterweight.
Frank Schroeder's tangential tracking arm is getting much favourable comment on the web. Any chance
of either you or Michael (Analog Planet) obtaining one for testing?

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on August 2, 2019 - 5:17pm

... SME Model 15A.
http://www.soundhifi.com/SME/images/sme-model-15-hifi-news-review.pdf

volvic's picture
Submitted by volvic on August 3, 2019 - 4:49am

Looks sharp and it replaced the popular model 10.

Michael Quinlan's picture
Submitted by Michael Quinlan on August 3, 2019 - 2:13pm

Hello Art
A longtime reader of Stereophile and of John Atkinson since HFN/RR days.
I am concerned about the structural integrity of the articulations at the headshell. We have been taught that any free-play or jitter in the turntable/arm/cartridge interface will create distortion by allowing the stylus to move of itself not driven by the modulations in the disc groove. This has always made sense to me. And to the generations of arm designers who have engineered increasingly large bearings with vanishingly small free-play, as applauded by Mr Fremer.
So with only your photo to guide me, it does appear the articulations at the headshell are small and poorly engineered and must allow free-play. Did you examine this aspect? Do you agree with the central issue?
An ongoing criticism of most parallel tracking arm set-ups is that they are a spider to catch a fly. The compromises involved are greater than those in a pivoted arm.
But see my avatar for what I have found to be a solution.
Keep on writing and I will keep on reading!!
Kind regards
Michael Quinlan

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