Clearaudio Owner's Thread

[Cypry]

I had a Champiom level 2 for several years,the deck was fine but I didn't get on with the Unify arm,undamped lift/lower device and the hair thin cabling had a habit of coming adrift from the cartridge pins,three out of the four just parted company without any force whatsoever and trying to solder them back on was a nightmare.

Would add that my wife turned her nose up when I replaced it with a VPI SSM,she didn't like the looks at all,women eh !!!

 

[Frank Sol]

It appears (not ever hearing one) that the Clearaudio Concept w/MC for $2,000 is a hell of a deal.

"Entry Level" for Clearaudio means something different than from some other manufacturers I'd think

And... It has 78rpm

 

[JohnVF]

Here is the picture somehow it got dropped on my original message.

That's really telling right there. I'm going to get an AT grip for my botched Virtuoso Wood.

 

[neobop]

Chevvies,

You can easily fix ANY clearaudio MM cart with a broken or damaged stylus by simply replacing the stylus "Plug" with an Audio Technica AT95 "plug" ($35).

If you look at the bottom of your cart you will see a small black plastic piece from which the stylus protrudes - this "plug" is easily removable with no more than a fingernail - just hook it from the rear and lift it up and out.

Once you get the AT plug (also called a "grip" by some) just trim the plastic on the AT plug and pop it back into the Clearaudio cart body.

In reality all Clearaudio carts are actually OEM from other manufacturers - the Clearaudio MM carts are made by AudioTechnica - below is a picture of a CA cart and an AT cart with their plugs "removed" - note that except for the shell they are identical.

This picture was taken by "Uptown Audio" out of Salem, Virginia and was featured in a thread from two years ago.

I have made this replacement myself and the result was that the AT plug sounded MUCH better than the original plug in my Maestro cartridge. Perhaps it has something to do with compliance. Or maybe the somewhat brighter tone of the AT plug better compliments the tone of the darker Clearaudio motor - and maybe I just think it is better.

If you have any more questions just PM me.

best

Hi,
You can go much further than that if you choose to. If you look on the magnet side of the 95 plug, you'll see a little screw. It's called the compliance screw and it holds the cantilever in place. You have to scrape off a little enamel they use to paint it in place. If you loosen the screw you can exchange other AT styli and do a transplant. It's a little hairy, but doable if you're so inclined. The Clearaudios don't come with the screw, just a cone that looks like it's press-fit. I'd recommend getting a cheap 3400 series conical, if you just need a plug. The 95 tip is a .4 x .7 bonded on an aluminum cantilever. I suspect you like the colorations of the alum. I don't mean this as an insult. The alum will probably sound richer and slightly louder. Jico 95 replacements include an HE and a shibata - all high quality bonded. They will plug right in.

I'm currently trying a 7V stylus on my Virtuoso. It's a .2 x .7 nude on a tapered alum. I got the 7V because of the compliance which is similar to the 95. I have it on a heavy arm and it sounds good. If you substitute another stylus, the cu and VTF requirements become that of the new stylus.

One of the more shocking aspects of this is that it appears as if all the C/A generators are the same. There might be some internal difference between the top models and the least expensive, but I doubt it. The specs - inductance and resistance, are the same on all of them. I think the only difference is external and the type of stylus. The Maestro comes with a boron cantilever and a micro tip they gave a fancy name. It's probably an ATN150MLX.

I also have a modified 95. The generators are not the same.
neo

 

[reddog48]

stylus plug on Clearaudio carts

Neobop,

I think you are the person who first discovered the ability to transplant AT stylus plugs into CA carts. I had a CA Maestro with a broken cantilever and decided to follow your advice.

Thanks - worked great. And you are correct, though I didn't know it, the AT-95 is richer and louder - and clearly colored. So thank you again for your insight and advice.

Now - do you have any information on whether or not I can transplant an AT-150 "plug" (stylus - cantilever assembly in a nice plastic case) into my CA cart? Or do I have to transplant just the cantilever - stylus assembly into the AT-95 plug that is currently inside my CA Maestro? Seems that would be some very fine work;-)).

And where can I buy an AT-150 stylus? or the entire "plug"?

Thanks Neobop - you are providing some invaluable assistance to many people.

 

[dbz5371]

I own a Clearaudio "Emotion" (now discontinued as it is the basis of the Marantz TT-15) and a Clearaudio "Maestro" cart (MM).

I found that with my setup the only way I could get good bass was to use a VTA setup that had the tone arm "tail up", i.e. the rear of the tone arm was higher than the front. This was easy to do with the Clearaudio tone arm mounting technique.

Once I did this the bass increased in both quantity and quality. The Clearaudio manual says to set the tone arm by placing the supplied bubble level beneath the cuing mechanism and then tightening the tone arm lock. I have found that it takes about another 1/8" or so of elevation to get the best sound.

Of course the problem that then arises is that the cuing mechanism will not let the tone arm drop sufficiently down to make contact with a "skinny" record - the 180g and 200g records are sufficiently thick to not cause a problem - with the "skinnies" I have to use a mat on the platter to get enough elevation for the stylus/cart/arm assembly to make good contact.

I am using the MM phono section out of a CJ PV-7 preamp as my phono amp - and I use a VTF of 1.75 g. I am experimenting with using higher VTF values - say 2.0g or even 2.2g.

The clearaudio emotion table is, imo, a good buy that delivers excellent sound - but you have to tweak it a bit - like any turntable.

Interesting, my Performance SE with Meastro was horrible at parallel(read v.slightly tail up).
Only once I had put it into a "tail down" position by adjusting the VTA, did it actually sound good. This was a tip from a Clearaudio dealer and was verified by other Clearaudio owners.
You can see the adjustment below, from tail up to tail down, which is where it has remained to this day, producing substantial bass and with non of the harsh, skittish, brittle, lightweight sound it had with "tail up".

 

[WmAx]

Emotion and Marantz have different platter(not same thickness), different plynth and different feet. The motor may be the same, not sure, but the motor is of very high quality and provided extremely accurae speed stability(which I verified with FFT analysis using fixed tones on a high quality test record). The tone arm is used on many different CA tables. As for the CMB bearing, I had originally compared the Marantz to the Emotion, not the Emotion CMB. Even so, there is no issue with the standard bearing; it is an excellent one.

That being said, I do play to do a modfication later on; I am looking for a 'trashed' TT15; I just want the plynth. I plan to double up the plynth thicknes and use a visco-elastic core between them to further reduce resonance of the assembly.

Quote from WmAx:

It has nothing in common with the Emotion. It is a higher quality table and has all different parts and heavier build quality and higher level of fit and finish overall. the Marantz is a higher quality table above the Emotion, and is between the Emotion SE and Performance in terms of build quality and features, being closer to the Performance.

Sorry but the Marantz is nothing more than a rebadged Clearaudio Emotion table and does NOT possess "higher quality" or "different parts". The motor, tonearm, plinth (except for outer perimeter shape) and platter are the exact same parts found on the Clearaudio Emotion.

The Marantz is a downgrade from the Emotion in that the Marantz does NOT have the Ceramic Magnetic Bearing (CMB) assembly - Clearaudio will not sell this proprietary technology outside of their own brand.

IMO the CMB is THE reason for owning a Clearaudio TT - it is an excellent way of decoupling the platter from the plinth/shaft assembly - perhaps the most advanced method ever conceived.

So the Marantz TT-15 is actually somewhat less than the Clearaudio "Emotion" - fitting somewhere between the bottom of the line "concept" (an excellent table) and the next model up.

I am sure the Marantz is an excellent table - but lets call it as it is not as we wish it were.

 

[reddog48]

upgrade to Clearaudio emotion or TT-15

An easy upgrade to either the Clearaudio Emotion or the Marantz TT-15 is to add several layers to the plinth. This is easy because the stock plinth has three threaded inserts already in place for the feet. These are really beefy inserts (metric thread pattern).

So the plan is to exactly measure the locations of these three inserts, and then make wood and aluminum layers that allow a bolt to pass through (the appropriate metric bolt can be bought in any number of places). I plan on adding about 4" of wood and aluminum layers to mine. Then use the bolts to tighten this new assembly to the stock plinth.

I plan on having my "add on plinth" carefully glued and screwed together prior to joining to the original plinth - and perhaps will place a layer of rubber or cork between the add-on plinth and the original plinth - to allow some compression when I tighten the assemblies together.

Then on the bottom layer of your new, far more massive and less resonant plinth you can install the feet of your choice - the originals (add new inserts to the bottom for these) or any type of foot of your choice.

An added benefit of this new assembly is that it will allow me to completely decouple the motor (same motor with either TT-15 or Emotion) from the plinth. A separate layer will provide a motor mounting "cup" (a bored out hole that holds the motor in a piece of wood) - this layer will not contact the plinth at any point.

The other thing you can do with the Marantz tt-15 is to buy the spindle and platter assembly and upgrade it to the CMB - the parts will fit. Of course this will cost about $1000 - but that will buy you the 40 mm platter with the appropriate spindle.

I am going to start this mod in the next month - if you are interested I can send pictures.

Both are great tables with lots of possibilities for upgrade.




At that point you have moved well past the stock Emotion of TT-15

 

[chevvies]

In any event, Clearaudio make fab turntables, but I didn't know the TT-15 was a 'stock Emotion'.

Neither did I think that was Mr Ishitawa's remit when he asked CA to design him a tt.
You live, you learn.

 

[WmAx]

In any event, Clearaudio make fab turntables, but I didn't know the TT-15 was a 'stock Emotion'.

Neither did I think that was Mr Ishitawa's remit when he asked CA to design him a tt.
You live, you learn.

I guess having the same motor and arm(a superb arm design btw, with variants of it used on turntable models costing up to $7k)with all the other parts being different means it's the same to some....

 

[WmAx]

An added benefit of this new assembly is that it will allow me to completely decouple the motor (same motor with either TT-15 or Emotion) from the plinth. A separate layer will provide a motor mounting "cup" (a bored out hole that holds the motor in a piece of wood) - this layer will not contact the plinth at any point.

I removed the silicone ring from around the motor and used a soft vinyl foam(weatherstripping) in place of it, and also placed some on the bottom of the motor, and now it is completely decoupled from the table.

If I can't find another plynth for cheap, I think I'll use some thick plate aluminum and cut it to the shape of the plynth and add it as the 2nd layer(with visco-elastic layer between the two of course), then add a layer of acrylic underneath that, frosted, to give a matching contrast for the aluminum feet(as opposed to attaching the feet to the aluminum layer, which would not look quite right, I believe. I have probably all of the material I need on hand already. I'll definitely post pics here of the result if I get to it.

 

[motorstereo]

I went one step further and cut the outer edge off my ca emotion tt motor hole. It was damn near impossible to get the motor centered in that hole without it touching somewhere. I also found that it would eventually pull itself into the plinth given enough time. No worries now.

 

[chevvies]

How on earth is the tail up/tail down setting achieved on the Marantz TT15?

 

[dbz5371]

How on earth is the tail up/tail down setting achieved on the Marantz TT15?

Hi Kevin, you will need to move the whole arm column either up or down, away from the parallel setting recommended in the Manual., I think...

Take the threaded bolt (M6 x 8) out of your accessory
bag and screw it with the adequate Allen key
into the winding near the tonearm cut of the turntable
chassis, so that the front of the bolt is not
facing out the inner side of the tonearm cut.
Position the enclosed counterweight on top of the
chassis in front of the cut out for the tonearm. Take
the tonearm and slide first the interconnect cable
through the hole followed by the tonearm’s shaft.
Gently push the arm down into to the hole until the
pickup lift is seated on the counterweight (see figure…).
Please ensure that the tonearm tube is in
parallel to the right edge of the turntable body. Now
carefully fix by turning the pick up with an Allen key
and afterwards remove the counterweight.

 

[reddog48]

clearaudio and marantz

To quote

"I guess having the same motor and arm(a superb arm design btw, with variants of it used on turntable models costing up to $7k)with all the other parts being different means it's the same to some.... "

Same motor, same arm, same arm gimbal, same plinth material and construction, same platter size and material (but with the Clearaudio Emotion having the far superior Ceramic Magnetic Bearing technology), made by the same people, using the same tools in the same factory - so what is different between the Marantz TT-15 and the Clearaudio Emotion?

In short nothing that has anything to do with vinyl playback other than the superior bearing technology in the Emotion.

Well I guess you could argue that the shape (though not the thickness or size) of the plinth is different - though I don't think that makes for any sonic difference. And of course the Marantz has a different "badge" on it. Again not audible.

The Marantz TT-15 and the Clearaudio Emotion are the same turntable with the exception of the Marantz not having the CMB.

 

[reddog48]

Clearaudio platter mats

has anybody experimented with using platter mats (of whatever material) on the Clearaudio acrylic platters?

I am wondering if that would change the sound any?

And to Motorstereo; I too have been considering cutting away the plinth surrounding the "motor" hole - I agree that the motor mounting technique from the factory (using an o-ring) is hardly worthwhile. The motor slips, moves and eventually contacts the plinth. I installed several layers of thick rubber bands to get better isolation - but that is a stopgap measure.

So what did you use to cut the plinth? And what did you use to hold the motor in place now that it no longer has the "motor hole" to ride in?

thanks for any information

 

[JohnVF]

has anybody experimented with using platter mats (of whatever material) on the Clearaudio acrylic platters?

I did a simple comparison with my Marantz/Clearaudio TT-15s1 with and without the felt matt. I preferred the sound without the mat by a pretty fair margin.

 

[motorstereo]

I used a small air powered body saw to cut away my plinth hole. I took off the 3 silicone mounts of the bottom of the motor also. I used a peel and stick felt pad the same size as the motor with some drawer liner glued to the bottom of the felt pad. The motor is now better isolated and stays put with no danger of touching the plinth. I have the motor on a separate switch also so I never have to touch the motor itself. I found that over time the motor would creep just enough to touch the plinth. All is well now.

 

[dbz5371]

How about this?


I thought you guys would appreciate this strange phenomena. Purely by co-incidence, but looking through some photos of my Clearaudio I noticed this...

Can you see anything? Maybe something to do with Clearaudio?

How about now?

Freaky!

 

[chevvies]

I see a type of triangle within a triangle, much like the logo.:yes:?