MoFi Inner Sleeve Contest - courtesy Soundstagedirect.com

[jcmjrt]

Seth, the owner of Soundstagedirect.com and AudioKarma sponsor, has been kind enough to provide a package of fine Mobile Fidelity inner sleeves for giveaway. He will dropship the package to the winner of this contest.

To enter this contest, post a pic of a TT and/or TA that you greatly admire and tell us what it is. Please just enter once and please keep this thread to entries only.

The entries close at midnight on the 24th of April and a winner will be drawn and announced on 25 April.

Thanks Seth! Soundstagedirect.com can be found at the bottom of the page and you can just click on the link to take you to their website.

 

[spartanmanor]

Here is my entry:

I sure would love some of those Mobile Fidelity inner sleeves

Here is the info on the table:

*Thorens Reference MK I

First introduced in 1979

An experiment. Build the best sounding turntable regardless of cost. Put to use all of the knowledge gained in years of research and development. The result was The Thorens Reference.

Features:

THORENS belt drive

three phase motor with clutch pulley
electronic motor regulation
three speeds: 33 -1/3, 45 and 78 rpm
pitch control ± 6%
illuminated stroboscope at the outer turntable rim
heavy basic chassis and heavy floating chassis, both aluminum castings. The specially calculated chambers in the floating chassis are filled with grained iron for optimum damping
vibration and shock-proof 4-point suspension with gold-plated housings. Each suspension point is individually adjustable
bubble level
the resonance of the floating chassis can be adjusted (1-5 Hz) for exact matching with the tone arm and cartridge combination
specially damped turntable platter of 6.6 kg weight and 30.3 cm diameter
new and expensive main bearing construction for the world's best rumble figure. The high precision ground steel shaft rotates in oil bathed hard material bearings
record stabilizer, gold-plated
3-tone arm platforms of various sizes
2 electric motor lifts (optional)
gold-plated control boards, mounted on the main chassis
large dust cover
Wow and flutter according to DIN 45507: < 0.02% rumble un-weighted, measured with Rumpelmesskoppler* according to DIN A, better than 82 dB
weight: approx. 90 kgs
dimensions: 620x360x510 mm

Every REFERENCE turntable was individually manufactured by hand. This made it possible to comply with customer special requests regarding color, tone arms and motor lifts.

Officially, 100 units were built and sold.

Data taken from the Thorens company history pamphlet titled: "Thorens, The fascination of a living legend. Milestones in the development of appliances for music reproduction"


*Taken from www.theanalogdept.com http://www.theanalogdept.com/reference.htm

 

[ekmanning5]

Here is a picture of my Pioneer PL-41 turntable.

 

[onepixel]

Pioneer PLC-590.

Produced between 1977-1980, the PLC-590 was the only Pioneer turntable sold in that era without a tonearm. Part of the "Series 20" a matching tone arm was available, the PA-5000. Mine has the Infinity Black Widow low mass carbon fiber tonearm.

The meter is for speed control and turns off when you turn on the quartz lock. It also has a nifty "Quick Stop" button. Hit the button and the platter comes to a complete stop in a couple seconds.

Edit: Thanks Seth!

 

[charliemcd]

Here's my Pioneer PL-630 I bought off the 'bay a couple of weeks ago. I got it because 1) it's a favorite of Rich's, 2) it was a local pickup, and 3) it just looks very cool! Fits in well with my SX-1010 and SX-939 receivers. I love the full automatic operation, and the quartz-lock or manual speed control.

I'm still working on it, had to do some splicing on the audio cables and clean the belt for the auto mechanism. Big thanks to Rich for the refurbishment guide, it helped a lot. I'll have to replace the electrolytic caps one of these days, and I still need to do a lot of work on the dust cover to clean up scratches and scuff marks. It has a several marks on the front panel and didn't come with a mat, but I have an original mat coming in a few days, along with a (hopefully) cleaner panel.

Thanks to Seth for offering up the LP sleeves!

 

[BaggedLancer]

2007 TRANSROTOR TOURBILLON with separate power supply. That's what you call a serious platter. Their model under this the platter weighes in at almost 37 pounds, I'm assuming this one is just as much.

 

[Tedrick]

Kenwood KD500 with Infinity Black Widow arm. The high-tech (for its time), low-mass Infinity arm was one of the first to use a carbon fiber arm tube, and is a great match with the Grado Platinum cartridge. The Kenwood's elegant faux-marble base is heavy, solid, and has a unique look.

 

[schwarcw]

My turntable is a good old Marantz 6300. Not a high end table by any stretch, but not too shabby either. I don't recall what these cost new, but you'll see nice ones on the auction site sell for a couple of Franklins.

Carl

 

[Justen]

My ROK. Not fancy, but sounds good to me. I like the simple design.

Thanks Seth- a top notch AK vendor!

 

[Mark W.]

Well I have shown it before but here's my Pro-Ject RM-5 complete with Speed Box MKII and my own custom sub plinth and cuing pedestal. Shown on the floating Florentine Marble painted platform under the Foam Pipe insulation sound panel.

One of the things I really like about my RM-5 is that it's not the popular guy on the block it's just a real good solid great sounding table for those who happen to fall for it's simple good looks.

Granted Until I made a few upgrades it wasn't so much to look at but I think it has a style now.

 

[marantzfan]

I'm in.

Kenwood L-07D

One of the ultimate, absolute and perfect turntable. Only a few match this one - the Denon DP-100, the Onkyo PX-100M, Sony PS-X9 or the Pioneer Exclusive P3a. If the saying "they don't make 'em like this anymore" sounds fine, it should be narrowed down for the L-07D to: "they only made it once and never will again". So far, the production run of the L-07D remains a mystery.

An absolute object, too, and it is a real pity that Kenwood junked its design team (or followed the trends too closely) after 1983 for the '80/'82 period was rich with many an interesting and structured design. And not only within the superlative "L" series.

Text borrowed from www.thevintageknob.org, picture borrowed from www.l-07d.com

 

[goldear]

The best I've ever heard. Period.

The Rockport Sirius III. The only turtable I've ever heard to make me feel Like my Linn LP-12, ET-2 combo might as well have been made by Fisher-Price by comparison.

This is simply a truly incredible unit. I don't remember its exact specs off the top of my head, but something along the lines of a 60lbs Platter, and 250lbs base comes to mind.

It is a direct Drive unit, with both a linear-tracking air-bearing tonearm, and and air-bearing platter. What's more, they have somehow figured out how to add vacuum suction to the platter as well (which almost seems impossible, to combine with a air bearing, but they did it!).

The sound was absolutely jaw dropping, and I don't use that term lightly. Now if only I could ever afford one of these beauties... :sigh:

 

[SA-708]

My parent's Dual 1237, that my late father bought when I was 10. This was the first turntable I remember using, the one that played the first records I bought (Billy Joel & The Beatles). I recently brought it back to life, fixing a frozen motor bearing, which gave me a new appreciation for this 30 year old changer. I just got a short non-changing spindle for it and will take it back to my mother's this week. I've seen references to this being a cheap plastic TT, but it is a part of my audio heritage, and it still works and sounds good.

 

[cactuscowboy]

Here's a picture of my new KAB Technics SL-1200MK5. It's equipped with an audiophile KAB Ortofon Pro S40 cartridge, Cardas tonearm rewire, Tonearm Dampener, 78 rpm, and outboard power supply. With all the features, I can play anything from 100 year old acoustic discs to modern LPs. The only records it can't handle are 16 rpm and 16" diameter discs.

 

[stuwee]

Please help me! I want a shot at this and can't postpic

i can't post a pic cuz I don't have this complicated software figured out and it's not my 'puter and the owner won't let me use photoshop etc.. cuz he's mean and weird, I would however, like to have a shot at this! Please help, <stuwee begging and bowing>
My choice the La Luce, not because it was designed by a woman(cool) and it looks so cool but, her story as to why she made it! as a young girl her mother would play opera's that would make her weep and she decided to make the best TT she could to retrieve the most out of vinyl. She had a vision and set about finding a source for the arm wire(she was in europe and I'm pretty sure she is still in Holland) after asking many manufacturers, who she felt would not give her the time of day because of her gender. She contacted Cardas and he was happy to suppy her with whatever she needed, now free to complete her design she went back to the love of music and designed what I think is the most beautiful TT from a most beautiful lady who would not give up her dream and to share it with all.Her name escapes me (Sond((something)) ) but,her story never will:thmbsp: You go Girl:yes:!!
Craig

 

[MisterFishey]

The Technics SL-D20.

Let's not kid ourselves, there is nothing awesome or groundbreaking regarding this turntable. Nonremoveable tonearm, P mount cartridge, direct drive, and austere (yet appealing) 80's looks. However, it was the first turntable I ever owned; indeed, it was my parents'. The sleek design, reliability, and sound quality of it sent me headlong into vinyl and audiophilia, a road from which I will never return.

Why do I admire it? For being a cheap turntable, the quality and reliability of it is unbelievable by today's standards, and the design isn't overdone at all. Understated but elegant, reliable but cheap, a now impossible dream but the happy reality of the 70's and 80's.

 

[merrylander]

Simple, elegant and sonically glorious, my Yamaha PX-2

 

[Doug G.]

My BIC 1000.

BICs were rather revolutionary designs back then. The quietest automatics ever made and the first belt drive.. Yes even better than Duals.

Doug

 

[solarmusick]

My Rega P1, since then I ordered an Ortofon 2M Red cart, which I'll take pictures of some day. It's a great "budget" hifi turntable that is ideal for upgrading or just a good place to start for somebody looking to check out vinyl but wants something more modern and musical. It's a very minimalistic turntable, but it sounds awesome for all types of music. In retrospect, perhaps I should have stalked audiogon for a used turntable and maybe I would have gotten a better deal, but still overall I'm extremely content with the Rega and don't think I'll be upgrading for quite some time now.

 

[thedelihaus]

The Transcriptors Reference...


As seen in Clockwork Orange, a beautiful work of art.

I've never owned or heard one, and have been told they can be temperamental and a bear to set up, however the look is stunning.

It was the table Roddy McDowell as charactor "Alex" in Clockwork Orange played a bit of th' ol' "Ludwig Van" on... His was a 1964 Transcriptors.

Founded in 1960 in Ireland by David Gammon, Transcriptors was his baby. David seemed to be the driving force behind the business as well as the designer of these unique tables.

I'd like to be fortunate to own one some day.

Transcriptors, after a hiatus, is once again in business, piloted today by David Gammon's oldest son, Michael.

http://www.transcriptors.net/