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Vinyl Asylum: REVIEW: J.A. Michell Technoweight Tone Arms by tinhead

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REVIEW: J.A. Michell Technoweight Tone Arms

68.45.138.28


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Model: Technoweight
Category: Tone Arms
Suggested Retail Price: $125
Description: Counterweight for Rega & OEM RB250, RB300, RB600 Tonearms
Manufacturer URL: J.A. Michell
Model Picture: View

Review by tinhead ( A ) on October 18, 2005 at 19:06:14
IP Address: 68.45.138.28
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for the Technoweight


Well... another tweak that really works.

I had a 'turntable' back in the '70's and I never sought any vinyl nirvana. I knew my Garrad was ok and the Kenwood receiver was ok and the speakers were ok and I was relativly happy with it. CD came along and I bought in. Now this past year I really got the word from "audiophiliaville" that vinyl was the thing. without digressing any more ...

I haved a NAD533/RB250, Denon DL-110, Cambridge 540p.
I use a DIY spotmat.
This weight is the first upgrade to the RB250.

Now, I was recently listening to Stan Kenton's "The Romantic Approach" with all those mellophoniums. Very screechy, high up, eye-bleedingly so, when the whole orchestra ramped up. I really thought "Who could ever listen to crap like that!"

A John Fahey record I like to listen to always seemed cold. I thought it was the Cambridge 540p that was at fault.

I added the plate that comes with the Denon DL-110 to the cart and added the Michell Technoweight hoping for that vinyl heaven to show up. It did.

The first record I put on was Chet w/ Pepper Adams, Bill Evans, et al. The horn breated and the attack was like you could hear the lips pushing the note out thru the horn. Chet's trumpet is now less "brassy", warmer. The tenor beathed with Peppers flow of breath. You could hear the ebb and flow of tone and breath. dang.

Overall, base notes were not wooly any more but I could sense the definition much much more. There is much less surface noise and the noise that is there becomes superfluous. Music hung in the air and was defined but not in the way a cd does. not phantasmagorically, like the HDCD but relaxed, sweet.

I tested, just to see, what the Stan Kenton thing was now like. (I don't even like Kenton, but I got the record for 10 cents) Now the horns were NOT screeching. The ugly top end went AWAY completey. Smooth horn sound thru those damn mellophoniums, trumpets, trombomes. what the hell!

The Fahey record warmed up. Now the guitar strings were rounder, softer. I am more happy with my Cambridge 540p phono pre now as well because of this!

There is more subtlety coming out of these records than I have the patience to write down. I gotta say I am very happy with this thing. I think this thing should come standard with the Rega's and OEM's ... but there would not have been the fun of finding it. Sweet, sweet, sweet.

BTW, this change in sound was immediate. The changes profound in some instances and subtle in others.

I am amazed at how good a 'record' can sound. All the records played were second hand bought at various used records stores.

There has been a lot of talk about this counterweight on these forums but no REVIEW ... so I thought I'd add one to make it easy for anyone else searching out the performance of this thing.


Product Weakness: none, I mean I had to pay for it and all, but otherwise nothing.
Product Strengths: IT REALLY REALLY WORKS LIKE MAGIC. The previous is not an overstatement.


Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier: CJ SA250 Sonographe
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): CJ PV12BL 2x12AU7 RCA cleartops
Sources (CDP/Turntable): NAD C541i CD/HDCD; NAD 533; Rega RB250; Denon DL-110; Cambridge Audio 540
Speakers: Paradigm Reference Studio 100v2
Cables/Interconnects: Kimber hero and monster
Music Used (Genre/Selections): jazz, rock, blues, classical, all...
Time Period/Length of Audition: 3 days
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition): http://home.comcast.net/~omaille/Lester.html




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Topic - REVIEW: J.A. Michell Technoweight Tone Arms - tinhead 19:06:14 10/18/05 ( 6)