Been Around World : Phonostage Visitors

I kept this list in the sidebar, but it's become unwieldy so here it is for the last time.

---

Africa:

Egypt :
RSA : Johannesburg, Parow, Pretoria

---

Asia:
Hongkong :
India : Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi , Patna
Indonesia : Bandung, Bekasi, Jakarta
Israel : Kfar Saba, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv
Japan : Nagoya, Nishinomiya, Yokahama
Jordan : Amman
Korea : Seocho, Seoul
Malaysia : Bukit Mertajam, Kuala Lumpur, Masjid Tanah, Penang, Shah Alam, Taiping
Pakistan : Karachi
Philippines : Bacoor, Benguet, Cagayan de Oro, Makati, New Alabang Height Village, Pasig
Saudi Arabia : Jeddah, Riyadh
Singapore :
Taiwan : T'ai-pei
Thailand : Bangkok
UAE : Dubai

---

N America:
Canada : Ayr, Brampton, Burlington, Burnaby, Calgary, Chatham, Edmonton, Kelowna, London, Milton, Mississauga, Montreal, Niagara Falls, Oakville, Ottawa, Surrey, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria
Greenland : Nuuk
Mexico : Mexico City, Tlalnepantla, Tonal
USA : Arizona, California, N Carolina, S Carolina, Colorado, Connecticut, N Dakota, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Washington DC, Wisconsin

---

C America:
Colombia : Bogota, Medellin
Turks & Caicos Islands :

---

S America:
Argentina : Buenos Aires, Entre Rios, Francisco Beltro, Haedo,San Luis
Brasil : Aracaju, Brasilia, Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo
Chile : Punta Arenas, Santiago
Ecuador : Ambato
Venezuela : Caracas, Maracaibo, Guacara

---

Europe:
Austria : Guntramsdorf, Marchtrenk, Vienna, Wels
Belgium : Antwerpen, Brussels, Diksmuide, Hasselt, Mechelen, Rumst, Temse
Bulgaria : Sofia, Varna, Vidin
Croatia : Pozega, Pula, Rijeka, Sesvete, Sibenik, Varazdin, Zagreb
Cyprus : Nicosia
Czech Republic : Prague
Denmark : Bryrup, Copenhagen, Fling, Horsens, Odense, Sold
Eire : Cork, Dublin
Finland : Helsinki, Kouvola, Salo, Vantaa
France : Annoeullin, Billancourt, Biscarrosse, Bourg-en-Bresse, Britigny-sur-Orge, Charenton-le-Pont, Chateau Thierry, Colmar, Corsica, Craponne, Goussaineville, Guret, Hennebont, Issy-les-Moulineaux, Issoire, La Nouvelle, La Rochelle, Limoges, Marignac, Montauban, Montpellier, Nice, Paris, Plaisir, Rennes, Roanne, Saint-Ouen, Thiais, Toulouse, Tournefeuille, Tulle, Villeurbanne
Germany : Arnsberg, Berlin, Bonn, Bovenden, Braunfels, Bremen, Dusseldorf, Eislingen, Frankfurt, Freiburg, Grenzach-Wyhlen, Hagen, Hamburg, Heidenau, Herford, Herne, Jochen, Kempten, Linnich, Mannheim, Meppen, Munich, Neckargemnd, Neu, Niederkassel, Sankt Ingbert, Sohland, Speyer, Stuttgart, Westerstede
Greece : Athens
Hungary : Bekes, Budapest, Kaposvr, Nyregyhza, Pecs, Pest
Italy : Cerro, Lainate, Marostica, Milan, Quattro Castella, Ragusa, Rome, Teggiano, Turin, Veneto
Latvia : Kuldiga, Riga
Lituania : Vilnius
Netherlands : Almere, Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Barendrecht, Barneveld, Bergen Op Zoom, Drachten, Dronten, Emmen, Gennep, Groningen, Helmond, Hilversum, Hoek von Holland, Kesteren, Nieuwegein, Purmerend, Rixtel, Rumst, Soest, Utrecht, Valkenswaard,Veenendaal, Vlaardingen, Vught, Waalwijk, Zoutelande
Norway : Kylstad, Rakkestad, Sortland, Stranda
Poland : Pruzkw, Rzeszw, Sochaczew, Warsaw, Wegorzewo, Znin
Portugal : Oporto, Pardilh
Romania : Arad, Baia Mare, Bucharest
Spain : Algemes, Almera, Amurrio, Avils, Barcelona, Jerez, Madrid, Silla, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza
Switzerland : Bern, Einsiedeln, Geneve, Lausanne, Manno, Meiringen, Neuchtel, Schwyz, Winterthur, Zurich
Sweden : Bromma, Stockholm, Vllingby
United Kingdom : Aberdeen, Andover, Belfast, Biggar, Birkenhead, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bradford, Brighouse, Brighton, City of Bristol, Bromley, Buxton, Cambridge, City of Cardiff, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Cheshunt, Chesterfield, Chipping Sodbury, Christchurch, Derby, Doncaster, Eastleigh, City of Edinburgh, Fareham, Gatwick, Glossop, Hatfield, Hereford, High Wycombe, Honeybourne, Ipswich, Kingston-u-Hull, Lancaster, Lincoln, Liverpool, Leamington, Leeds, Leicester, City of London, Loughborough, Maidenhead, Manchester, Mansfield, Milton Keynes, Newbury, Newtownabbey, Oxford, Plymouth, Pontypridd, Preston, Reading, Rugeley, St Albans, St Andrews, Salisbury, Sheffield, South Shields, Staines, Stroud, Telford, Thornaby, Winchester, Woking, York

---

Eurasia:
Kazakhstan : Boralday
Russian Federation : Moscow
Turkey : Adana, Amasya, Belen, Gaziantep, Genel, Istanbul
Ukraine : Krivoy Rog

---

Oceania:
Australia : Adelaide, Applecross, Briar Hill, Canberra, Dandenong, Devonport, Footscray, Hornsby, Jordanville, Kangarilla, Karraganbah, Melbourne, Perth, Ringwood, Sydney
New Zealand : Aukland, Wellington, Winton

---

Pro-Ject Cherry Classic | Ortofon 2M Red

So far the Pro-Ject Cherry Classic turntable with its original Ortofon 510 cartridge have served well. But tucked away in a box somewhere around here has been an Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. Not a major expense, very cheap even by US hifi standards, but I anticipated a significant upgrade from the 510.

I also had a very useful cartridge alignment tool especially for Pro-Ject tonearms so I dug it all out, took a deep breath and set about changing the cartridge.

The 510 was easy to remove with a small screw-driver, but the 2M Red was slightly problematic in that I managed to break one of the hair-thin connecting wires. Fortunately, I was able to resurrect my soldering skills so the repair was fairly easy.

I set the 2M Red at about 1.70gm using a micro-scale before setting up the alignment tool.

The tool was a very snug fit on the turntable spindle and the device which centres the arm pivot was also a good fit. The manual - if you can call it that - takes you through the process, and the device is ingenious.

From now on it's just a case of tweaking until you feel it's right. Once I'd checked and re-checked a couple of times I tightened up the screws connecting the cartridge to the arm to the point where I thought any more would strip the threads.

So, mission accomplished ... Initially, I left the cartridge tracking at about 1.70gm, but I felt there was a little sibilance on Adele's voice, although it was a lot smoother than with the Ortofon 510, and there was some mis-tracking when confronted with some strings rattling on frets.

At this point I am setting up by ear ... I increased the tracking weight to about 1.80gm and this has brought about a significant improvement, although I might just edge the weight up 0.05gm at a time to see if this helps.

Incidentally, when it comes to final tweaking, I don't think you can beat using a record of a woman's voice to get the sound you want. At some point I'm going to have to check it with a Donna Summer LP. Miss Summer's voice - while great - always seems to me to give a good system a hard time ...

So far, the Ortofon 2M Red sounds incredible for the budget cartridge it is.

After the Storm ...

Storm's over ... morning after images here ...

HiFi : progress report II

Okay ... the Quads are back ...

Despite their (only) slight lack of bass, the Quad 11L2s are so much more clear than the Infinity RS4001s. To use a hackneyed phrase from the hifi press, it's as though a veil has been lifted.

Besides, they're not that short in the bass department anyway. I really think I'd like to try them with a sympathetic sub. In the UK I was using Mission 76s - I think. These worked seamlessly with the IPL sub kit.

Anyway, it looks as if this is converging on a typically European setup - stand speakers, modest amplifier, definitive audio source. Frowned on the US, I know, but listen to it ... just a bit more tweaking ...

The back of the speakers shows the weedy speaker cable and rather more beefy speaker jumper cables ... I think I'll work on this aspect next.

HiFi : progress report

The bad weather has given me an opportunity to sort out the hifi.

The biggest development has been to move the sources from between the speakers and to the side of the room. Why? More later ...

At the moment I have the Infinity RS 4001s connected using some sort of basic Monster Cable speaker wire. I have a pair of UK-sourced Quad 11L2s to use instead, but I'm thinking that they'll do better with rather better speaker wire, supports and a sympathetic sub-woofer. I have access to an Infinity sub, but it's more suited to home theatre with no subtlety when used with music.

Back in the UK I built this sub from IPL Acoustics who happened to be a guy working from a house in Ilfracombe, Devon, UK.

The Quads also need something like the Atacama Nexus speaker stands to keep them off the ground.

What you see here - working clockwise from the turntable:

Pro-Ject Cherry Classic Turntable : This was adapted for the US by fitting a 110v/60Hz motor and pulley. This wasn't too difficult. The UK suppliers, Henley Designs, were very helpful, as was The Needle Doctor, who supplied the pulley and a special tool for adjusting the arm bearings.

Currently, the deck uses an Ortofon 510 MkII with an Ortofon 2M Red waiting to be installed.

Pro-Ject USBII Phono Box : I use this to step-up the turntable output to line-voltage and also act as a AD converter which I am experimenting with to digitise my LP collection ... that's for another day.

Cambridge DacMagic : This time, a DA converter. I am using this to by-pass the DA converter in my CD player and take direct output from digital audio files on my home network and output - hopefully - hifi quality sound.

Dell Laptop : Linda's crotchety old laptop which tends to freeze after an hour or so, but works well while it lasts. Using Media Monkey to catalogue and play my music stored on the network out through the DacMagic and into the amplifier. I'm currently experimenting with Audacity to record vinyl from the turntable via the Pro-Ject USB Box.

Marantz CD5001 CD Player : I'm using the DacMagic to bypass the player's DA converter. So far, so good ...

Marantz PM5003 Integrated Amplifier : So far this has helped to integrate the distinctly non-standard setup I have here.

Little Dot Headphone Amplifier : on the shelf under the CD player - currently not linked in, but will be tapped off one of the PM5003's recording monitors.

Nearly all this stuff is 220/240v. I use a 3kw/110v/220v converter. Running at 220v/60Hz doesn't appear to be an issue for any item of equipment so far.

Lastly, for now at least, I've been using "Get Better Sound", by Jim Smith, to tweak the system. Most of the advice is common sense, although it's funny how much of it never occurred to me.

Anyway, so far, a good investment, certainly far more than $45.00 worth of audio improvement, plus, you receive updates via email once you've bought it.

Snow Day

This is about the most snow I've seen since living in the US. Last night about 6" settled on top of the 4" remaining from last weekend's fall.

In fact it's still snowing now, with a blizzard forecast for this afternoon, so I'm resisting getting out on the drive with the snow-blower for the moment.

This is the view out the front door at the moment ... roll on spring ...

Bike +1 : Salsa Vaya

Well, my old mountain bike has been collecting dust in the garage for a long time now, so it's been consigned to Craigslist.

So I've been looking for a bike which I can use as a bit of a hack, mudguards, racks, ride in the rain, etc, and use when James is over here in the US.

The Salsa Vaya seems to fit the bill and I hope to take delivery of one shortly.

Meanwhile, my favourite Giant OCR C2 is due for its start the year service. I suspect the sealant in the tubeless tyres is the main thing to be checked ... It's tough to think of today - snow/blizzards/etc - but roll on spring.

More to follow ...

BBC Music beta

Just found this on the BBC website ... could be interesting ... try my music player to the right >>>

Spring is almost Sprung ...

.. And the grass is almost riz ...

So it's time to get your bike down to your favourite local bike shop - LBS - for its start the season service.

Please, don't be that person who turns up on the first sunny/warm day in March and demands their bike be ready for their first Double Century which "is tomorrow ..."

No. Get your bicycle serviced in plenty of time so that mechanics can apply a little more attention to your favourite rail, point out issues, order parts, suggest upgrades, while they still have a little quality time to attend to your needs.

Declaration: I work in a LBS ...

Happy New Year All!!!

A Happy New Year to all!!!

And I promise to update my blog more often. In the meantime try FaceBook ...