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Tip of the Week, June 30th 2014

Ikea Jansjo

 

Just bought one of these Ikea Jansjo lamps as a turntable light. LOVE it!  I have tried  two battery operated TT lights before, but I get sick of changing batteries when I forget and leave it on two days straight!  This one has AC.  If you have an Ikea near you, go there. If not, this is the cheapest price I could find online.

 

 

 

 

 

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Tip of the Week, April 20, 2014

phono_cartridge_shim_vta_spacer

 

Something every turntable owner should own is a set of phono cartridge shims for fine adjustment of VTA or Vertical Tracking Angle. Frustrated by the lack of affordable quality shims available for purchase, I took one of my favorite designs to my sheet metal fabricators and had these high quality non-magnetic shims produced.  Each is individually machined.  The open end design is a PLEASURE to use.  You can read more about them and purchase your shim/spacer set here.

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Tip of the Week, April 6, 2014

20 wt oil

 

At the Thorens factory, for most vintage models they used a straight SAE 20 wt. turbine oil.  There are all kinds of other oils on the market, but if you want what Thorens intended, just go to your local hardware store.

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Tip of the Week, February 17, 2014

jico

If you are lucky enough to own a vintage Shure V-15 series cartridge, you owe it to yourself to replace the stylus with as SAS stylus produced by Jico of Japan.  I have had the pleasure of auditioning the SAS version  II, III, IV, and VxMr over the last several years, and none of them disappointed.  I’ve never had the occasion to compare them with NOS originals, but they certainly blow away any other Shure stylus replacement out there.  You can buy direct from Jico in Japan or at LP Gear here in the US.  Pricey…yes…but worth every penny.

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Tip of the Week, November 18th, 2013

Custom Drying Rack ;-)
Custom Drying Rack 😉

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is how do you clean (deep clean) your records. It’s an extensive topic with many opinions.  This thread at Steve Hoffman Forums is a good place to get started.  One thing I will add is that once I finally bought a record vac, I wondered why the heck I had waited so long; if you own a lot of “yard sale” records it is indispensable at getting them into playable condition.