longtime forum lurker, first time caller.

[Thermionics]

Man, I get blamed for a lot around here!

Look at you acting all surprised and innocent.

 

[oldhand]

yeah, it's a truly insane turntable and it was quite a mission to acquire! i bought it from 'two good ears' stefano (@Redboy this was your fault for telling me bout the sale!!) who sent it from italy to holland to get a complete overhaul by jaap pees at hanze hi-fi who also built me the custom US power supply.
i've been a dj for about 20 years and had listened to everything on technics 1200's before my 'hi-fi journey' started. the quest kicked off in belt-drive world with a thorens 160 and then a michell gyrodec. loved 'em both but the garrard 301 i bought from nate turned me into an idler maniac.
in the idler world, to my ears and in combination with the rest of my chain, the emt is king and you'll have to bury me with this 930! (well, until i can find a 927...ha!)

Besides a larger platter what are the main differences between the 2 models? Always been EMT curious

 

[joyofatoy]

Besides a larger platter what are the main differences between the 2 models? Always been EMT curious

the 927 is gigantic! bigger platter/motor...sized for a 12" arm like the emt 997...supposedly 'more' of all the 930 has.
i've only heard one once, sounded killer but it was on a system that i wasn't familiar with so i wont clog the internet with a comparison that isn't properly researched. it LOOKED amazing though, that i can promise!

 

[opa1]

Welcome @joyofatoy ! Nice set up!

 

[MrEd]

Welcome.
Anyone with two Schick arms can't be all bad....
Great gear and tons o vinyl. Love it.

 

[ICTWoody]

I like where your head is at! That’s some great stuff. You’re going to fit in here just FINE, @joyofatoy!

- Woody

 

[Tedrick]

Very nice rig . Welcome, and hope you enjoy your stay.

 

[old_borg]

I've got to congratulate you for assembling a comfortable space. From the looks of it, you've got that perfect density of things that's full and not stuffed.

Oh, and I'm sure it sounds incredible.

 

[joyofatoy]

whoa! thanks for the warm welcome, everyone!
yep, it's sounding very nice over here these days. i went thru A LOT of gear over the years to lock this in...the mcintosh stuff, sophias, and turntables mentioned above plus spu's, koetsu's, jelco, ortofon, sme, khorns, cornwalls, 604's, omegas, leben, line magnetic, 45 SETs, 2a3 SETs...and more!
once i get this vott build sorted the only major thing besides maaaaaybe moving up the shindo preamp line that's left on my bucket list are a pair of 755a's to mess around with...someday!

 

[Ski]

Welcome to the cool site. Very nice looking system and room.

 

[billfort]

Welcome! Beautiful system; I'd love hear the Shindo Altec combination, and suspect that really could be an 'end game' place to be.

 

[gable]

Welcome to the Haven!

You have assembled quite a lovely collection of gear, and as @gavcnew said, a wonderful space as well. Well done!

 

[ICTWoody]

Besides the Werner networks, what other mods have you done to your Valencia's, if any? How tall are you stands?

- Woody

 

[joyofatoy]

Besides the Werner networks, what other mods have you done to your Valencia's, if any? How tall are you stands?

- Woody

the stands i made are a foot high bringing the horn roughly to ear level from the listening position.
i used belden 9497 for all driver/woofer wiring 'cuz i'm a shindo nerd and i swapped the 806a stock drivers for 802d's that i had laying around which (to my ears/in my room) gave me more detail up top.
this is the 3rd pair of valencias i've had over the years and this combo is definitely the best i've gotten them to sound so far.
i REALLY like these speakers!

 

[jt23]

@joyofatoy Late welcome from a fellow Angeleno! Found this thread idly searching for mentions of EMT gear. Beautiful setup you have there.

Look forward to reading about your multicell Altec project.

 

[joyofatoy]

@joyofatoy Late welcome from a fellow Angeleno! Found this thread idly searching for mentions of EMT gear. Beautiful setup you have there.

Look forward to reading about your multicell Altec project.

thanks for the kind words! the giant altec build is getting really close...i hope to have something to report late next week! 'til then...

 

[joyofatoy]

hey gang-
VOTT update time!
after a few months of cabinet bracing/dampening/port-cutting/painting etc + horn sled-building + driver (288-16k) & woofer (416a) re-mag'ing...the final pieces of the puzzle have arrived-- a pair of hiraga-style crossovers beautifully assembled by pete riggle (who is a GREAT guy to do business with!).
gave everything its first test drive last night and the results are already frighteningly good.
i never understood the fuss about 'horn shout' that's often attributed to my valencias (which i love) since i had no real larger multi-cell altec experience to compare it to.
ok, noooowww i get it! these 1505b's are sooooo smooth. it's insane.
i'll be jumping into full tweaker mode for the weeks to come to see what more i can pull out of these-- (my biggest thought so far is maaaaaybe things could use a touch more up top-- anyone have any super tweeter thoughts/recommendations?)
regardless of how the weeks to come play out, i am already very, very happy.
a big thanks to everyone who helped me out along the way! this one took a minute!!
-

 

[rogerfederer]

insanely cool!

 

[Audionut]

Wow!

 

[MrEd]

Fantastic, I know how good my 416 805b combo is, so hats off to you.
It look great too.