Silence is a Flushing Toilet

Saturday

To Hell with iTunes I have been rediscovering my jazz collection on vinyl.

I found a replacement stylus for a Shure V15 mark3 that I've had for the best part of 35 years. It was originally in an SME 3009 on top of a Garrard 401 that sits in the lounge but I downgraded the cartridge about twenty years ago because I couldn't get hold of an affordable replacement.

Thanks to the internet I don't have to shop locally any more and I've found a source for a stylus. I've also been cleaning up an old AR XA deck that belonged to my Father and intend to put the current cartridge from the 401/SME into it today so that I can connect to the computer and transfer the jazz vinyls to cd.

The old V15 cartridge is back in the SME 3009 but only because my friend Raul is a wizz with the soldering iron. What should have been a simple job wasn't - the connector tags came off the SME headshell wires. It's a fixed headshell so the arm had to come out and then make the trip across town to the solder. Raul fixed it in no time at all. Must be good to be able to see properly.

The 401's spinning and the SME's set up again and the records are playing. Is it better than it was yesterday?

The simple answer is - I don't know. My wife says it's fine but all I can hear is the sound of a permanently flushing toilet in the background. It's what I hear all day every day and is nothing to do with the deck or the tonearm. I've grown to accept it over the years but it's a pig when you want to hear nothing but glorious silence between tracks.

Links that may be of use to others.

Stylus Supplies
Old Turntable Information
Mr Stylus
Phono Cartridge Alignment
Garrard Rebuild
Styli For Sale
Turntable System Setup
Vinylnirvana