Upgrading (or is it called downgrading?) Linn Sondek from Linn Lingo to Naim Armageddon power supply was easy. My local Linn dealer (Shelley’s Stereo) took care of everything. Letting go of Lingo has turned into minor nightmare
Continue reading Linn Lingo Power Supply. Chasing the Ghost.
My recent efforts to restore Aiwa TP-S30 failed miserably! Before giving up on Aiwa Walkmans I decided to check if Aiwa later models are as difficult as their first one. HS-P202 MkIII looks beautiful and has decent specs, perfect candidate for restoration.
Naim Stageline is a joke of a phonostage, but when combined with Hi-Cap power supply it gains both in weight and in price points. Once I switched from VirtuosoWood MM to a MC cartridge, “Stageline N” went into storage and “Stageline S’ took its place.
For my cartridge, AQ 7000 Fe5 (made by Scan Tech = Lyra and periodically sent to Lyra for rejuvenation), “Stageline S” (470 Ohm load) is recommended. My first impression of AQ/Stage-S was that I should immediately revert back to Virtuoso Wood and Stageline N: sonically my Sondek became “dead”… Continue reading Upgrading Naim Stageline phonostage
Matured and well-nurtured obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) had pushed me towards Nakamichi decks. Beautiful TEAC A-100 was more than adequate for my needs of making tapes to be played through a boombox. But how could I miss the chance to buy Nak LX-3, and then LX-5? LX-5 was professionally calibrated for me by Willy Hermann, but LX-3 I decided to fix myself. Getting $100 Service Kit from eBay member revox-de was the first step:
A few weeks of pain and suffering resulted in a beautiful-looking (and up to specs) deck:
Continue reading Nakamichi decks and OCD – Orange Caps Disease