Hi Tom,  I've been waiting until I had a break in my schedule, and this Sunday afternoon is it.  When I started to re-master the 540 "Family Theater" Mutual radio shows in October of 2000, they were good enough to supply me with two Esoteric 16" turntables, and I scrounged around for two PC's to use for digitizing.  I used the Disc Doctor's brushes and solution to carefully clean them before digitizing, and the results were very good.  As some of the department heads have called them, "Crystal Clear".   So, because of the discussion of the Esoteric turntables, I went back and checked one of the earliest I did, F.T. #11 "Ernie's Day" 5-1-47.  Now, I must admit to a little tweaking on listening to the file, realizing that, as good as those first files sounded, I then listened to them on audio systems that were good for the time (Cambridge Sound Works), but it wasn't until I got a pair of Sony "Studio Monitor" MDR-7506 earphones (both listening
 devices which I still use) that I could really hear all of the hum, and clicks and pops, etc.  So, I'm going to send the file to you using WeTransfer, so that you can hear that the Esoteric 16" does a very clean bottom end, and good tracking using the Stanton 500 MK II cartridge with a D5127 0.7 mil spherical stylus.  Being a Catholic organization, the broadcasts had a bit of a "message", but very broad based and ecumenical.  The illustration of that was the slogan used on many of the shows, "A Family That Prays Together, Stays Together", and the many Hollywood actors and performers of different "persuasions" made them as good as they were/are.  I hope you enjoy it, Tom, and I'd be glad to share it to any others of our group that are interested.  For it to continue on Mutual through the '60's unsponsored meant that there was a considerable audience out there even though the networks used similar unsponsored broadcasts to fulfill their public
 service requirements of the time.  I only remastered 540, since later on they did reruns to finish the series.  What blew my mind was that the show went on every week through those early years without a break as a live production with a live orchestra playing the music cues.  The talent was in more than the actors.  Harry Zimmerman ended up doing most of all of the later scores, although Meredith Willson wrote the music for a few of the early shows.  I still get a kick out of hearing them


________________________________
From: Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Turntable Recommendation ?


As I said previously, I know of the Esoteric 16" turntable used successfully for radio transcriptions. In those cases, it was not a big deal to use DSP to remove the considerable rumble (which may well have come in large part from the source cut).  If I had a music laquer or very high-fidelity transcription disk, I'd probably send it to someone with a higher-quality playback system. A well-working Technics SP-15 mounted properly in a custom rig with an SME 16" tonearm seems to be excellent, based on the results a fellow listmember has demonstrated using such a system.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- From: "Roderic G Stephens" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 12:47 PM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Turntable Recommendation ?


> I wrote previously:
> "I've had an Esoteric turntable for a number of years and find it to be quite trustworthy and sturdy as well as producing great sound for the three speeds and types of disks. The Rek-O-Kut CVS-14 is the current version of it, since it's been sold under various names. This is one of the major vendors:
>
> http://www.esotericsound.com/turntable.htm"
>
> I was wrong. My Esoteric is a 16" capable turntable, so I would guess it's comparable to the CVS-16.
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 3:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Turntable Recommendation ?
>
>
> Hi John:
>
> The SL-1600 was less robust and was a fully-auto turntable. The MKII version has a known issue with one of the little belts in the automatic mechanism. I think most of us who transfer grooved disks in a semi-pro or pro environment want fully manual tables and want a very robust build. The SL-1200 models offered all of that. KAB's mods make them excellent for 78 transfers. I really think the fluid damping is key since many 78s you find these days can be warped or were pressed off-center in the first place. The fluid damping stops some of the tonearm jiggle so it can track at a reasonable weight and stay in the groove.
>
> Shai is right about the EMT tables having lower rumble specs. But they cost a fortune and are complex and don't have a reputation of being indestructable like the Technics 1200's. I've found that you can lower the rumble spec on your Technics by first of all making sure you're using the heavier rubber mat (which was standard on at least the MKIV and MKV models) and more importantly using a spindle clamp like what KAB sells. Regarding rumble, it's also worth noting that _many_ "golden era" records had rumble baked in, also audible hum and of course extra hiss from the tube cutting electronics. The baked-in noise was much less in the era after Neumann took over and dominated the lathe market, but Neumann's automation parameters led to either timid (too low overall level) or dynamics-compromised cuts by too many engineers. Some guys figured out how to push the envelope with dynamics, and apparently passed this on to the modern generation of cutters. That
> said, the modern way seems to be use a lower overall level, allowing "safe" headroom for the automation, and then press on super-quiet vinyl. That works, too, but makes the rumble spec on your turntable more important since you need to then playback at a higher overall level. In other words, the s/n onus is now more in the playback stage, as was traditionally the case with European cuts. "Golden Age" American cuts tended to concentrate on maximum overall level while still accomodating dynamics (or not -- ie AM radio singles). The reason was that pressing would inevitably be on noisy vinyl. Even prime-era RCA Indianapolis vinyl is much more noisy than typical British, Dutch or German pressings of that same era. And every other company's US plants produced noisier records than RCA. Columbia massively improved their vinyl by the late 60s, but then were going with paper-thin records so the flimsy problems replaced the noisy problems. I have never heard an
> LP, pre-1970s, from Mercury, Atlantic, Capitol or US Decca/ABC/MCA plants that isn't on relatively noisy vinyl. Mercury's Richmond IN plant was the worst offender, followed by whatever plant Atlantic used.
>
> -- Tom Fine
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Haley" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 5:18 AM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Turntable Recommendation ?
>
>
>> You're right, Ellis. It's the CVS-16, not 14. And I see the not-great wow
>> and flutter spec. I haven't noticed that because I use it only for 78's.
>>
>> Looking at the wow and flutter specs for the Technics SL-1600, it says it
>> is .025 (the SL-1200 is .01). Other than this, I wonder why the SL-1200
>> models are so preferred over the SL-1600 models?
>>
>> Best,
>> John Haley
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Jul 25, 2013 at 4:21 AM, Milan P. Milovanovic <
>> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear David,
>>>
>>> just to put some correction here: there are no such thing as Technics "DJ
>>> model" turntable. If it is talk about SL-1200 it is model fully developed
>>> as part of their Hi-Fi program, and later accepted by DJ community because
>>> of its solid, almost indestructible built.
>>>
>>> Best wishes,
>>>
>>> Milan
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Seubert" <
>>> [log in to unmask]>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 11:41 PM
>>>
>>> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Turntable Recommendation ?
>>>
>>>
>>> If you can locate a Technics SL1015 R&B (Radio and Broadcast) you might
>>>> consider that as a step up from the Technics DJ models. We bought a used
>>>> one last year for a little over $1000. It's three speed and pitch is
>>>> adjustable in .1% increments.
>>>>
>>>> I had unlimited money, I'd buy an EMT 950.
>>>>
>>>> David Seubert
>>>> UCSB
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
>>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]**GOV <[log in to unmask]>] On
>>>> Behalf Of Tom Diamant
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 24, 2013 10:54 AM
>>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>>> Subject: [ARSCLIST] Turntable Recommendation ?
>>>>
>>>> The three speed turntable of the Arhoolie Foundation has died and I don't
>>>> know if it's repairable. We're looking for a good replacement.
>>>> Here's what we need.
>>>> 1. Three speed
>>>> 2. Variable pitch
>>>> 3. Sturdy (we use it every day, all day long) 4. good specs (low rumble,
>>>> low wow & flutter) 5. Although we have yet to have a use for a turntable
>>>> that can play 16 inch transcriptions, it perhaps might be something we
>>>> would look at.
>>>> 6. Not insanely expensive!
>>>>
>>>> I'm sure many of you know more about this than I do, so any recommendation
>>>> would be appreciated.
>>>> Tom Diamant
>>>> Arhoolie foundation
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
>
>