"Lady Day," she was dubbed by tenor saxophonist Lester Young, a frequent visitor at Courtney's house on Harman Street in Berkeley, California. Billie is the godmother of Courtney and his siblings. Family photos taken with Holiday in the mid-1950s show the then 40-year-old singer relaxing and smiling with Courtney's sisters and parents. In another photo, Holiday holds her Chihuahua dogs Chiquita and Pepe, and Dorothy is preparing for the night she might spend in town.
In New York City, Courtney’s Upper West Side apartment is filled with cameras, photos, Sony PS-LX510 linear tracking turntables, and hundreds of records — many of which come from his parents’ vinyl record collection in the 1950s. Courtney asked me to evaluate the collection, which included Lou Mecca, Jimmy Raney, Helen Carr, and-of course, the rare 10-inch sides of Billie Holiday, as well as Cal Tjader, Lucky Thompson, Helen Merrill and the original 12-inch record press. Duke of Lington. The fingerprints that stain the surface of these discs may be Holiday’s fingerprints. I was stunned.
Billie Holiday is with Winston's sister and mother. Courtesy of Courtney Winston.
For me, these suppressed sounds from the late 1950s/early 1960s have something very special. Maybe it's vinyl composition, die structure, groove width and spacing. Whatever the reason, these 60-year-old records have a deep tone, depth and presence. In my opinion, even the reprints of today's most exquisite vinyl records cannot match it. (I believe this also applies to the original Blue Note 1500 and 4000 series LP, and explains some of their astronomical value.) Even if worn by fingerprints and fine lines, these vintage records still retain the power to fascinate listeners.
I brought Courtney’s records back to the bachelor’s shed in Greenwich Village and used my Pro-Ject VC-S2 ALU and Audiodesksysteme Vinyl Cleaner Pro machines to remove decades of dirt, grime and smoke-including Some fingerprints that may belong to Lady Day. I placed one of the 10" black discs on the Clearaudio Concept Active Wood disc and turned the aluminum control knob mounted on the top to "33". This is when the fun (and work) begins.
Clearaudio Concept Active Wood The original Clearaudio Concept turntable was launched in 2009, followed by Concept Wood in 2015, which replaced the original Concept's medium density fiberboard (MDF) base with a base made of constrained layers of Baltic birch. "Birch is denser and heavier, reducing resonance characteristics and background noise, increasing dynamic range and clarity," Garth Leerer of Clearaudio US distributor Musical Surroundings told me in an email. The Active version launched last year adds an on-board headphone amplifier and Class A MM/MC phono preamp. Active Wood also has a subsonic filter.
You can buy Concept Active Wood in two finishes-dark wood or light wood-as well as two Clearaudio tonearms and well-matched cartridges: Satisfy Black with aluminum arms and Concept MM V2 cartridges (package price 3700 US dollars) or use carbon fiber arm and Concept MC cartridge to meet CF, 4600 US dollars. Both tonearms are equipped with magnetic anti-skid controls and are hardwired via Clearaudio's Direct Wire tonearm cable. I received two tonearm/phono cartridge pairs.
Active Wood’s 16.5" × 14" × 5.51" structure contains a V2A stainless steel bearing shaft inside a sintered bronze bush running on a ruby thrust pad. The bearing shaft supports 2.25 lbs, 1.18" (30 mm) thick, Precision milling (by CNC) POM (POM) disc drive. The aluminum disc is connected to a decoupling DC motor built into the base of the turntable through a flat rubber band. (POM is basically the same as DuPont's Delrin-Delrin is a DuPont trademark-although the specific formula is different.)
According to the Clearaudio website, the POM disc has "heavy rims to increase the effect of the flywheel, providing greater speed stability." The plate has a bare, padded, textured surface; the density of the POM matches the density of the vinyl very well, which should allow the record to be acoustically coupled, especially when used with the Concept clip ($135) . Active Wood draws energy from high-quality wall warts.
Active Wood's design is simple and elegant, simple and generous, with a speed selector knob on the left front and a small volume control knob on the right front. It has a built-in Class A headphone amplifier. The most comfortable headphones with impedance are between 30 and 300 ohms. There is a ¼" headphone jack on the side.
Active Wood has a ground screw on the back panel, a pair of gold-plated RCA jacks (a pair of 1m long Clearaudio Smart Wire interconnects are provided; when purchased separately, it is $150/pair) and four small toggle switches. The first switch manages the subsonic filter (on or off), and the second switch provides a choice of low, medium or high phono preamp gain. The third allows you to choose between moving coil (MC) or moving magnet (MM) cartridges. The fourth switch sets the output: "Passive", for the external phono stage; "Active", using the internal phono preamp; and "Variable" to engage the preamp and activate the top-mounted volume dial. The 12V power socket completes the backplane array.
The Satisfy tonearm is designed by Clearaudio founder Peter Suchy and his sons Robert and Patrick. The Satisfy series tonearm is made of aluminum (except for the optional arm), including a two-part headshell, cue lever, tonearm ring, Counterweight and rear threaded arm tube. "Satisfy Black uses aluminum arm tubes," Leerer wrote, "while the CF arm uses woven carbon fiber arm tubes, which provide additional stiffness and lower resonance." Both Satisfy CF and Black tonearms use Swiss-made vertical and lateral bearings , Composed of polished tungsten steel tip and ruby thrust pad.
"This arm needs more time to accurately make the three contact points," Leerer said. "Satisfy mechanical bearings are very strict on cartridge weight, compliance, anti-slip and tracking capabilities, extracting more performance from a wider range of high-quality cartridges."
The Satisfy tonearm uses a magnetic anti-skid system instead of the usual suspension weights or coil springs, and is adjusted by turning a thumbscrew attached to the side of the tonearm base. The Clearaudio website describes it as "a precise magnetic anti-skid adjustment with gentle sensitivity and no mechanical interference."
"The magnet is inserted into the right side of the circular bearing housing of the arm," Leerer explained. "The right side of the arm is the thumbscrew, which contains an internal magnet that allows you to change the distance and the magnetic force between the bearing housing magnet and the thumbscrew magnet. The magnet in the arm bearing housing is located to change (repel and attract) the wing shape The position of the screw is used for the dynamic non-slip magnet." The well-written tonearm manual provides instructions on how to adjust the factory-preset little thumbscrew control. I did not touch any anti-slip settings on my arms. I do not need.
Type A concept active phono preamplifier is preset to 47k ohm MM cartridge and 110 ohm MC cartridge. This design uses JFET discrete transistors in the first and second gain stages, and no negative feedback is applied.
Clearaudio Concept Movable Wood Base The Clearaudio Concept Movable Wood is supported by three threaded aluminum horizontal feet with rubber domes. The best practice is to make sure that the supporting platform is level, and then tighten the "table adjustment feet". Nevertheless, if you need it, Active Wood has leveling feet.
The Active Wood speed (33.3, 45 or 78rpm) is selected by the smoothly rotating electronic speed control knob. "Smooth" is a term used to describe the operation of the Concept Active Wood turntable. Everything from the close-fitting packaging inserts to the half-moon rubber collars that hold the tonearm in the resting position is carefully designed and well thought out.
The tonearm finger lift is the best I have ever seen on any tonearm, better than the slender ½" screw-in arm lift on my Kuzma 4Point 11" tonearm. The 1" rectangular aluminum arm rest protruding from the Satisfy hood feels strong and sturdy. A small dimple on the top of the rear tonearm ring helps to align the tonearm, which is located directly above the pivot point. No guesswork! Clearaudio Concept Active Wood is user-friendly.
Log in or register to comment. It’s always nice to see a new table in the mid-range price range submitted by dc_bruce on June 2nd, 2021-5:54 pm, but it would be great if it is available without the phono stage NS. .. Appropriate price reduction. Log in or register to post a comment and I would recommend Volvic to submit Technics 1200GR on June 3rd, 2021-7:47am, and you can even play 78s. By the way, great reading, lucky people now have these historical records. A good mono cartridge, you are laughing. When will I be invited to listen? Log in or register to post comments. This version is available. Red99 submitted on June 8th, 2021-5:07am, please see here: https://clearaudio.de/en/products/turntables-concept.php Log in or register to post a comment. At least I don’t have to bend down Submitter June 2021 9th-tnargs at 5:59 pm At least I don't have to bend my poor mind around the concept of active wood! Log in or register to post a comment
But if it can be used without the included turntable stage, that would be great. .. Appropriate price reduction.
Technics 1200GR can even play 78s. By the way, great reading, lucky people now have these historical records. A good mono cartridge, you are laughing. When will I be invited to listen?
See here: https://clearaudio.de/en/products/turntables-concept.php
At least I don't have to bend my poor mind around the concept of active wood!