SHELTER 201 dismembered at the Dungeon
Posted: Wed Jul 28, 2010 10:48 am
As soon as I received a Shelter 201 birthday gift, I set it up on my system. I had been using a nude Denon 103R for a long stretch of time and my initial impressions were:
The 201 shocks with soundstage that is wide and deep. The Denon shocks with details and holographic imaging.
I listened comfortably to the 201 for 2 weeks but started to miss the Denon's strengths. Choral music was a bit "jumbled" and the midrange was too pronounced. The lower bass region was present but a little effete. Yet, in spite of its shortcomings the 201 is "human" while the Denon is on the "Technicolor" side. Is there a way to make the 201 submit to the Dungeonmeisters desires? Off to the Dungeon!
A Eureka moment: Turning lead into gold
After hours of gazing and toying with the cartridges, I finally stumbled upon a major problem of Moving Magnet cartridges. It was plain as day! Almost all MMs are designed to have user-replaceable needles. That means (dummy me) the whole stylus assembly is free to move. Taking into account mechanical tolerances, they can be very loose or very tight. It is not very consoling that even tightly fitting parts move on a microscopic scale.
Convinced that I was on the right track, I did "it" to my mint Shelter 201. I locked the replaceable stylus assembly onto the cartridge body by bonding it with tiny dabs of epoxy at strategic spots. For good measure, I also sawed off a large portion of the assembly carrier to remove cavity resonance.
The results?
Much, much better than I expected. The midrange hump, though not totally tamed, sounds glorious, does not run out of steam. The lower end comes off with more authority; dynamics and transient response much improved! The wide soundstage remained but has "moved" significantly forward. I surmise that this is a psychoacoustical(?) response to an increase in details which could tend to make sound sources seem closer.
The modified Shelter 102 has now replaced my nude Denon 103R as my reference.
I highly recommend epoxy bonding as a remedy for the Achilles' Heel of MM cartridges. This is specially useful for Shure cartridges where I have noticed many loose stylus assemblies. For the faint-hearted, use only pinhead-sized dabs of epoxy. It can be sliced off later with a sharp scalpel if you ever want to go back (which I doubt) to a loose stylus assembly!
In Gratitude:
Many, many thanks to my "Patron Saints" Chester and Squirrelnutzipper who unfailingly exhort and support me to do work which might benefit our Audio Community. They have very kindly loaned me quality equipment which has proved very helpful in doing my experiments. Merci, Gracias, Salamat po!
The 201 shocks with soundstage that is wide and deep. The Denon shocks with details and holographic imaging.
I listened comfortably to the 201 for 2 weeks but started to miss the Denon's strengths. Choral music was a bit "jumbled" and the midrange was too pronounced. The lower bass region was present but a little effete. Yet, in spite of its shortcomings the 201 is "human" while the Denon is on the "Technicolor" side. Is there a way to make the 201 submit to the Dungeonmeisters desires? Off to the Dungeon!
A Eureka moment: Turning lead into gold
After hours of gazing and toying with the cartridges, I finally stumbled upon a major problem of Moving Magnet cartridges. It was plain as day! Almost all MMs are designed to have user-replaceable needles. That means (dummy me) the whole stylus assembly is free to move. Taking into account mechanical tolerances, they can be very loose or very tight. It is not very consoling that even tightly fitting parts move on a microscopic scale.
Convinced that I was on the right track, I did "it" to my mint Shelter 201. I locked the replaceable stylus assembly onto the cartridge body by bonding it with tiny dabs of epoxy at strategic spots. For good measure, I also sawed off a large portion of the assembly carrier to remove cavity resonance.
The results?
Much, much better than I expected. The midrange hump, though not totally tamed, sounds glorious, does not run out of steam. The lower end comes off with more authority; dynamics and transient response much improved! The wide soundstage remained but has "moved" significantly forward. I surmise that this is a psychoacoustical(?) response to an increase in details which could tend to make sound sources seem closer.
The modified Shelter 102 has now replaced my nude Denon 103R as my reference.
I highly recommend epoxy bonding as a remedy for the Achilles' Heel of MM cartridges. This is specially useful for Shure cartridges where I have noticed many loose stylus assemblies. For the faint-hearted, use only pinhead-sized dabs of epoxy. It can be sliced off later with a sharp scalpel if you ever want to go back (which I doubt) to a loose stylus assembly!
In Gratitude:
Many, many thanks to my "Patron Saints" Chester and Squirrelnutzipper who unfailingly exhort and support me to do work which might benefit our Audio Community. They have very kindly loaned me quality equipment which has proved very helpful in doing my experiments. Merci, Gracias, Salamat po!