AR Fans!

 

I've been trying to add this page for almost a year, and every time I go to work on this, everything gets crazy. So rather than delay a day longer, let me say this about David Archambault and Vinyl Nirvana.

 

David is the most dedicated AR guy I've come across, and if I wasn't buying and servicing AR’s myself, I would buy from him... honest, reliable, and quite reasonable.

 

If you need an AR table, buy it from him. If you want it modified, buy his MS (Merrill/Scillia) parts and have him or Sound of the Wood do the mods (seriously... David is good, and I ain’t doing this to get rich... it’s about the music).

 

If you want an ETL-1 mod though, I am the guy.

 

 

Below is my interview (by e-mail) with David (sorry Dave for the long delay).

 

How did Vinyl Nirvana come about?

 

It was really a matter of loving both Thorens and AR turntables.  Steve Clarke created his wonderful web site The Analog Dept for people who were into Thorens.  However, when I tried to find similar info on AR turntables, everything was scattered.

 

The problem, of course, was I had no website creation background.  I have a great friend named Andy Gagnon who I've known for almost 35 years.  Over the years, like most guys, we'd talk about doing this plan or that plan, but we would never follow through.  Well it happened that he was between jobs, and he also wanted to hone his web designing skills.  He started on a design based upon some color schemes and simple logistics I provided him.  What you see his really all of him, I just provided the content, and made a suggestion or two about fonts and such.

 

Once the site was up... that is when things really took off. People were so excited to have a place to go for info, and literally dozens of folks have sent me scans and photos since the site’s inception.

 

I think it was about two years ago I also decided to add a section dedicated to George Merrill and his work with both AR mods and his own turntable designs.

 

How long have you been involved with restoring and selling AR tables?

 

Up until five years ago, I was refurbishing all kinds of vintage equipment: receivers, turntables, tape decks, reels, speakers, etc.  However, what I enjoyed most out of that work was the turntables.  I think I wrote about this in my blog before… the turntable is really like a musical instrument in a lot of ways, and if it is out of tune, the music it is trying to reproduce will convey that.   I thoroughly enjoy “tuning” a turntable to reach its optimal sonic level.   Yeah, it’s also fun doing the same for other types of equipment, but not at the same level as the turntables, particularly AR and Thorens.

 

What is your favorite vintage table ( Thorens , AR etc. and model)?

 

My favorite table is my Merrill Heirloom MKII  in my main listening system.  This tables comes with the works of Merrill’s designs: motor pod, speed control, SS shaft, polymer drive platter, acrylic sub chassis and main platter, outer ring clamp, screw down clamp, spring equalizer, etc.  I have a Sumiko FT-4 tonearm on it with on-the-fly VTA adjustment.  It is currently boasting a Benz Micro Ace Low Output Cartridge.   I just never tire of the table.

 

To get more specific to AR designs, in stock form, well the ETL-1 is a gorgeous table, sonically and cosmetically.  I've had just three pass through my hands…two are pictured on the web site gallery pages.  With that table, AR really took their design to its pinnacle.   I've never listened to one in a modified state because the stock form is too wonderful to begin with.

 

In the Thorens line, I love the TD-126 MKII in its stock form.  I still regret selling that table about two years back.  I was in a financial pickle, and it had to go.  It was in pristine condition, and it came with a Nagaoka MP-11 Boron cartridge.  Wow, that table was so musical!

 

Now if you want to start talking modified tables, there is a special place in my heart for the Thorens TD-150 and the mid-80’s AR tables: the EB-101, ES-1, and The Turntable.  All of those tables are pure pleasure to modify, and really respond to the mods.  These tables all start with a basic platform that is very strong, and they possess a level of simplicity which allows just about anyone that can hold a screw driver and turn a wrench to upgrade them.

 

What is your favorite music style(s)?

 

I like just about all kinds of music, except modern country and most rap.  If you read my blog, you will see from my “Now spinning” choices that I listen widely.  As far as ownership, I definitely have more rock than anything else, but I have an expanding section of blues and jazz.

 

Do you think vinyl provides better overall sound quality than the current digital solutions (CD, SACD etc.)?

 

I don't subscribe to the opinion that vinyl is “it.” Yes, vinyl’s the medium to which I listen the most, but as an owner of a good quality CD player, cassette deck, reel to reel, SACD player, and fm tuner... I sincerely enjoy them all.   I have one particular recording that I like a lot... I've written about it in my blog... it’s called Count Basie and the Kansas City Seven.   I own that recording on four different LP versions, one cassette, and one reel tape.  Possibly just an homage to the great engineering of Rudy Van Gelder, all of them sound spectacular.  I only wish it would come out on SACD some day!

 

What do you think is it about vinyl that is so enjoyable? Beyond the Sound (engagement etc.)

 

That’s a complicated question and I've touched upon it in several blogs.  If you can imagine a pie chart, I'd divide the pie up five ways equally:

 

  • 1)  The magic of the needle extracting info from the groove.  Somehow, it does NOT seem so far-fetched to have a laser read music from a piece of plastic, but it is still completely miraculous that a tiny diamond can read music from information smaller than a human hair.

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  • 2)  The ritual of playing the record.  The removing of the LP from the liner, the brushing, starting the motor, the cueing up…all leading to the drop of the needle.  To me, it’s a comforting thing.

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  • 3)  The endless possibilities existing between the turntable and the record. Change the mat, it changes the sound. Adjust the VTA, it changes the sound. Increase or decrease the tracking weight….  As I mentioned earlier, the turntable is really an instrument.

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  • 4)  Reconnecting with my youth.  As I peruse my collection, it is literally like exploring a time line of my life: my Rolling Stones period, my Rudy Van Gelder trip, my Neil Young years, my Dylan infatuation.

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  • 5)  Not every LP sounds better than the CD version, but it’s definitely true in the majority of the cases.  I could use a bunch of esoteric descriptors here, but it all comes down to a trumpet sounds more like a trumpet, a piano more like a piano, etc.

Do you think the recent up-tick in the interest of vinyl is short lived or a short term fad, or do you think this market has sustainable growth? (will record companies re-emerge, as CD sales continue to plunge?)

 

I'm no expert in this area, but I think the aging of baby boomers is fueling the charge.  As retirement is approaching or attained, people re-discover their records and start searching the Internet for vinyl playback.  Most have the disposable income to invest in a table that was more than what they had in their twenties or thirties.

 

I also think the record companies realize that the LP (as opposed to the CD) is much safer in regards to illegal copying.

 

Thanks Dave, good luck in 2008,

 

Eric

 

 

SEND TO:  ericw44@aol.com