calibrating tapes on tcd-3014a.

[Redfox]

Hi all,
Well, today I recorded on a metaltape, and it sounded lousy, with loss of high freq, mumbeling and distortion. I took a crome tape, did the same, and it comes out just perfect.
I then trien another metal tape - like the first one.
I then trien a third, from another brand, and it came out equally sousy.

Hmm.

I digged into the manual, and tried to perform an adjustment to metal type tapes as per Tandbergs description.
Here I encountered some strange aspects:

- when I switch to 15Khz, the two ppm's do not show the same level.
- I adjust azimuth so it is as high as possible, still the difference between the two ppm's.
- I adjust Bias current for each chanel first on 15 Khz, not exceeding 0db on the upper scale as per description by Tandberg. Still a difference between the two ppm's.
- I adjsut the same on 315 Hz - same difference, and the two ppm's will not show the same as in 15 Khz signal.
- I return back to 15 Khz and adjust a little bit, to get them nearer the level for 315 Hz.
- I switch to 315 Hz, and adjust both ppm's to zero on the upper scale.
- back to 15 Khz, it is now needed to fine tune again, because of a new record level current.

I find this explanation from Tandberg rather inadequate, as it is not stated, if the ppm's should have the same level when adjusting bias, only told when adjusting receor level (left side adjusters).

I also find a slight channel difference, being a little lower signal in the left chanel.

I then tried to do a recording, with azimuth adjustment, with a cable directly from the cdplayer to the tapedeck. Here I found:

- a lesser channel difference than before, but possibly a very slight less in the left chanel.

- the ppm's are showing a little more, up to 3db, that I for sure recoredd to, as I never exceeded 0 db.
This is valid both on crome and metal tapes.

I swapped cables - no difference, I switched ends - no difference, I took a third cable no difference.

Any ideas and comements are most appreciated.

cheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

[Redfox]

I might add, that when I toggle between source snf tape on the 3014a, I can hear a loss in left channel, and a degeneration of sound as if bias is not what it should be, on both metal and crome tapes. Very strange. Juat a few days ago, I did not find this on crome tapes, of which I have recoded a few.

I will also add, that I have kept the tapepath clean at all times, bit not looked at it through a magnifying glass.

Question: are there a posibility that erasing 44 Denon HD-m/90 can destroy all heads?

edit: tried a few more times recording, and there is for surea loss in left channel, I have not encountered say one week ago.
Also I may add, that I tried listeing through two different headphones, and through loudspeakers, same thing.

Cheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

[tandberg]

Metaltapes are known to wear out the record head.
This will reduce the higher frequencies.
If it make good recordings with chrometape it's probably not worn (out) .

Mayby one of the experts know if you'll have magnetic saturation problems earlier in the recordhead when recording metaltapes.....just a thought.

My 3004 does not rec. metaltapes with so good quality as my 3014A, and my 3004 make better recordings with chrome than metaltapes.

What if you ''adjust after your ears'' rather than the meters ? May your meters have hardened grease, wich is making the respond bad ?

(ppm???)

[Ultralyd]

I know a guy that's an expert in allignment to the different tape formulations on TCD 3014.

His recordings are the very best I have ever heard no matter what deck.

I could ask him to join here and explain his procedure.

[Redfox]

Hi Tandberg,
I wrote ppm for peak programme meters, as they show peaks and are not ordinary vu meters, as I understood it.

Don't know, but I know that it have had around 50 playing hours before my time, which is second to nothing. I never heard of a tapedeck that got gorn out after further 44 metal tapes. by now all summed up to less than 180 hours in total.
Even my old beocord 8004 served for hours a fay with metal and crome tpaes (tdk) and kept it's sound.

Maybe there's another explanation, that the tapes did not survive rime well, and the crome tape I used, I just bought new two weeks ago.

Tomorrow I'll try the adjustment and recording by ear.
I know that the first owner only used BASF crome tapes.

Ultralyd,
Thanks a lot, that would be amazing.

Cheers,
jacques *reelspin*

[Redfox]

Question:
Is it possible to not having cleaned say some of the recording head propperly, to get the described effect?

I follow the manual, raise the heads by pressing stop, and clean. But the record head and the erase one as well is kind of partly covered by a little thing, so it could be this?
And how can I check this?

I will also add, that I use isopropylalcohol, and a cotton stick, or rather some.
Is it possible to destroy a head by using isopropylalcohol? I mean can it delaminate or something?

Cheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

[braxus]

I don't have any issues calibrating my 3014A deck. But then again my deck has been rebuilt. My tech likes to use acetone to clean the heads on this deck, but I've heard others not to use this stuff. The tech seems to think its safe. What ever you do, don't get acetone on any of the rubber parts. It will melt them.

When calibrating- I set the deck to 15khz. Adjust azimuth till a peak level can be seen on either meter. Once azimuth is done- I set the deck to 315hz. Then I adjust record current pots till both meters read 0db for the correct tape type. Once I get both levels to 0db, I set the deck back to 15khz and again adjust both pots on the bias current till both meters read 0db. You can confirm its all ok by switching back and forth between 15khz and 315hz and there should be no change in the meters which should be at 0db. Then go ahead and record. I set my levels to peak at 0db and no higher.

[Redfox]

Hi Braxus,
I do the same like you, apart from not being possible to adjust to reach 0 db with 15 Khz.
And the two meters show different in this 15 Khz mode.

I don't think I got it completely out of adjustment, as I heard a bad recording before I started, and the trpoble still is the same as before I calibrated.

I will find a magnifying glass and have a look at the heads later today.

Still maybe it is a lazy meter, that shows wrong (or two), and therefore I overload the tape with both bias and record current as well as not being able to adjust azimuth propperly. (it's meant to show as high as possible on the meters. and here thay also show different).

I know this sounds like a contradiction, as I wrote earlier, that I did a crome tape recording, and it turned out just fine. )so ???)

I don't dare to use acetone, as I heard it is too strong and can do damage. I always heard that isopropylalcohol is the thing to use, and it is what I also bought from AM Chemistry, marked as "tapehead cleaner".

When you adjust azimuth, are they the same on your deck?
And how high can you get normally?

Question: When you adjust after let's say the 15 Khz test tone, shouldn't hte meters read the same? (maybe I am wrong on this, but I can't help thinkng this, as the two chanels on the tape and the heads are parallel) ?

Cheers.
Jacques *reelspin*

[Redfox]

Another thought:
Does the dolby have to be turned off when doing calibration, azimuth etc?
I think Tandberg mentioned, that it automatically is off, no matter the position of the knob, when doing something in 15 Khz and 315 Hz mode.

Cheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

[Redfox]

Hmm, I cleaned the heads again, carefully with not too much isopropylalcohol, and the tapepath is as cean as I can see with my eyes.

When ready to record, this time with a crome tape (new), I looked carefully at the meters (ppm's), and they are not entirely the same, the left meter show a tiny but less. Now, I am recording, not exceeding 0 db at any time, and I'll report back. I took a rca cable I know to be working correctly, and connected it directly from cd player to cassettedeck. Although having a very high output, I turned the master level on the 3014a down, not coming into the red zone on the ppm's.

If I have "haning meters", what is normally done?

When I use the 15 Khx test tone to calibrate azimuth to say this crome tape, I cannot get them equally high, almost but not the same. I will have the right one on the little line between the "db" mark and the "0" mark, where as the left meter is not going higher than the "db" mark.

Also I cannot get the meters stable, they fluctuate a little (swing forth and back). Is this normal?
And should I instead concentrate on reaching an adjustment, where the needles are less high up on the scale, but more stable, and not moving?
This is not described by Tandberg in the manual.

All comments much aprecialted.

Cheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

Cheers,
Jacques.

[Redfox]

Okay, now I finished the recording, and here's what I found.

Tape being a brand new TDK SA-90 min.

There's a lack of high's compared to the source signal I get from the cd player, though not as much as when I use a metal tape.

I did not fiddle with the calibration apart from azimuth.

The meters show a recorded signal higher that I actually did. I know for sure I did not exceed 0 db on the upper scale, and when playing now, they easily jump up to +3 db.
How is that?

Cheers,
Jacques.

[Redfox]

Hi all,

Now I recalibrated for almost a whole 45 minutes tape length, and here's what I found.

For metal tapes:

- I can get the azimuth as high as possible at around 12:55 (o'clock)..
at this point of azimuth, I then read:

Record current: left 0db right 0db at 315 hz.

Bias: left 0db right 0db at 315 hz.

Bias: left 0 db right -3db at 15 Khz.

When I calibrate, the right channel is 3 db lower than the left.

When I record and playback, the right channel is 3 db higher than left.

If I calibrate, I can get Bias stable at -6 db in bith channels at 15 Khz and 315 hz.

There's no way I can get bias to 0 db in 15 Khz, but is doable in 315 hz.

When I then playback a recording at this setting, I cannot see the meters show what I recorded at. They are tyoically 3 db lower that they showed when I recorded.

The recording is having a little less highs and a little distortion, but not as much as stated earlier, before todays calibration.

There is a slight channeldifference, the right one being the highest.

For crome tapes:

I did not calibrate anything, as I did not want to mess it up even more.

I record at 0 db and no more.

When I playback, I read far more on the meters, typically +3db (on the crome/ferro scale).

There is also then an abnormal channel difference being higher in the right channel.

Meters show +3 db more in the right channel, than the left one.


Okay, so now I am pretty confused, as there is not too much consistency in all this apart from:

- left meter show more when calibrating, +3db

- right meter show more when recording/playback, +3db.

- channel difference is about 3 db.

- slight distortion, more when I use metal tapes.

- I can not hear any w&f at any time, with any tape.

- I tend to believe that the record head is fine, as I now have less distorion than yesterday. It looks shiny.

- I think the playbach is just fine, as it plays just great on previously recorded tapes.

- Tape path is clean. Don't have a magnifying glass or a microscope, though.

-Theory: meters are bad, and trying to calibrate, just brings even more channeldifference and ultimately overload and distortion??

I can't think of more to do for the moment.
Whan on Earth does this mean? I am about to run it over with my car, and forget the (big)loss of money.

Any comments/help/whatever in resolving this is much appreciated.

Cheers,
Jacques.

[tandberg]

I know the last one who worked at service, he says, and the service manual says, DO NOT USE ACETONE or other STRONG solvents.

The heads are laminated of several parts and vacuumimpregnated with epoxy.
Strong solvents may ruin this. Maybe the ferriteheadgaps are glass, but I don't
know how the shield between the tracks are bonded.

Do not use ballpen/rollerpen or whatever you call it doing editing either, it may scratch/chip the heads.

Can anything with this problems come from misalignment of the heads ?
I saw someone had erasingproblems, the erasehead have a ''fork'' wich you might call 'guide' and if someone try to grab a casette before 'release' it, or if the headbridge is engaging when a cassette is'nt in proper position it might cause misalignment. Maybe not of the erasehead itself, but misalingne the fork on the head. It's attached with a small screw and laquer......a little weak bonding.....

Redfox wrote : ''...... record head and the erase one as well is kind of partly covered by a little thing.....''
Erasehead have the fork/guide, recordhead not, not sure what you mean.

The Peak Reading Meters -wich is not VU meters- should have ''the highest, most stable reading'' the manual describe for other Tandberg TCD.

-Tried to adjust ''by ears'' -going a little down on the Bias, and might get better treble response ?

Don't run over it with your car, it won't increase trebleresponse, but you might scratch your car. I can send you my adress and I can dispose off properly. In Norway we throw electronic waste like 3014, 3001, 910 and other crap in containers like this http://www.miljostatus.no/PageFiles/662/eeavfall.jpg to save the environment.
I pay the shipping, and you never will see it again, nor scratch your car.

[Redfox]

Hi Tandberg,
A Tandberg product like this seems a little fragile to say the least

I only ever use isopropylalcohol and a cottonswap to clean anything tapepath related. Never anything else.

There's little guide pin sticking out over the record head, which I was referring to. And the fork for the erase head, which erases fine, no audible trace (except for a single side of one tape).

I never took any tape out without first pressing release.

It plays any other tape just great

Braxus described the meters reaching 0db. I can adjust mine so they are apprx. -6 db in 15 Khz mode, not in the 315 hz mode, where they reach 0 db as record current also do.

I took a peak around and I did not find anyone who can repair Tandberg, in Denmark. No spares, no servicecenter and no ordinary repaircenter. I will never ship it for repair, as it may be damaged

By "the highest most stable reading" do you reach 0 db?

Cheers,
Jacques.

[braxus]

Sounds like your deck may need servicing. PM me and I can give you contact information from a guy in New York if you want to send it out.

[Redfox]

Hi Braxus,
Thanks, I'll think about it. But I live in Denmark, and it seems a long for a tapedeck to travel two ways, especially if something happens, such as damage, theft, broken capstans etc, as I have been reading about.
But I'll keep it in mind.

Someone knows a Tandberg duper guru around these waters?

Cheers,
Jacques*reelspin*

[tandberg]

...Take the ferry to Oslo.*reelspin**reelspin*

[Ultralyd]

As I asked my friend to join in here to share his experiences with calibrating a 3014 (actually he own a TCD 910 but same procedure as my 3014A) he rejects.
He told me he was here and have no plan going back????

I'm sorry.

Sure I could tell you how I do, but that would just be like almost copy - paste from User manual.

And I can ensure that isopropylalcohol is the only way.
The other chemicals mentioned are destructive and very bad advises when it comes to cleaning tape path.

P.S.: I'm still looking for a TCD 910 if anyone know where in EU to purchase one.
Only mint condition will be considered.

[Redfox]

Hi Ultralyd,
Thanks for the answer. I am familiar with the manual, as I have the original, and did the procedure, but aparently it became not possible to adjust acording to the description, and the way it is described is a little vague concerning 0 db or highest point to which it is stable, and in the same time reaching 0 db on the lower frequency. but thanks for trying anyway.

btw I think I know your friend, and hope he can help you find a 910. Thanks for trying anyway.

So, does anyone here have experience with repairing these 3014/3014a and an experience of what goes wrong?*reelspin*

Cheers,
Jacques.

[braxus]

Hi Braxus,
Thanks, I'll think about it. But I live in Denmark, and it seems a long for a tapedeck to travel two ways, especially if something happens, such as damage, theft, broken capstans etc, as I have been reading about.
But I'll keep it in mind.

Someone knows a Tandberg duper guru around these waters?

Cheers,
Jacques*reelspin*

If you are on the AK forum- ask Dolph in the tape forum. He used to be a member here as well. He goes under Niklasdolphin or something like that. He should know where you can send the deck.

[jdurbin1]

I was thinking the same thing given he owns a 910, lives in Denmark, and has often stated he has expert tape deck service available to him.

Whatever you do though, don't ask about DIY service. He apparently equates that with devil worship, or practicing voodoo.

John

[Redfox]

Hi Jdurbin,
Thanks for the answer. I will try to see if I can reach him then.

How about your own 3014(a)? When you calibrate, are the meters equal in both chanels, both on 15 Khz and 315 hz?

have anyone seen a difference in the meters, like for example +2-3 db in one chanel (meter), also when the machine is turned off? That's what I have.

I now tried to clean everything again, and observed the following:

All prerecorded tapes play louder in right channel, and can be seen on meter (also when turned off...).
All homerecordings from other decks do the same, but only on this tapedeck, not on others).
All homerecordings from this deck plays an even more little bit louder in right channel.

This is tried on speakers, and two set of headphones, and I even reversed them, to make sure for ears, cables etc).

Can my calibration problems and therefor worse recordings be a consequence of wrong headposition, burnt out electronics in left channel or?

Cheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

[jdurbin1]

My 3014A is not overhauled yet. On the three 3014 decks I serviced, the meters were able to be matched thru the tape calibration process.

Meters on these decks that don't match at rest are almost certainly damaged. It's a common issue on the 3014/3014A. That's likely going to have an effect on the tape calibration too.

John

[braxus]

Both my 3014 decks have had bad meters. Yes it is a common problem. My tech took the mechanism (meter part) out of a meter from a 3001. Apparently those are reliable and less problem prone to failure. It seems to have worked since my 3014A deck- the meters work fine.

[Ultralyd]

Yep, my friends name is Niklas.
Not an easy person to relate to but I have known him since the early 80's.
And his gear is amazing. I've never heard better myself.

I paid many times what he did, but he just have some magic forces in matching and gets it slightly better than me.

But these days he is more into travelling and motorcycling.
I couldn't tell where to get to him but since you're danish, Redfox, what about the danish audio sites?

Anyway, my meters are at the highest stable level when calibrating Azimuth.

When it's bias and record level meters are at 0 and no difference L/R.
It's a process done back and forth over and over untill switching shows no difference.

Is this not possible, you are either working with a bad tape or your deck is defect.

I have "picked a number" in the line of TCD 910 interested people at the sources Niklas has but getting one of these decks are so hard that the more routes you aim at the higher the chance.
Lucky thing that it's not the TCD 911 I want. ;-)

[Redfox]

Hi all,
Thanks for the answers.
I have some news as to what the problem is.

I have reset the pots on metal position to their centre position by feel and a marked screwdricer.
Making another recording, there is now much less distortion, and the chaneldofference is much less.
Also I noted that the chaneldifference bacame less, actually a little bit the the left side.
This tells me that the recording current were not equally adjusted (done bu meters), and the same goes for the bias current.
So avoiding the meters I managed to obtain perfect channel balance.
And I managed to get the afore mentioned distortion much less.

I now took a look at a BASF CMII (new).
There was a little channel balance difference to the right.
I adjusted the left record current a tiny bit up, and voila, the crome position sounds absolutely great:
No distortion,
No channeldifference.
Juat great sound.

I will try the same on metal tapes this evening when I get home.

So there is progress.

I tend to believe that all the pots are totally out of adjustment (user error), and I have slow meters, apprx 2 db on the left channel.

The Danish ReVox expert around these waters uses white spirit to clean, but I chose not to make an attempt with that, I stick to isopropylalcohol.

Cheers with progress,
Jacques *reelspin*

[mang6669]

Hi all,
Thanks for the answers.
I have some news as to what the problem is.

I have reset the pots on metal position to their centre position by feel and a marked screwdricer.
Making another recording, there is now much less distortion, and the chaneldofference is much less.
Also I noted that the chaneldifference bacame less, actually a little bit the the left side.
This tells me that the recording current were not equally adjusted (done bu meters), and the same goes for the bias current.
So avoiding the meters I managed to obtain perfect channel balance.
And I managed to get the afore mentioned distortion much less.

I now took a look at a BASF CMII (new).
There was a little channel balance difference to the right.
I adjusted the left record current a tiny bit up, and voila, the crome position sounds absolutely great:
No distortion,
No channeldifference.
Juat great sound.

I will try the same on metal tapes this evening when I get home.

So there is progress.

I tend to believe that all the pots are totally out of adjustment (user error), and I have slow meters, apprx 2 db on the left channel.

The Danish ReVox expert around these waters uses white spirit to clean, but I chose not to make an attempt with that, I stick to isopropylalcohol.

Cheers with progress,
Jacques *reelspin*

Hi Jacques, Sounds like you are making really good progress.*Hi5*
I did not read through all of the posts,but if that Left Channel meter is hanging up there is hope.
I have been able to tweak the meters on some of my 3014's with great success.
Let me know if that is the problem,I can explain what to do .

Chris

[Redfox]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for posting.
I guess one may say they're hanging, as the left channel meter ´needle is lower than the right channel meter needle.

I have been explained on a Danish site, that the tape selector iften gets a lot of dust, and become faulty. Can be cleaned though. Will try that.

I guess one may also say that the meters are out of tune, because when I turned down the record current and the bias current as well, the distortion lowered.

I think this may be because if I tune the meters to indicate 0 db, they are actually overloading. Does this sound resonable?

I'll report back with what I find.

I would however, really like to know how the meter thing is redeemed. Please ;)

Thanks for ecplaining Ultralyd. I drive a motorcycle (Laverda SFC1000) as much as possible myself. Have done so since 17, now 43.

Metercheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

[mang6669]

Hi Jacques,
I will try to explain what I did to correct my meters that were hanging up,it was a couple of years ago.
You will need to open the deck up to access the meters to remove them,a couple of screws should release the bracket that holds them in place.
There should be enough slack in the wires to the meters to perform the sugery inside the deck.
Next you need to take the clear lens off of the offending meter,a piece of clear tape usually secures the cover.
Now for the tricky part-This is were very fine motor skills come in handy.
Notice the meter arm(needle) is attached to a very small spring,try not to let it out of the rear housing.
What you need is Two pairs of Tweezers ,one to hold the post that is between the spring and the needle and the other pair to gingerly bend the needle back into position.
Take note of where the needle is hanging up or rubbing before you dive in.
These needles I suspect are very sensitive to temperature,therefore could bend from extreme cold or heat.(Made the mistake of leaving a 3014 in my garage for a couple of years in storage)

Hope this Helps,
Chris

[Redfox]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the answer *bigthumbup* I get the idea.
I have a question though.

What is the correct point of the needles? (where should they point when turned off in relation to the meterscale)?

Needlecheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

[mang6669]

Hi Chris,
Thanks for the answer *bigthumbup* I get the idea.
I have a question though.

What is the correct point of the needles? (where should they point when turned off in relation to the meterscale)?

Needlecheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

Hi Jacques,
I just checked my 3014,3014A and TCD 910 they all seem to be just a hair below -20 dB

Chris

[jdurbin1]

+1 on that...

John

[Redfox]

Hi all,
Thanks Chris,

Here's some progress.
Today, when I came home from job, I ran towards the 3014a, and picked up a 20 year old Maxell UDI 90 minutes tape.
I selected tye 1 tape, adjusted azimuth, and turned up recording volume to 0 db.
Recording - monitoring - recording monitoring. No difference in high freq., no difference in level, no channel difference.
Finish the album, press stop + rewind 9 times + play, and viola it plays from start.
How did it turn out (I did not touch any calibration pots)?

Vila, it sounds very good. No distortion, no loss of highs, no channel difference. Just plain good sound.
Hmm... when playing back meters show higher level, than when I recorded: +2 db.

Now I can record and play ferro and crome tapes very well indeed.
I think I can exclude tapehead probs. I took a look at the heads with light and a big magnifying glass, and I cannot see any damage or scratches.

I now miss the metaltape adjustment, and I am on the way to hifi joy.

ferrocheers,
Jacques *reelspin*

[Redfox]

Hi all good tapeheads!
Here's an update.

I have now carefully (as I can do it at least), calibrated the deck to ferrotapes, crometapes and metaltapes. They sound abslutely good now.

The thing I found is, that I listened to the incoming signal and adjusted thereafter, only looking at the meters for the sake of it.

I have found the Denon metaltape HD-M/90 to be of inferrior quality, sounding worse and requireing totally different calibration, than any other metal tape I have. Still sounding worse. So TDK is calibrated as a point of start.

The other thing is, that I reset all pots to middle position, and the azimuth as well.
Only when azimuth was started from middle position, I could in extremely small increments, get the tapes to sound great, while monitoring the incoming signal as well.

Looking at the meters, and following Tandbergs description gave worse results, while trying to get the meters to show the same 0 db at all calibration settings.

Following my above mentioned procedure, I can get consistent results and now the meters is much closer to the way they're supposed to be, like described by others

Finally, I have found that very small adjustments in azimuth yields big differences in settings for recording current and bias current.
Therefore it is of paramount importance that first the azimuth is adjusted not to it's highest indication on meters (see further down), but to a lower walue, where they (the two meters) show the same more acurately.
Then the record current and the bias current can be adjusted.
From that posint very small adjustments on azimuth can be made to verify the adjustment on the other parameters.

All of the above was done without dolby (auto off).
All recordings was done with and without dolby (off/c), and no difference was found, that could point in the direction of a bad dolby circuit for example.

I am curious to hear, if anyone else do something completely different.

I feel that the meters may be a little lacking, and therefore the calibration is not precise using the meters only. In what direction they are supposed to be moved, and/or if they're just sticking, I cannot say, but I would surely be interested in having them checked and eventually calibrated, so the 3014a can excell possibly even higher.

The many functions of the TCD-3014a may come as a surprice for some, not using them all (the previous owner told me he had trouble operating it, because he simply forgot because he hardly ever used it), but I find it quite logic and simple to operate, incorporating all functions describes in the manual. For example the seek system offers more choices and is very very acurate, I would say on par with B&O Beocord 9000/8004 etc.

Now, it outplays my Denon DRS-810 so much, that I sold it (more so for the lower tier models), and the same goes for the Pioneer CT-91a, to a lesser extent though. I find the Pioner CT-91a a very capable deck soundwise.

I am now going to move the deck into the listening room, connect it with the best cables I have (not much) which is Tara Labs RSC AIR 1, to my Copland CD-palyer CDA-288 Mk. II s.e. and see the results.*hope*

For now, I will put on some leathers, and go start up my old Laverda since sun is out and 11 deg. Cel.

Thank you all, for a very good and informing debate *bigthumbup**Hi5*.

Cheers,
Jacques *reelspin*