When it comes to Listening Pleasure many High End afficinados believe that it is fine to have a good chain, including a table, cart and phono pre. They don‘t care about tweaks. It may sound easy and simple. They don‘t care and sometimes smile a little to the different experience others have. I call it Philosophy ONE.

There are some Audio Friends who swear on improving tools in the vinyl chain and believe it will bring an upgrade in their Listening Pleasure = Philosophy TWO.

From my 50 years experience in this field – don‘t think I am an oldtimer, I started early – I might add some inputs.

First of all, and this is the question I am always confronted with, „why do you need many tables, tonearms, carts and phono pres“? Ok – all tables, and I have and had DDs, belt driven and with the EMT R80 an idler drive which do have a certain signature as it is with the tonearms, carts, SUTs and phono pres.

But today it is about tweaks as there are e.g.:

– Washing machines
– Flattening tools 
– Tempering tools
– Demagnetizing tools
– Centering tools

– Headshells

On washing machines no one really rejects using one. But there are exeptions. When it comes to flattening machines you need them for used or old vinyl. Very helpful indeed as I can say from my heavy ORB DF 01E machine. It takes 2 hours, same with the AFI, and will show you a different looking record – flat!
No need to follow your needle tracking the groove through a valley & mountain movement.

Tempering a record with the AFI tool provides you with a calm and softer sound – I do like it.
Demagnetisizing with a Furutech, or in my case an Acoustic Revive RL-30 tool, is helpful too.

But on top of it I learned from my Nakamichi TT-1000 experience  that bringing the record in a really centered position by putting the record’s hole in the middle position, such not allowing the tonearm to move sidewards as the record stays in a fully centered position, it is the most important activity you may treat to your records. The DS ES 001 does do it.

Regarding headshells you have simple ones and those with parameters for changing the SRA ankle and height of the cart inside of the headshell. I am using the Arche 5D headshell.
When you listen for maybe the first time to a perfect SRA-aligned audiophile cartridge in a headshell which does preserve all the tiny details and transfers of your vinyl you will be surprised.

Of course you need a procedure for yourself doing it, and it takes some time! I assume in total you have a 25 -30 % upgrade for your Listening Pleasure. Really! Nevertheless you have to work on your vinyl. It is not unpacking and playing.

So you decide for yourself. You wanna keep the somehow “Lazy Guy Philosophy ONE“ or you better move into the „Position of Philosophy TWO“ ?

Btw. today the last (!) High End Munich starts…