Some cartridges and analog accessories
How goes your quarantining? Honestly, my life hasn’t changed much here. I’m locked in the basement as usual, happy to have a good audio system and overwhelmed by my musical choices. Other than minimizing shopping expeditions and wearing a mask, the biggest change in my life is a spike in requests from readers for upgrade advice. I’ve never been so busy answering reader emails.
Two months ago, I ran out of space while covering the unsubtle sonic improvements of the passive CAD Ground Control system. Now that I’ve lived with the CAD for another couple of months, I can render my verdict: I can’t live without it. After listening for weeks, I pulled it out of my system, listened for a few minutes, put it all back immediately, then wrote a check.
Inserting these passive boxes into the system resulted in a substantial increase in liquidity and tranquility, thanks to the removal of a layer of grit I didn’t know was there. I’ve told a few friends about the CAD system and received thank-you notes in return. I don’t know if the company offers a moneyback guarantee, but even if they do, be prepared not to ask for a refund.
In other news: Next month, I’ll revisit the fascinating Haniwa HCVC01 passive current-to-voltage converter (July 2020/Vol.43 No.7). I can’t do it this month because I’m reviewing cartridges that work best with more standard and familiar phono preamplification.
A NEW WALLYTRACTOR
When WAM Engineering’s Wally Malewicz passed away unexpectedly shortly after Munich High End 2018, the future availability of his excellent WallyTools, including the WallyTractor alignment gauge, seemed bleak. From what I’d been told, his son Andrzej—a mechanical engineer like his father but on an industrial, corporate scale—was interested but didn’t have the time or resources to do it
