The great Break-In Series II
May 26 '07
The Bottom Line The Shure M97xE along with the TCC TC-160LC Moving Magnet/Moving Coil Phono Preamp are classic examples of high end component break-in!
In the past few years I've managed to assemble quite a modest sound system for our quite humble and modest computer room. If you were to tell me forty years ago when I broke into this hobby that my stereo components required a break-in period...I woulda told you sure and my dead uncle's gonna eventually leave me a million dollars! That's just how we old-timers perceived this new idea.
But when I purchased my Polk R-30 towers...the sound definitely became deeper and more refined with even greater detail after about forty hours. Then next came a new AudioSource AMP-100 with brand new Kimber Kable and along with it...a burn-in process of about forty hours again that absolutely astonished me!
Recently, two more purchases were added to the mix...a dedicated TCC TC-160LC phono preamp stage for eighty bucks and a Shure M97xE audiophile phono cartridge for fifty. Both have the word "Audiophile" stamped on them and both are exactly that in every way imaginable and more!
Here...the break-in period lasted over one hundred hours for the Shure as it definitely began to open up like a flower in the mids and highs but the end result is far better and greater than I ever anticipated. I could actually hear the burn-in process for both items!
I'm telling you this because I am about to write the most important and elaborate stereo phono cartridge report I've ever done and I'm both a bit scared and excited about the endeavor. It is a report that now is five full years in the making regarding a product that I knew was important while passing off at first as somewhat "ho-hum" but until now never realized its full potential. The other is just a recent great discovery.
As other enthusiasts discover how these little gems totalling a $130 investment make record playing so superior and fun when compared to just about anything the digital compact disc can offer...then you will see a whole new generation discovering a LUV for the vinyl LP as an older generation rekindles a flame and returns to what used to entertain it for hours on end. It's already begun!
Ladies and gentlemen...I give you two great "Analog" products for review...the stunning TCC-TC 160LC Stereo MM/MC Phono Preamp and the incomparable Shure M97xE Moving Magnet Stereo Phono Cartridge! The full review for both items will be up here on EPINIONS soon but I must say that never have I experienced low cost components the likes of these...like a fine woman such as my lovely wife {Happy Birthday, Regina!} and wine...they just simply get better and more refined with each passing hour!
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Epinions.com ID:
sam-pro
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Member: Peter J Sammon II
Location: The Bloomfield Burying Ground, USA
Reviews written: 218
Trusted by: 121 members
About Me:
Every once in awhile something great arrives at relatively low cost to you...Priceless!
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