USB DONE RIGHT: Two magic boxes that let computer audio ...

This multitalented designer
and entrepreneur has been
around for more years than we
can remember. His eponymous
Netherlands company is known for a number
of products, from phono cartridges (including
a stylus shape he invented) to electronics to
high-performance cables. Never afraid of
innovation, he actually made cables containing
no metal (he used carbon fibre instead).
One of his new “3T” hybrid interconnect
cables is reviewed in this issue.
Late in 2011, UHF’s Steve Bourke
caught up with him. He revealed the philosophy
behind 3T, but he began with everything
he had learned over the years about record
playback.
* * *
UHF: When you’re playing an LP, and
the stylus touches down on the record, what
happens to the record itself?
AJV: There’s a minor deformation
resulting from the displacement forces.
UHF: And is there a sharp rise in temperature
at that point?
AJV: A higher temperature, yes. I’ve
measured a temperature of five to six
28 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine
Rendezvous
A. J. Van den Hul
degrees higher than the environmental
temperature. There is some deformation
of the groove, but only for
mechanical reasons. There is no thermal
deformation.
UHF: So there is some distortion of the
groove?
AJV: But there will be restoration of the
groove shape, because the temperature
is far under that which would cause
permanent deformation.
UHF: Is that the reason that vinyl records
last as long as they do?
AJV: There are other factors. The stylus
must fit exactly in the groove. As soon as
you use a spherical stylus, there’s much
more a deformation, because the friction
is much higher.
UHF: Really!
AJV: The next step is the elliptical stylus.
The temperature rise is a little less than
with a spherical, but still. One that
doesn’t raise the temperature much is the
Shibata stylus. That’s because its cross
section is half circular, half elliptical.
There is another shape, used by some
companies, which copy the shape of the
cutting chisel. However, there is another
“but.” The angle of the stylus relative to
the groove is not exacty 90°. The result
is that sometimes the stylus moves up,
because it is squeezed by the groove
sides, or it is bottoming. The only stylus
that fits in any situation is still mine. Of
course some companies don’t want to
pay the royalty.
UHF: What is the most difficult aspect of
building a cartridge?
AJV: It’s the adjustment of the stylus
exactly in line with the position of
the armature. And as far as the structure
goes, it’s the fine tuning of the
cartridge — the cantilever at one end,
and the suspension and the rubber at
the other end. You have to be careful,
because there’s a magnification effect,
As the stylus moves up and down, he
top of the stylus must be in exactly the
same position as the 45-45 coil. You
have to do it by eye. You have to adjust
it for maximum response and maximum
channel separation.
UHF: It sounds like surgery. If you move
your hand too much in one direction or the
other, will the cartridge then be damaged?
Will you have to begin all over again?
AJV: If you are beginner, then yes, for
sure. I have very specific tools, some 40
or 50 of them lying around my microscope.
I have a number of tweezers, each
for its own job. I have magnetic tweezers,
non-magnetic tweezers, very precise
tools, each for a particular purpose.
UHF: Have you used the same tools
throughout your career?
AJV: I obtained them many years ago,
and I maintain their quality by polishing
them. For screwdrivers, I use a very
precise grinding stone, so that they have
the shape to fit perfectly into the screws,
so that they don’t slip and damage the
evironment.
UHF: These are tools you made.
AJV: Yes, because when you don’t find
what you need, you build it yourself.
Adhesives are very important too.
UHF: You use some special space-age glue?
AJV: I use Locktite 401. It is commonly
used for screws that are tightened, so
that they don’t come loose again. But you