Avis for Blue Note Tone Poet Series

Exciting! Have they hinted at any of the titles yet?

it's there as of november 30, 2022. not sure if was just added?

Well spotted. It’s odd though because when you look at the listing for that album it is listed as part of this series. It’s just not showing up on this list, which is weird.

Sleevie Wonder - Loose Fit + Seal Up Outer Sleeves fit perfectly. The only Tone Poet that is a little tight is the Coltrane 2xLP. I have been very happy with this company. They are super fast to reply to questions and throw in a few samples of other bags which led me do some return business with them.

As the TP covers are issued in a high quality, heavyweight, glossy sleeve , to my opinion you don t need an outer sleeve unless they are in a dj bag being carried around all the time , it is possible though to find outer sleeve which will fit , but they are not easy to find and most outer sleeve won't fit

Vinyl Styl outer sleeves. Although once in a while you can get a batch that will be too tight. I've bought maybe 6 packs of 50 and 5 were fine and fit Tone Poets, but one batch I had wouldn't fit.

I use the resealable ones from Sleeve City and they fit, although they are tight. The cardboard is such high quality I've never had an issue with a corner bending as a result though. And since I prefer sealable ever since I had a house plant leak water into some of my records from above, and since they put the sticky stuff on the flap so it doesn't stick to the sleeve when you take it out, it checks all my boxes. The oversized ones will be roomier of course. If sleeve city started making oversized and resealable, I'd probably buy a bunch.

I like the newer "Deluxe Oversized Ultimate Outer 5.0" sleeves from Sleeve City USA. Note that I'm not affiliated with them in any way, I just got some of those outer sleeves and they work best for these Tone Poet releases so far!

mwrobelsr5 has a pretty modern set-up compared to me. :)

The VM750SH Shibata is a fantastic cartridge for the price. It needs to be mounted on an appropriate tonearm, but more importantly, loaded with as low capacitance as possible. If your Phono system uses 12ax7 tubes for the input, and you use a MM cartridge, the miller capacitance alone, with the tonearm cable capacitance is almost always too much. This causes the higher frequencies in the audible spectrum will be boosted. I can provide references if someone wants to message me.

Because of this I designed and built my own phono amplifier based on an e88cc cascode topology. There are other solutions out there. If you use solid state then you are probably fine (but I bet your transient reproduction is lacking compared to valves/tubes).

I use a gray research 108 tonearm with a Nagaoka cartridge on a carefully restored Thorens 124 idler wheel turntable for stereo. For mono I use the same setup but with a mono stylus. Right now I am using a restored Fairchild moving coil... it is sublime.... I don't use any dampening oil on the gray research tonearm.

Low mass tonearms, tubular tonearms.... no thank you. I has them all.. and then sold them all.

Thanks for your response. My system and ears are fine, thank you. I’ve done the research, upgraded my stereo equipment and enjoy listening to my collection. My responses are to be helpful. The new Blue Note reissue series have brought new life to my jazz collection. It must also be noted that the Tone Poet series is a stand alone series, mastered for play on modern stereo equipment (it’s been said that RVG engineered records for modern stereo equipment of the 50s-60s). Keep spinning vinyl.

You don't have the system to judge which is better, sorry. Tone Poet is the best series around at the affordable price level.

Thanks for your input. The Audio Technica new VM series seemed to have everything I was looking for in a cartridge. Even the price is reasonable. Plus, my local record shop owner knows my setup and music tastes and suggested I look into them. Like I said before, everything worked out fine and I couldn’t be happier. Just trying to be helpful to people that may not realize their equipment is in need of some care and maintenance. I was naïve to the shortcomings of my own equipment! Kind of embarrassing, really. I’ve done all I can to my vintage Pioneer PL41. Now, it’s just a matter of keeping it in top shape. Good luck and keep spinning vinyl!!

werk91: oh I believe you. It is just not inline with my experience. I consider my setup to be on the 'high end''.... My setup is a: Pro-Ject 10 + Ortofon 2m BLACK + Project Tube Box DS phono stage(with capacitance control) and I gave up on Audio Technica years ago because of my bad experience. That being said, things might have changed with Audio Technica or perhaps I could find a specific AT cartridge that would please me. :).

Glad to hear that mwrobelsr5! The AT-VM95 is really tremendous value for money. I also keep a few spare types of styli around for the older and well used records. The E and C ones are great for hiding surface noise, while ML and SH I use for main listening on records in VG+ and above condition. My system isn't vintage and I've actually spent quite a few $$$ as upgrades to my turntable setup, and still the VM95SH performs fantastically, never out of place. I'm at that stage where a higher end cartridge would make sense logically and yet I am staying with it for now because well... it's just that good!
The sound that Shibata stylus makes is great on any turntable, but hear it on a $1k+ tonearm and it really is something else. Enjoy dude!

Sorry ktuluboy but it's clear your setup simply has too much capacitance. If you're over the 200pF mark then yes, the AT carts will sound too bright. If you can do something about that via phone stage settings or switching to lower cap phono cables you really should. Since you haven't really heard what those AT carts truly sound like until you hear them loaded with the correct amount of capacitance. I will repeat it again, MM carts are not simple to set up and require good knowledge of how they work and what changes their frequency response. In a way they're more sensitive to various loading parameters than MC carts! Your Nagaoka doesn't sound too bright because they are MI cartridge design and that technology isn't affected by capacitance as much as MM. I also like the general sound of the Nagaoka MP series but as far as tracking performance goes they are laughably bad. Only the MP-500 with its line contact stylus is on the same level as the ML or SH styli from the Audio Technica VM95 range. The rest give you simple elliptical stylus polished in different ways and stuck on different types of cantilever materials, but the fundamental shape of the cut of the diamond is exactly the same where you're using MP-100 or MP-300. Overpriced and overhyped cartridge series unfortunately. Ortofon 2M has some good options, but only when you get to the top of the line stylus options. And they're also quite pricey as their manufactured in Europe and they don't have the large market scale that Audio Technica has when it comes to producing the diamond cuts.

If you're after some proof that Audio Technica carts don't sound bright in reality, here you go:

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/better-cart-2m-black-or-vm760slc.789397/page-2

Thanks for your input. I did a lot of research and talked to my local record shop owner, who is also a good friend. Without hesitation, he suggested the Audio Technica line for my vintage setup. I looked at all of the available cartridges, including the two you mentioned. But, for me, considering quality, price and accessibility, the Audio Technica made the most sense. I was able to set up multiple cartridge/headshell assemblies for easy plug and play into my tonearm. The adjustable settings on my stereo equipment allows me to dial in and get the optimum sound from all of my LPs. I couldn’t be happier. Sounds like you also have a solid system that satisfies your needs. Good luck and keep spinning vinyl!

I can't stand the Audio Technica cartridge as I always found them way too bright. I will take Nagaoka and Ortofon 2M cartridges over Audio Technical any day.

If you're using MM cartridge by Audio Technica it is VERY crucial to make sure you're within spec for the total capacitance load (from headshell tags to phono stage input). If you're above 200 pF the sound will be bright yes. Audio Technica carts have been known for this for many many years. I also use the VM series, particularly the VM95SH and my total capacitance is ~ 195pF. No harshness or brightness here, just beautiful sound, top tier tracking and all for a low cost. The VM95 series are a godsend but you need the right environment for them to really sing. For eg. a phono stage that allows you to lower the capacitance load is pretty much a must. Mine is currently set to 0pF added capacitance since my tonearm cable is already with pretty high capacitance. Go to Steve Hoffman forum for more info about this and many other useful topics. Contrary to popular belief, MM carts are far from simply "plug and play" and still require careful thought and equipment matching to perform their best.