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CUSTOMER FEEDBACK

Over the last few years, I have read many very positive comments about the work of J7 (Johnnie7) . Through many years of experience I have learnt not to buy anything based on write-ups, however when I took a gamble on buying a Source turntable which came with an Alphason Xenon arm, my first thought on getting it home was to contact Johnnie and find out about a rewire. Having had a really helpful chat, I ordered Kondo internal wiring and cartridge tags, and then decided that as I had a pair of Audio Note ANv interconnects, could these be used as the external cable? This was no problem and within a few weeks the rewired arm returned, he had also made me a finger lift and a new anti-skate weight.

But it is not only the quality of the work that amazes you, but his level of customer service is something to behold, nothing is too much trouble, no question too stupid (and some of mine, may well have been). I subsequently bought a Technics SP10, and without hesitation, I called Johnnie to talk through a 12” PU7, once more the attention to detail and passionate customer service. When my arm arrived it looked fantastic, the brass arm blending in with the Iroko hardwood plinth I had made for the SP10, and was spot on for the Audio Note Io1 cartridge which I had the arm matched to. If you are thinking about tone arms think Johnnie 7 at J7 Rewires!

ROGER LOODMER FCA

Maisemore Associates Limited
Business Turnaround Consultancy

“I found J7 Rewires casually in the web and I really surprised of the Johnnie’s works.
I sent my rega RB300 for a complete upgrade: internal and external rewiring with cardas connector 5 pin din, rear end stub and counterweight, polishing of the tonearm..

Well, my Grado Signature wood now sounds wonderful; I never heard sound my vinyl’s so good.
Johnnie is a great artist. In the next future I’ll sent to Johnnie a Rega RB250 for another wonderful upgrade.
Thanks for this grace; this is the state of the art in a tonearm for my opinion.”
Gabs from Italy

 

 

Thank You Header

Hi J7 Just to thank you very much for the work you did on the RB300. It has now settled in and sounds fantastic-the detail from the bottom to the top is amazing and it is all done without any grain or strain.

The combination of the mods done by you, silver wires, head shell weight and counterweight have taken this arm into a new league.Years ago I heard a SME 20 turntable with a Koetsu cartridge-because of the years I cannot make a direct comparison but I am very much reminded of that sound when I listen to my modded arm- as I say  huge detail, wide frequency response and soundstage but without any strain whatsoever.I am happy to recommend your mods and workmanship to those seeking a major improvement in the quality of the sound from their vinyl setup. Thanks again!You will have to let me know the outcome of the tests for the damper pot.

Best regards Martin

Dear friend,

So what can I say…I am truly truly overwhelmed with amazement and excitement…The arm is so gorgeous that it should better be kept under a glass and I will probably first admire it for a few days before I take a deep breath and think about mounting it on the deck. You are far too kind about my English and all the compliments, I do not find the words to describe how I feel after all those e-mails, your generosity and attitude, I will just say that if you wanted to make me happy you already did because I was looking for a good arm and I found much more. For me, interaction with people is a source of happiness as much as music, and the experience I had with you is something that has not happened for a long time. I found someone who has profound knowledge in a field that I find fascinating, and you are a true professional. But most of all you made me feel safe and relaxed, you gave me the so rare feeling of talking to an honest friend and this is not a thing that happens every day. I do not know what to call it or how to describe it but I feel as if I have known you all my life. I am not surprised that most of your customers feel like friends, you have the rare gift of making people happy, one can feel the love that you put in your work and that is what music is all about-love and friends, and you combine both. No words to truly express my feelings, just a big THANK YOU.I will probably write more when I get the arm but you can be sure that you have a very special place in my life and the arm will be kept and never sold, nor any of the weights. It’s more than just an arm now, it’s a gift from a friend. And you never sell these… Thank you, Sir, with all my heart…Nikola

BOOSTER OIL KIT
Can something as simple as the spindle lubrication make a difference to the sound?Yes it can.I must confess that I was slightly sceptical of whether this modification would work. That said, I wanted to give it the best chance to prove itself. Some of you may know of my recent turntable saga, which started with trashing my Roksan Shiraz cart and ultimately led to a Cardas tone arm rewire (a splendid job by Audio Origami on that and the cardas plug), converting to 3.5mtr balanced inputs from the tonearm to my World Audio Design Valve Phonostage so I could accommodate wall mounting my turntable on an adjacent wall. I’ve waited a few weeks to let everything settle and allow myself to get accustomed to the sound before getting round to doing the oil. Ideal opportunity tonight as Wife and baby are away for a couple of days.

What can I say?Subtle it is not, at least not on my system. I reckon I’ve got a pretty good system buy most people’s standards, gives me plenty of detail. and before tonight I thought I was getting lots of detail from my vinyl – lots more since I wall-mounted the Orbe’d Gyrodec. and that’s taking into account running nearly 3 metres more tone arm cable than before.So what does the oil do?In a nutshell it lowers the noise floor to the point that there is so much more detail coming through. so what happens in effect is that the dynamic range increases. substantially. I’m listening louder than before – because I can. the background surface noise is so much less intrusive. so I’m finding that I’m compensating by turning it up a bit to hear the familiar vinyl surface noise, which is barely audible. Analogue recordings are obvious, even modern ones. I’m currently spinning Emilana Torrini’s fisherman’s Woman LP. it’s a 45 RPM as well and the tape hiss is audible behind the music (just) even without headphones.

The Gyrodec/Orbe’s strengths lie in it’s bass, IMO, and also its weakness – the bass ‘bloom’. the way round it is well documented on the web – to decouple the arm board from the Mickey-mouse ears with sausage-shaped loops of blutac on the top and bottom of each armboard spacer or get the Gert Pedersen Arm board mod which does the same thing (it was renewing the blutac that caused the demise of my shiraz). The Audio Origami oil tightens up the bass even further, by orders of magnitude. more focus as well as bass detail, but never overpowering. The treble is sharper too. closer to the crystal clarity normally associated with CD but still unmistakably vinyl.One obvious side effect is that any scratches are accentuated a bit more, as are pressing defects. It’s just as well that the belt drive and motor slow the platter down when the motor is powered off, otherwise I think I’d still be waiting for it to stop spinning next week.

If you haven’t already got some J7 Rewire’s Oil in your turntable’s spindle, you’re not hearing the full potential of your turntable and vinyl. It’s that simple. it takes a few minutes to do, but be warned, you’ll be up all night with vinyl strewn everywhere…kennyK (booster oil)

Hi john, Well it’s a month or two since I last had the chance to hear my Garrard but been listening to it all day – it sounds fantastic with your arm mods. Really very VERY happy with it. It’s really opened the sound out, sharpened it up, and firmed up the bass! It’s a Garrard on steroids now – haha! I found the earthing lead was mandatory on my 301 – I attached one end to the underside of the chassis and the other to the earth terminal on my Creek phono stage.

Thank you again for the transformation to my RB250 – it’s still looking great as well of course!
John Mays (Hi-Fi reviewer)
RB-250 strip and polish and rewire with cardas

Dear Johnnie,
The black beauty has arrived today. This is a stunning arm far and way better than my best expectation. Your pics didn’t give it justice.

This is the finest present I ever received from a friend. None friend of mine has never made as much as you for me.
I’m proud to own a masterpiece of yours.
“I OWE YOU NOW!!!”
I want to do my best to help you by CNC software if you need it again.
I reserved to you all my free time now.

Your behaviour confirms me you are a great just man, deserving full confidence.
Excuse me if I was diffident but, living in Italy, I learned to be very cautious and suspicious.

Unfortunately, cheats are everywhere in my country… and I’m not used to know fair men as you.
Thank you very much again for your FANTASTIC WORK!!!
Lorenzo

Hi John, Early indications on the sound: BRILLIANT…!!! I had no idea any arm could sound so good. In the past I have used an Incognito rewired RB300 which I thought was quite good: but this arm leaves it dead in the water.I haven’t listened to it a great deal yet, but I have heard enough to realise just how good it is. Every aspect of the sound is improved dramatically, from the bass all the way through the mid-band to high treble. I have genuinely heard things on records I have NEVER heard before. What is really amazing is that the difference is noticeable as soon as the stylus hits the groove, even before the music starts. It is difficult to describe why this is the case, but it most definitely is. I think there is an inky blackness and a solidity of nothingness that was never there before. When it starts the music just comes from nothing. There is no vinyl roar or swooshing… just nothing…and then the music starts.I have been using my Benz Micro Ace cartridge and I had no idea it could be so good. Previously it was OK, but a bit on the ‘warm’ side with a ‘full’, and I think slightly bloated bass; it also seemed to lack some sparkle at the top end. In this arm, however, it is totally transformed. The bass is amazing (people who think a Sugden A21 doesn’t do proper bass, should hear this), the mid-band is still warm, but now with tons of detail and the treble is really smooth, but also with levels of detail hitherto lost to me. Some records sound surprisingly different with all these levels of added detail. What have I been missing all these years?

So far I have only tried the arm with the ‘decoupled’ weight. I will try it with the others to see what difference(s) they make.

So these are my first impressions. I shall listen further and let you know how my listening experiences progress: and I’ll then send you the photos of the arm mounted on the Spacedeck.

‘bye for now, and thank you so much,

Roger

(Booster oil kit) – Yes, I got an Oil and everything else as you promised. I have to admit that your oil does wonders!! I just completed Lenco 75 modification project, building the plinth, changing the Tonearm, silver wiring… etc. A big part of it was to be able to clean the old oil and replace it with a quality one. Let me quickly update you on the results of my small experiment. I have done a simple test measuring the time or how long it would take for the platter to stop spinning after I switch the tt off. Results are: On the 78 rpm, before the oil change tt kept going for 34 sec. After I changed the oil, using the same settings, tt kept going for over two minutes. This is almost 5 times better. Use them as you wish, also feedback.Keep me posted. Regards, Mik

Mayware Tonearm Repair

Hi John,
Had a good listen to the arm and set up the thorens properly sounds good suited to jazz, acoustic best I think not very convincing with rock. Would that be right don’t think the ortofon is suited though as a mc would be better with mm as it’s a high compliance arm is that right. thinking about rewiring rega next what rewire options are their cardgas I know but how’s that with rock? have noticed vocals sound really good with mayware. Anyway, anuff waffling see you soon.

Cheers, Paul

Bloody hell you’re good!
You quoted a very small amount for repair – any chance I can get some cartridge nuts & bolts + an alignment protractor, please?
Many many many thanks for all your work on the arm, I shall let it be known that you are THE man for repairing / rewiring tonearms!
Thanks again , I’m very grateful , James.

(RB250 rewire)
Hi j7,
The arm arrived at 9.30 AM Tuesday and it looks superb. Didn’t get time to fit on TT till last night, it is the first time I have fitted a cartridge and it went ok. One query I have is why must the cartridge be aligned with the bias set to 0 ? I am very pleased with the sound, the soundstage is much wider and the bass is cleaner. Have you decided which CNC machine to buy? Thank you for all your hard work it is much appreciated.
Tony

Johnny da man Double to the 0 Seven…
Just saw the deck, superb arm and plinth. Damn, the sh1t’s well hot. Give yaself a pat on the back boyeeee. Okay, pistols @ dawn. I just done these speaker, Tannoy 2528 driver now paper coned by Speaker Dave in Hornchurch, Essex. Original cabinet now has 3/4 inch of oak bonded and doweled so now the sucker is dead and heavy. Babies sound killer now. Tannoys with more speed & less boom. Just gotta tweak up those classic’s me.
Rgds Paul

(Linn Akito bearing repair)
John,
The arm arrived safely today. I have set it up on the deck, done all the checks and adjustments and the arm is in fine working order with a lovely light smell of oil.

Tested the arm out with a lovely 180g copy of ‘Closing Time’ by Tom Waits. My sincere thanks for helping me out – I look forward to many years of listening.

I will sing your praises from the rooftops to anyone who will listen! From your email last night it is clear to see that you have a passion for this kind of work – lucky you!

Few people get to do something they really enjoy. A nice insight into your training too.   Anyway, perhaps I will require your services in future – I hope to get hold of an LP12 at some point and will no doubt have a long list of questions and associated problems. In the meantime take care and the best of luck with your new Tone arm design.
Many thanks and best wishes, Gerry

(SYRINX PU3 rewire)
Finally fitted the arm (needed to make a new arm board – waiting for the paint to dry).
Good to have it back in action – looking good and sounding good.
Thanks again for the speedy turnaround.
Dick

(Linn Akito bearing repair)
Jonnie,
Many thanks for the speedy work and return.. really 1st class.. all seems better; synergy between channels (as I’d expect) -plus refinement, ‘rightness’ and you can just sitting soak up the music- it almost sounds like a fresh arm! I’ll post a thread on Pfm tomorrow for you, as that was a very professional job.
Many thanks- RoryC.

 

Hi Johnnie,
I’m afraid I’m not on any hi-fi forums – too old and not that passionate, but I wanted to give you feedback.
Your advice was spot on and your help is much appreciated.
I am attaching a photo of the repaired deck which is working perfectly.
It used to have a switch which gave a choice of 33 or 45 rpm but I was perfectly happy to do a repair which gave me only 33 rpm.
The repair, using the Linn pcb is very easy.  The new pcb fits in much the same area as the old one and the leads go straight in, black lead of the three to the motor goes in one of the grey sockets.  The layout of the board is the same as the original so no problems with location of leads or switch cable. The only sign of the change is that the three button switch is replaced with a single switch and I had to cut a slightly larger hole underneath for the slightly larger pcb – less than 1cm longer but its very easy to do.
So for just over £100 I have a great deck, working perfectly.  A real delight.
Thanks,
Tony

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