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Post by shuggie on Feb 14, 2016 18:44:24 GMT
Incidentally, even Ikea's packaging has "audiophile" cred. I recently bought and installed an IKEA kitchen. Most of the lacking is now cardboard honeycomb, which is the same as inside IKEA lack but with a smaller structure. I swear it's the same stuff inside Torlyte platforms. I've kept some to veneer and edge with balsa. I'm sure it will do the same job. Incidentally I really like Torlyte. I just don't like being ripped off when I can make something similar myself. I did a bit of reading a while back and found there was only one UK manufacturer of tnis honeycomb stuff. I reckon there's a sweet business opp for anyone making their own honeycomb platforms. Can't be bothered myself but I do know such things work well with a lot of kit. I have seen inside a Torlyte platform, although one of the original types, and its core was very much wooden, and clearly intricately hand made.
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Post by shuggie on Dec 14, 2015 15:54:24 GMT
Now SOLD
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Post by shuggie on Dec 9, 2015 9:36:15 GMT
My AN arm might have been upgraded to full Arm3 status when you heard it. Still notably good value against an SME, though.
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Post by shuggie on Dec 5, 2015 10:02:11 GMT
I threw Steve a few suggestions, for example the top model from Kudos which I heard doing very good things at Signals. One really left-field speaker that I'd love to hear in a room and system like Steve's is the KEF Blade 2. I find myself unexpectedly captivated by the little KEF LS50s (at lest when augmented by VertexAQ Picos) and reckon that the Blades might be a really good 'budget' alternative to stuff like the Avalons, Estelons etc. They'd have to be really good to better those Estelons, though.
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Post by shuggie on Dec 1, 2015 21:33:08 GMT
I enjoyed a couple of hours today in Steve's living room, listening to the Estelons. Much to my surprise, I found them to be elegant and graceful looking things, hiding their bulk very nicely. More importantly, they do sound rather splendid, particularly when fed tunes from Steve's dCS stack. They are definitely speakers that sound instantly 'right' and It will be very interesting to see whether Steve ends up with these, the Avalons, or TADs. I'd be very happy indeed with the Estelons.
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Post by shuggie on Nov 17, 2015 12:43:20 GMT
If it doesn't attract a buyer at £1500, it's staying with me!
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Post by shuggie on Nov 14, 2015 18:59:01 GMT
My final price on the P5 is £1500. That is half the new RRP.
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Post by shuggie on Oct 31, 2015 7:01:24 GMT
Yes, it is still available
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Post by shuggie on Oct 18, 2015 16:04:50 GMT
No, I have not, but in the last house the mains voltage was never below 250v and the P5 was an elegant solution to that, as well as significantly improving audio quality. Now, my mains is not particularly clean, but the voltage is fine. The P5 does still improve sound quality significantly, but I need to tidy the living room and minimise the number of boxes in the system; and, with some reservations and regrets, I reckon that I can live without the P5. If nobody wishes to buy it, then fine - I will still have the benefit of a really good bit of audio gear, but that said I'm very surprised that there have been no enquiries or offers for it.
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Post by shuggie on Oct 18, 2015 10:19:49 GMT
Still available
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Post by shuggie on Oct 5, 2015 7:32:17 GMT
This PS Audio Power Plant P5 is now for sale, at £1650, including UK delivery (Highlands & Islands extra).
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Post by shuggie on Sept 30, 2015 15:53:06 GMT
For Sale, my SME 309 Tonearm. Around 18 months old, bought by me new. Double boxed, with all documentation, templates, tools etc. Does not come with a tonearm cable. Cost new is £1159 - I would like £725 including insured postage within the UK.
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Post by shuggie on Sept 30, 2015 12:17:24 GMT
I am selling my PS Audio P5 mains regenerator. I've owned it since new, for around 3 years, and earlier this year it was fitted with a new regenerator board by Signature Systems (the UK PS Audio distributor). For anyone with 'difficult' mains, eg with high incoming voltage or distorted, clipped mains, a regenerator is the only true solution. PS Audio's devices don't use big, inefficient sinewave generators and power amplifiers, but track and correct distortion on the mains (I think I've got that right). This means it has a healthy 1.2kW power capacity, with minimal costs in terms of power consumption. It really does work, as Martin will no doubt testify, since he uses the bigger P10. You can run a biggish power amp off the P5 without it falling over. It has four UK mains sockets at the back (one is designated High Current for power amps etc). A small remote control makes operation easy, and the menus are configurable for delayed start, timed operation etc. For full details, have a read of the description and specs at www.psaudio.com/products/p5-power-plant/ It comes with original double shipping boxes. Price new for one of these is £3k. This PS Audio Power Plant P5 is now for sale, at £1650, including UK delivery (Highlands & Islands extra).
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Post by shuggie on Apr 7, 2015 18:18:22 GMT
I had a German TA-F770ES and it had no voltage selector, nor multiple taps on the mains transformer, so it was fixed at 220v. The 700 is likely to be similar. Hi Shuggie, How did you work round it ? I didn't! It did not work out for me so I moved it on.
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Post by shuggie on Apr 7, 2015 17:39:28 GMT
I had a German TA-F770ES and it had no voltage selector, nor multiple taps on the mains transformer, so it was fixed at 220v. The 700 is likely to be similar.
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Post by shuggie on Feb 13, 2015 9:59:05 GMT
I recently managed to pick up a pair of Beyerdynamic T1s at a good price, and they are excellent, being sublimely comfortable, very nice sounding but musical too. Proper top-drawer stuff, as you'd expect for the price. At the same time I decided to re-wire my ancient and battered Grado SR60s with some Cardas wire that came at a good price off eBay. The Grados have been transformed from 'nice but nothing special' into 'phones that are at least half way to the Beyerdynamic T1s' performance, being fruity, detailed and nicely expressive too.
So, my advice is to consider a cheap pair of Grados, but ditch the crap wire for something better (the Beyerdynamics use cheap Sommer cable). It's not a difficult job to prise the Grados apart to solder in new cables.
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Post by shuggie on Dec 7, 2014 8:21:44 GMT
My worst purchase was a pair of KEF Q35 speakers, which were utter garbage and have since coloured my views (probably unfairly) of anything KEF with a Uni-Q driver. The most disappointing purchase was a Leben CS600 amp which was lovely to look at and use, with a 'nice' warm valvy sound, but musically uninvolving. Luckily I only lost a small amount of money on that. My most ill-advised purchase was a pair of Tannoy Lancasters with 15" MG drive units - bought at the top of the market when they were all the rage, but sounded crap in the little Lancaster cabinets. There was no room for big cabinets, so they went (at a loss).
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Post by shuggie on Nov 14, 2014 10:37:54 GMT
Martin kindly donated these speakers to me. The bass units' foam surrounds were completely rotten, but easily fixed at very modest cost using re-foam kits from www.goodhifi.com/ . Since repairing them, the Minimax speakers have been sitting in my office, driven by a little stack of Quad 34/FM4/306, and sounding rather respectable. The bass performance is very limited, but there's an engaging musicality about these little speakers that makes you forget about really deep bass. The top end was a bit ragged, but that was cured very effectively by applying Russ Andrews Focus Rings (which I had to hand) around the tweeters. The raggedness was clearly a diffraction effect caused by the recessed front baffle. These little speakers were supposed to be going to my brother, but I rather think they're keepers. I'm trying to work out how best to replace the spring clip cable terminals with 4mm posts, but otherwise I don't think there's anything that needs 'upgrading'. So, thank you Martin!
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Post by shuggie on Oct 2, 2014 16:53:38 GMT
Martin recently donated his Videoton Minimax 2 speakers to me, but the foam surrounds on the mid-bass units are completely decayed. Falcon Acoustics recommended Good HiFi in Holland, and they do replacement surrounds for a huge variety of speakers at very reasonable cost, including for the Minimax 2s. So, I have a new pair of foam surrounds coming, along with the correct glue. I've never done this type of repair before, and will be studying the instructions very carefully, but so far Good HiFi's service and communication have been excellent, and I look forward to resurrecting the Minimax 2s. www.goodhifi.com/ Webshop is at www.speakerrepairshop.com/index.php?action=home&lang=EN
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Post by shuggie on Sept 6, 2014 17:42:34 GMT
I see that PS Audio are now stating on their website that the Sprout is available. It would be good if someone has it on dem at the Whittlebury Show.
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