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Post by shuggie on Sept 6, 2014 17:39:21 GMT
There's always the question of whether Chord can finally show their superb amps off well. Clearaudio are always worth a listen. JBL, Nick with Longdog, the Moerch arm is nice, Paul at PS Audio is always good for a chat, and it looks like Usher will be there. There are always unplanned surprises, too. Diverse Vinyl for a sneak purchase or two, of course. You should have been at the recent Signals Show in Ipswich, where Chord were demonstrating their bulkiest (and presumably top end) gear, feeding some enormous and supremely ugly PMC stand-mounters. The aesthetics for both brands were, for me, somewhat challenging! I shall be at the Whittlebury Hall Show on both days, promoting my stuff with MCRU, so please drop by for a chat.
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Post by shuggie on Aug 31, 2014 17:15:19 GMT
Gale GS-401C (not for sale) Videotone Minimax 2 speakers Mini-T amp World Audio Design KEL34 amp kit mostly finished Strathclyde STD305M turntable AT-33PTG cartridge Dynavector 20A 2 cartridge Bruil weight Plethora of cables I'd love to meet the person who thought it was a good idea to use STD in a product name!
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Post by shuggie on Aug 31, 2014 15:03:44 GMT
I have my LP12 ready to compare to the my Tech. Will report once I find the time to do it Have you had time to do it? I've a soft spot for the LP12 and slightly regret selling mine about 10 years ago, since that act set me on an expensive and meandering quest to find something as engaging. I've now found my 'last' turntable in the Thorens TD-124, but a huge amount of money has been frittered away along the way. High spots on that journey were a Nottingham Analogue Spacedeck rig (I was a fool to sell that too) and a flakey Kenwood KD-770D that is not particularly pitch-stable but does have 'something about it'. Low spots were a wobbly DIY HiFi Supply Bix turntable kit, and the Technics SL-1210 which consumed lots of cash but never managed to engage me musically (certainly not compared with the old Kenwood). 30 years back when Linn were apparently engaging in underhand marketing and promotion activities, I did audition the LP12 against the Logic DM101 and Pink Triange. IIRC the Pink Triangle sounded best, but it would have fallen apart within minutes of purchase, and the DM101 would have been so impossible to set up that the LP12 would seem like child's play (I know, because I now have a DM101). I bought the LP12 with an Ittok and happily got on with listening to music, over the next few years benefiting from Linn's over-the-top customer service. The LP12 has its own character, but so does every other record player; it was and is properly made and supported many jobs in the Central Belt. I am at a loss as to why so many people feel it's necessary to knock a true British (Scottish) success story. The LP12 is a true classic. I'm sure that I'm not alone in having received an education in music courtesy of the LP12, and I shall always be grateful for that. I'd give one house room again if I didn't already have too many other record players.
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Post by shuggie on Aug 27, 2014 6:22:27 GMT
Having some thoughts about my system rack. I might dismantle all the equipment on my return and pull it forward from the wall, to create some more space behind for cables to fall neatly. I can also make a dramatic change by removing the six sprung feet from the pillars and substituting spikes. The question is: from all that I've learned, can I expect it to be an improvement (considering that every component on it has its own footer arrangement) or a step backward?You can expect it to be different.
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Post by shuggie on Aug 20, 2014 20:30:48 GMT
'kinell - I thought I was bad!
My relatively modest list of unused and surplus stuff that I should really move on:
Pioneer SX450 Sony TA-F770ES HiFace Evo USB/SPDIF converter Cambridge DacMagic 100 Beresford Bushmaster Mk1 Pioneer PL-71 Linn Axis Kenwood KD-770D Lenco GL75 Clearaudio Smart Matrix RCM
How about a list of treasured stuff that will never be sold? My surprisingly brief list is:
Thorens TD-124 Mk2 Quad 57s Kontrapunkt B
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Post by shuggie on Aug 19, 2014 6:44:30 GMT
That old chestnut again !Forum people by their very nature do not buy magazines. The rest of the world do and that's why for instance HiFi News sold for a good price a couple of years back. Reviewers and editors have access to nearly everything and go to Munich to see what is really out there. Me; well I read forums and I read magazines, and perhaps the other silent 120 people here do the same ? But who cares ? Why would a forum want to dis a magazine, what is the point ? Well said! I subscribe to two magazines and am happy to continue doing so, and occasionally buy HiFi+ via Apple if the table of contents looks interesting.
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Post by shuggie on Aug 15, 2014 12:25:53 GMT
If you want your cables to sound more 'organic' you just need some wooden 'cable elevators' ... Well, there's some FOOd for thought If anyone needs some wooden cones or elevators (is that escalators in English?) I can always knock out a few at extortionate very reasonable prices. Not a bad idea - these things can make a difference, but cannot justify high prices. Make something inherently attractive, about 50mm tall, and I'd buy some.
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Post by shuggie on Aug 11, 2014 7:47:06 GMT
Correct. Audio enthusiasts tend to assume that acoustic absorption is required in listening rooms; and, up to a point, that's correct. But, listening rooms (in the UK at least) tend to be small and small rooms cannot accommodate very much absorption before becoming too 'dead'. Try having a conversation in an anechoic chamber and it's not nice. The key in a listening room is to have enough absorption to control excess reverberation and maybe flutter echoes, but in truth most people have enough soft furnishings and floor coverings to achieve this without adding much else. Where enthusiasts really go wrong is in confusing absorption with diffusion. Diffusive elements (eg bookcases, record racks or commercial diffusion panels) can really bring a room to life, often when used in places where 'conventional wisdom' says absorption should be used. So, a diffusive panel (which can be an attractive thing) placed between the speakers and behind the listener can work wonders. I rather like the diffusive panels made by Kaiser Akustik, but God only knows what they cost! Also, most enthusiasts do not understand that room modes are a natural function of the room and cannot be eliminated. You can play around with input energy and with things like bass traps, but actually moving the speakers or listening position will have greater effect at no cost - the modes will always be there. If anyone does not believe this, I recommend a visit to a Reverberation Chamber, where the modes can be heard and felt as you walk around. There's no substitute for feeling and visualising what's going on. Place your head in a peak or null and the system will clearly sound wrong, but you only have to move the listening position by a small degree to achieve a better sound balance.
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Post by shuggie on Aug 9, 2014 11:51:45 GMT
It is easy to assume that equipment supports are all about isolation and damping but actually there is far more to the subject than that. When considering isolation, there may be a need to prevent externally conducted energy (vibration) getting into a sensitive piece of equipment, eg a record player. That's feasible and in theory desirable; however also consider energy that originates in the equipment - it has to go somewhere and conventional isolation spring systems may prevent that energy from getting out too. Also consider that a sprung isolator, such as the Isonoe foot, represents part of a mass-spring system, whose natural frequency depends on stiffness and load. So, support a piece of equipment on sprung feet where each spring sees a different mass loading, and you end up with a number of competing systems in terms of natural frequency. That's why I have always been slightly puzzled by suspended turntable designs where the sub-chassis is (usually) supported by springs having (in effect) wildly different resonant characteristics. I would have designed a subchassis with identical mass loading at each corner, thereby avoiding the problem of individual spring systems fighting each other. Damping seems feasible too, because we often feel that something that 'rings like a bell' is naturally bad and to be avoided, eg record player platters. In the case of a mass-spring system, damping helps to flatten out the transmissibility peak, but also to lessen the degree of isolation either side of the resonant frequency (simple theory that you can read about online, or I can recommend some text books). So, the need to apply a bit of control to the mass-spring system can also have effects in terms of energy transmission. Presumably that's why Linn only used light foam inserts to damp the LP12's springs. The really intelligent way of looking at this is to analyse where potentially destructive energy originates, and how to direct it to places where it can be dealt with effectively, either inside the equipment or outside. So, the equipment support might be seen as a conductor of energy rather than an isolator. Really intelligent designs, like those from Leading Edge, do both of those things. So, in my book, it is better to (acoustically) couple a component to a massy and energy-dispersive element (eg a heavy, well- damped platform, that happens to be well isolated from external energy inputs. Coupling is another subject altogether, maybe for another day.
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Post by shuggie on Jul 27, 2014 19:37:21 GMT
I am totally amazed folk still have the energy to discuss this subject, each to their own and just listen to the music. Of course some might see it as a golden opportunity to (deliberately) sling some more dirt, or is that just me being cynical? Funny things HiFi forums and a little tedious at times. +1 It's a free country and we are all at liberty to part with our cash as we see fit; at least in audio.
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Post by shuggie on Jul 19, 2014 19:10:41 GMT
Here's my old stager, fitted with Audio Note Arm 3 and Audio Note IQ3 cartridge.
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Post by shuggie on Jul 17, 2014 18:19:29 GMT
Solved by making hyperlinks - I can't understand why the URLs didn't work, since they were correct.
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Post by shuggie on Jul 17, 2014 16:26:19 GMT
These reviews by Roy Gregory on The Audio Beat are quite a good read, covering a couple of very interesting designs. I'd quietly dismissed the 3D tonearm design as a bit of a gimmick, but once explained properly, it looks rather good. Quite possibly sounds rather good too. Neither the direct drive deck nor 3D printed tonearm are at all cheap, but there's some very original thinking in both. VPI Classic Direct reviewVPI 3D Armtop Review
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Post by shuggie on Jul 16, 2014 16:23:41 GMT
I've just read the opening post properly and noticed that Stillpoints racks are mentioned. I have a Stillpoints ESS rack, the last of the older type, and rate it highly, but it's not really suitable for a bouncy suspended floor and may have to replaced with a wall mounted rack system. I'd miss the ESS rack because it performs very well but with the added advantage of being virtually invisible in the room. The Music Works acrylic rack may be even more discreet, but it's not exactly solidly engineered like the ESS.
Whatever I do with the ESS rack, I will always carry on using Stillpoints supports, since nothing else that I've used for years comes close to their ability to let equipment produce music that I want to listen to. It's rather difficult to describe what they do, since there aren't any sonic fireworks as such, but the absence of Stillpoints is marked (for me) by an absence of musical enjoyment.
Mike's been tinkering with some of the original Stillpoints as well as a couple of Stillpoints Component Stands, and it would be interesting to hear his opinions, particularly of the latter.
Going back to the ESS stand, these things are stupidly expensive now and bordering on a joke in VFM terms. My older rack did not cost a fortune, so represented good value.
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Post by shuggie on Jul 16, 2014 12:54:02 GMT
But the tips last for ages! A mate has been using the same Weller tip for years, so it comes right back to a question of quality.
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Post by shuggie on Jul 16, 2014 11:03:46 GMT
I have had two Maplin soldering stations, which appear to be good spec and value, but proved to be rather poor in use. Specifically, they do not seem to be able to deploy their theoretical heat power quickly through the tip, perhaps because the tip design tends to be quite bulky; and quite possibly of poor quality metal which is unable to conduct heat effectively. So, I bit the bullet and bought a Weller WSD81 soldering station, which is truly excellent and much easier to handle. The tip looks tiny, but that belies its ability to sink heat into quite large wires if necessary. My soldering is now in a different league. My advice - buy quality and buy once. The Maplin kit is cheap for a reason.
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Post by shuggie on Jul 16, 2014 10:51:53 GMT
Interesting stuff Martin. It goes to show that sometime we are led astray by what we feel at the time is a genuine improvement; and on the other hand why things like mains cables can matter. I wish that cables did not matter in audio, but my own experience is that they do; and rarely is there a true 'giant killing' bargain out there. I still reel when recalling what a loaned Vertex AQ Hi-Rez mains cable did in my system - reeling not just because of the price, but at the astonishing effect that it had on my own enjoyment of the system. Maybe one day I'll succeed in picking up a Hi-Rez Roraima for a reasonable amount of money (I'm looking!).
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Post by shuggie on Jun 27, 2014 10:13:09 GMT
Ooh! Lo mi piace!
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Post by shuggie on Jun 27, 2014 10:10:16 GMT
My name is Hugo and I'm a semi-reformed audioholic. I used to like to tinker endlessly with equipment, but as I get older I can't really be bothered. But, as a user of a Thorens TD-124 and Quad 57s, I can't really avoid rolling up my sleeves now and again to administer some TLC!
Vinyl used to be my preferred source, and I still enjoy it, but now I'm a happy convert to computer audio, using a home-built silent PC running Win7 and JRiver 17, with all music stored on-board in SSDs and fed out via USB to a Gustard USB/SPDIF converter and thence to a Lyngdorf digital amplifier. It sounds fantastic, helped by the fact that my Quad 57s get on beautifully with the Lyngdorf's Class D output stage. A good marriage of ancient and modern!
My musical tastes are varied, but I seem to be listening mostly to classical. Latest additions to the music library are the last 4 years' CD collections from "Martha Argerich and Friends Live From Lugano", which are just lovely (musically and as recordings).
I like to think that I'm open-minded about cables, supports etc. I do use (and recommend) Stillpoints stuff as well as a fairly expensive MIT digital cable (which has seen off every alternative that I've tried), but on the other hand I'm very happy with £12 Belkin speaker cables. I'm looking forward to polite and rational discussions of cables and accessories here.
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