Post by tony on Jun 22, 2017 14:45:38 GMT
The Scottish troops had a get together at Ali Tates place on Sunday a fine meeting it was too with good music/company and food courtesy of Michele .
Im was lucky enough to have taken stewardship of Colin Wonfors TQ Claymore amp over a year ago and haven’t looked back. Fantastic amp with the best Dac ive tried and an excellent phono stage.
I have dappled with TQ cables for years and anything I have bought I have kept, all my blue and black is still in use and like the amp is in keeper territory.
The get together was made a bit special by Colin Wonfor attending with his good lady and bringing some of his latest designs of pre amp/power amp/power cables/speaker cables.
Ali runs a complex digital crossover open baffle speaker set up so invited the troops to bring along conventional speakers so they could get a handle on what the amps and cables did with speakers they knew. Both Alis front ends digital and analogue(didn’t try the reel to reel) are top notch, so a nice opportunity to hear what Colins designs would do.
I took along my Frugel 3s made by Steve of Electric beach. Ive had them for a couple of years-again keepers. They are full range horns with a bit of transmission line assistance designed by Scott Moose. Ive amped them with digital/valve/valve hybrid and solid state so know them reasonably well.
Colin had brought the EWA entry level Q-20P PRE AMP/ Q 20 POWER AMP/HB-100 MONO POWER AMPS. He had brought LS25 cable and power cords.
The Frugels got plumbed in and magic happened….
Initially the Q 20 PRE was in play with the HB-100 mono blocks, EWA wires both speaker and power feeding the amps and speakers.
I know what the Frugels can do..or thought I did!!!
The Monos have an ability to control a conventional driver speaker the likes of which I had not experienced. No harshness, unflustered instant grunt and instantaneous attack. A tremendous delicacy backed by spot you in your tracks dynamics.
Strange phenomenon I have observed with top notch hi fi –its playing really loud(much higher than you would at home) but you can have an unforced conversation with the guy next to you..wierd!
One of the troops commented on how fast the Frugels where-it was the amps. I was seriously impressed but worried one of the troops would be killed with a blunt trauma injury by alpairs driver.
The Q20 power amp was partnered up with its pre and we got listening.
I managed to commandeer Alis digital controller and spooled up some John Martyn/Keb Mo/Jamouriqui.
I couldn’t trip them up, they didnt get flustered no matter how hard they were driven. We checked-they didn’t get warm either.
Sonically, they just amplified music-no colouration I could detect with a naturalness that genuinely raised the hairs on my arms a couple of times.
The cables were invisible in the sonic picture-probably the best compliment I can give them…they added or subtracted nothing,(as it should be)!
The entry level 20 amps partnered with a suitable speaker could quite happily be the center of a music lovers main system for life.
I spoke to Colin…a DAC is on the horizon.
Judging by what I and others heard EWA could provide a fully synergised system only needing a pair of speakers that suit your domestic and sonic needs.
My observations are from my experience with the frugal, other speakers and owners were present and may comment on their interpretation.
Im was lucky enough to have taken stewardship of Colin Wonfors TQ Claymore amp over a year ago and haven’t looked back. Fantastic amp with the best Dac ive tried and an excellent phono stage.
I have dappled with TQ cables for years and anything I have bought I have kept, all my blue and black is still in use and like the amp is in keeper territory.
The get together was made a bit special by Colin Wonfor attending with his good lady and bringing some of his latest designs of pre amp/power amp/power cables/speaker cables.
Ali runs a complex digital crossover open baffle speaker set up so invited the troops to bring along conventional speakers so they could get a handle on what the amps and cables did with speakers they knew. Both Alis front ends digital and analogue(didn’t try the reel to reel) are top notch, so a nice opportunity to hear what Colins designs would do.
I took along my Frugel 3s made by Steve of Electric beach. Ive had them for a couple of years-again keepers. They are full range horns with a bit of transmission line assistance designed by Scott Moose. Ive amped them with digital/valve/valve hybrid and solid state so know them reasonably well.
Colin had brought the EWA entry level Q-20P PRE AMP/ Q 20 POWER AMP/HB-100 MONO POWER AMPS. He had brought LS25 cable and power cords.
The Frugels got plumbed in and magic happened….
Initially the Q 20 PRE was in play with the HB-100 mono blocks, EWA wires both speaker and power feeding the amps and speakers.
I know what the Frugels can do..or thought I did!!!
The Monos have an ability to control a conventional driver speaker the likes of which I had not experienced. No harshness, unflustered instant grunt and instantaneous attack. A tremendous delicacy backed by spot you in your tracks dynamics.
Strange phenomenon I have observed with top notch hi fi –its playing really loud(much higher than you would at home) but you can have an unforced conversation with the guy next to you..wierd!
One of the troops commented on how fast the Frugels where-it was the amps. I was seriously impressed but worried one of the troops would be killed with a blunt trauma injury by alpairs driver.
The Q20 power amp was partnered up with its pre and we got listening.
I managed to commandeer Alis digital controller and spooled up some John Martyn/Keb Mo/Jamouriqui.
I couldn’t trip them up, they didnt get flustered no matter how hard they were driven. We checked-they didn’t get warm either.
Sonically, they just amplified music-no colouration I could detect with a naturalness that genuinely raised the hairs on my arms a couple of times.
The cables were invisible in the sonic picture-probably the best compliment I can give them…they added or subtracted nothing,(as it should be)!
The entry level 20 amps partnered with a suitable speaker could quite happily be the center of a music lovers main system for life.
I spoke to Colin…a DAC is on the horizon.
Judging by what I and others heard EWA could provide a fully synergised system only needing a pair of speakers that suit your domestic and sonic needs.
My observations are from my experience with the frugal, other speakers and owners were present and may comment on their interpretation.
