And now in the Quest for more music (via kit and tweaks)

My set up was LP12 on a Sound Org table.
Everything else on Ladderax shelves

Tried a few of Peter Belt's ideas late 80s.
Don't think any of them worked !

Compared to what we know now the supports were sub optimal as were the cables and interconnects.

I read mains cables could be improved so swapped out the supplied Naim and Linn cables and replaced with mains twin and earth
Definite improvement in sound
But almost certainly not legal - (so don't you do it !)

We moved late 80s. The sound in the new, bigger room was just not as good.
Getting a sparky in to give me a dedicated ring for the hifi only with a bank of unswitched sockets was a definite improvement.
LP12 still on the Sound Org table and other on Ladderax.

Still on the look out for extracting more music from the kit I discovered Mana.
Went to see Paul in Bracknell to hear his ancient Linn Naim system performing staggeringly well with lots of Mana racks and sound bases

Decided to have a go and Damian from Mana kindly came over with a 4 shelf rack for LP12, Naim 32.5 and HiCap and the 2 Naim 135s to try out.
Said he would take it away if I did not hear the difference as I wasn't 100% convinced.
Test as was
Then on the Mana rack.
Surprisingly good and a sale was made

Working too many hours and days I decided in the 90s I would buy myself an Naim Aro, trading up from the Ittok.
Kept the Karma
Don't think I did a listening test. (With Linn and Naim being the best kit in the world why would you need to) <cough>

I still don't think the system sounded as good as it did before we moved. Something was 'off'
Knowing a little about room treatment it was likely the vast glass windows on one side and sliding patio doors on the other causing that
Much bigger room too

So what happened after my system sounded horrid for so long ?

The silver lining to a cloud of home electrical problems.

All sorts going wrong so I called in my sparky Bob. So much to sort and he was on site 2-3 days, possibly more.

"Oh Bob while you're here, could you bung me some unswitched sockets for the hifi, tidy up a bit ?"

He did

Oh wondrous !

Hifi sounding like hifi after 3 and a half years ! (3 and a half years, can you feel my pain ?)

I was just delighted. The difference truly was "night and day"
but
there was more to come.

One of the reasons we had problems was that the earth was barely an earth. Likely one of the causes of the breakers tripping out so much.
One strand only of multi strand cable left connecting to a rod that was in the ground as securely as if in an empty bucket.

*Another* jump in sound quality
Fabulous

Those that know me banging on about mains, mains, mains and earths know part of the reason why.

If you are on a quest for more music and/or want to upgrade your kit

Leave the kit alone.

Start at the true beginning, the mains.
Get a sparky in
If you have switched sockets they have to go.
If you use cheapo 4 or 6 way adapters they have to go.
Get the earth checked
If you can go for it have a dedicated radial for the hifi from the consumer unit.

More music is on it's way for the price of a budget piece of kit making all of the kit now and in the future abe to realise it's true potential.

Bear in mind, whatever your thoughts on Linn and Naim kit this was a serious hifi set up, completely shackled by cheapo 4 ways, a switched socket and a naff earth.

My hifi fire was not back on. I was back in the game

I had more music

A few years ago I would have been very sceptical

What the hell has mains and earthing got to do with hifi ? Not much - I would have said

I would have been wrong - oh so very wrong

Bob the sparky was a bit puzzled

As he's dead straight he didn't bump up the price for hifi consultancy

Crazy thing was I thought I knew all mains and I only got Bob to do it as he was already working on the faults we had.

The very poor earth was a big surprise both from the state of it and the difference it made to the sound.
Likely dangerous too.

Mains work isn't "the thing to do", far more sexy to buy new kit, but mains can do way more than an awful lot of big kit upgrades

The platter on that Fons '30' was an engineering marvel

"was a little bit like going into a church or some place of worship - of Linn and Naim gear"

One of the main reasons why I got out of using Linn - the dealers seem to make you feel uncomfortable, as if you're not worthy unless you can spend many thousands.

I'm doing both !