Hi Pryml. A Marantz CD player! I've been in that happy club...! Good luck in the comp' - you're obviously someone who attends to detail. ;-) Ben
Thanks for your well-wishes Ben,
"Attention to detail" is the curse that feeds my insomnia :P
Hi Pryml
Welcome to Chews, I really hope you'll like it here enough to want to join in the fun. If you know anyone else who might like to join (or could use the cables) give them a shout too. Thats wahat the comp is for, and we are delighted to see new faces.
Your system doesn't seem modest at all, in fact I bet it would have aquitted itself well at the Scalford show. You seem to have an eye for details, as Ben said. What sort of speakers do you think you'll get?
Hi Alan,
I've been looking at relatively affordable speakers that are at least of 92 db@1W/m sensitivity, with an 8ohm (or more) flat impedance response. So far, the Coincident Triumph Extreme II and Tekton Design Pendragon have caught my eye; the former for being a compact standmount (implying better imaging) and the latter for being a full-range design. I've reservations though, as both are ported boxes instead of closed-box designs which traditionally have a more controlled bass response. I've an opportunity to audition the Coincident but the Tekton Design would have to be a "blind" purchase... in any case, the research is still ongoing...
Formerly, I used to think that I should simply just invest more money for better sound, but I've recently been bitten by the "green bug" and have now opted for low power (and simple circuit design) amps mated to high efficiency speakers; The Almarro amp is a good example of this philosophy where 3 is the maximum number of valves (amount of heat/power draw) that I'll tolerate, coupled with the sonic purity and electronic simplicity of single-ended tube design
Welcome Pryml
Don't forget, you can enter the competition as many times as you like.
Thanks uglymusic, I plan to submit more entries, as and when inspiration strikes me
Nice to be here. I'm from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I actually work for a software company called Grapple Mobile which is based out of London. (Across the street from Harold Moores!)
I listen to mostly 50-60s jazz, classical, alt-rock and classic rock. Working on acquiring a complete collection of Blue Note original pressings. (Could be a pricey endeavour lol) Lots of Decca/EMI/Phillips classical in my record collection as well.
Been listening to a lot of Wilco, and A Tribe Called Quest lately. Huge Beastie Boys and Led Zeppelin fan too.
Welcome to Chews! You are most welcome here, particularly to help redress the imbalance we have in the digital/analogue continuum here...
Wright audio must be pretty special then? I must confess to never having heard of them before (but then I'm not a real audiophile...) - fancy starting a thread to tell about them? If you have difficulty posting pics one of us will be happy to walk you through it.
when i get some free time i'll start a thread and take some pics and post.
george wright made great sounding gear with a rather utilitarian look... they are kind of plain looking but cool at the same time. sadly he passed away in 2009 so his stuff is unobtanium now for the most part.
Hello all, good to be alongside like minded peeps! My system is a Sonos ZP120 playing into B&W 685 speakers on Atacama nexus 5 stands...source is Spotify, iTunes etc from PC. Hope to get some tips and advice to improve my system sound quality over the next few months.
My name is James Ive been a hifi fruit cake for some time. I have been a John Farlowe Exposure fan and had an XI pre with a whopping IX power supply going into a IVDR power amp. Feeding these was either a M2Tech Young Dac or an Audiolab MDac. On the other end of my system is a pair of ATC scm 35's I recently made the the very very impulsive purchase of a pair of NVA A80's & A40's from Steve on the Wam. I had no intention of leaving the Expo camp but I have always fancied the idea of Monoblocs. So Thats me really, I am a big fan of acoustic music, I love Jazz, and ANYTHING that sounds good. I recently came across a chap called Victor Wooten, which is down right Funky and I have been buying up all of his albums.
People have been talking about the sound of old school Tannoy type speakers for a long time and I have always been very curios so I made the most impulsive purchase yet, I bought a pair of Goodmans Magister speakers that are being delivered to me on Wednesday. I think they need a bit of work to get them up to speed but they are going to be my tweaking/restoring project so watch this space.
I had a mate who had the full-cock Farlowe-era Exposure monoblock set-up at about the time I got into NVA, way back in the day. The Exposures had a little less subtlety (particularly rhythmically) than the NVAs, to my ears, but were nonetheless very good.
I'd be interested what you think about the A40/A80 combo.
A80/40 combo is really good. I found them to be totally spot on, really really impressed. I only paid £875 for the best amp set up I have owned. I am looking at moving from an A80/40 combo to an A80/80 combo, just trying to find the finances :-)
My name is James Ive been a hifi fruit cake for some time. I have been a John Farlowe Exposure fan and had an XI pre with a whopping IX power supply going into a IVDR power amp. Feeding these was either a M2Tech Young Dac or an Audiolab MDac. On the other end of my system is a pair of ATC scm 35's I recently made the the very very impulsive purchase of a pair of NVA A80's & A40's from Steve on the Wam. I had no intention of leaving the Expo camp but I have always fancied the idea of Monoblocs. So Thats me really, I am a big fan of acoustic music, I love Jazz, and ANYTHING that sounds good. I recently came across a chap called Victor Wooten, which is down right Funky and I have been buying up all of his albums.
People have been talking about the sound of old school Tannoy type speakers for a long time and I have always been very curios so I made the most impulsive purchase yet, I bought a pair of Goodmans Magister speakers that are being delivered to me on Wednesday. I think they need a bit of work to get them up to speed but they are going to be my tweaking/restoring project so watch this space.
Hi James, about time you came here best Col
I had Tannoy Buckingham's with Magnum A100 (400W/ch) god was Pink Floyd great for removing dust and neighbours
HI all, I'm James, and I just found this pleasant eddy-pool on the web whilst wasting time avoiding doing my accounts. So thanks!
I run a Win 7/64 source and a 401/SME V/ Goldring 1042/Icon Audio PS1 vinyl set-up as well. This feeds a TEAD Vibe/Pulse, then a Tron 300b amp, then AN-E speakers. There is an Io back at AN for investigation, and an AN SUT of uncertain lineage as well but that is for the future!
My musical tastes are pretty broad though dance and opera don't feature much, and I can't help but try to sneak valves into everything audio, even if not required. As a result I am in near continuous danger of electrocution as I move about my office...which may be the reason my wife indulges my hobby...
James, Hi! Hifi plus the risk of electrocution...hmmm... Perhaps you could tape some of those sorbothane Hifi feet/pads to the soles of your shoes as part of your risk assessment...?
the Tron is stereo rather than a monoblock amp and sounds sublime to my ears, not the rounded off nostalgia-fest type sound, a more 'modern' presentation and capable of beefy bass. It uses 5842 drivers and the 300b power tubes, I have found the GEC drivers to sound the best out of my choice of them, W.E, and Raytheon. Curently I have AVVT 'Audio Note' branded 300b tubes that I prefer to the Sophia Carbon Princesses and Billingtons that it came with (though the latter are probably a bit tired now); in this amp they are more alive and exciting. I would like to try Emmission labs or (of course) WE 300b, but haven't had the chance sadly.
Thanks for the kind words Alan, I have a little experience and a bunch of fun things to play with, possibly a dangerous combination but I am still alive! I collected stuff in my teens (1970s) - mostly valve stuff as I liked it (and it was affordable then - I only had pocket money) and wish I had continued when I had a bit more to spend in the 80s. I might have gained a kind of pension pot if I had! Ah well, c'est la vie.
Isn't Graham Tricker the dude behind Tron? I read some of his posts on PFM with interest, he seems a really knowledgeable and nice guy. Everyone speaks very highly of his work too.
I hope you find Chews a nice place to hang out, I look forward to your posts.
Graham is the man, I've met him a couple of times and he seems a top fellow to me. Very helpful, meticulous with his hifi, and more than happy to help get things straight for me. I'd highly recommend a visit to his home demo room with some lovely AG Trios, a HUGE homebrew Ongaku clone, any amount of high end amps and t/t kit lying around, and loads of tunes. He isn't a hard sell chap - far from it - though obviously its his business. He gets a major thumbs up from me!
And yes, his kit is a masterclass in careful, tidy, point to point wiring and clean design with carefully considered components throughout, also beautifully finished (as indeed it should be at the price).
Hifi equipment: Advent laptop (Pentium II, 1 GB RAM, Vista SP1, SP 2), Foobar (WASAPI exclusive), M2 Tech Young (SN, mid 700s), rest of equipment bought late 80s: preamp of 2 box Meridian CDP 207Pro, Van den Hul Yellow to Kube (bass enhancer ) of KEF 103/3, Siltech to NAD 2150 power amp, twin core and earth to speakers .
The bass enhancer circuit and the 4 th order Linkwitz-Riley crossover of the Kefs complement the class B amplifier by absorbing the nasties wile allowing most of the music through. For domestic reasons the speakers sit in an “L” shaped room, 2.5 ft from a window and 2.5 ft from 1 side wall and 12 ft from other side wall and 6.5 ft apart (with TV in the middle ). I sit 16 ft away with a window 2 ft behind me. I tend to listen to “greatest hits” - each track tends to have different spatial information on it. The soundstage can vary from 12 ft in width, 5 ft depth and 7 ft in heighth; to “between the speakers”, 2 ft high and 3 ft deep. Music tastes - anything except opera and pop music when it was decided to split it into different genres. I listen to red book CDs and am amazed at the information the Young is able to extract from them. One issue I have is that I get an error message when I set the bit depth to 32 and therefore set it to 24.
Hi Mike, and welcome. I'm familiar with your DAC, and agree that it is amazing at standard CD resolution. I have never really seen the need for more (but it's nice...)
I hope you like it here, feel free to join in anywhere or start a new discussion.
Nice to join this group after having a good look at the threads.
After taking early retirement a friend and I decided to mess around with cheaper used stuff just for the fun of it.
We have both spent many £'s over the years like some of you but now it's more fun this way.
Some one qouted, on this site, that you can normally get back what you paid on all these Sell- Buy sites so at the end of the day it doesn't cost alot and you get to hear many different sounds,some good ,some not!!.
At the moment I am running 2 set ups,
Audiolab 8000a
Phillips CD100 Top Loader
Phillips CD104 with minor tweaks
Phillips Cd304 mk2
Chord Odyssey Chord 4
Yahamha NS200M these will have to go,not a patch on the NS100M or NS1000M's.
The other set up is
MacBook Pro with WD Memory back up
Audiolab MDAC
T-Amp with mods,suprising little amp for the price!!.
Monitor Audio Studio 50's.
Some Exotic speaker cable that I have forgot the name of for now (senior citizen moment!),this is a flat
clear covering with Plaited cable.this is coloured copper and green and each strand has
to be scrapped clear of insulation before soldering, Many,many strands, enough said.
But excellent sounding,said many years ago to be a Naim amp blower?.
I have an ecletic taste in music(A Sixties Child so heard some great music then and the Seventies),
Rock, Blues,some Folk, some Country, acoustic and electric,Dylan,Tom Waits, Led Zep, Neil Young,
Springsteen, Leonard Choen and any thing that takes my fancy.
I like a open sound with clarity and a bright sound with a good bass, hence my interest this site.
Some of your threads on Royd speakers have given me a need to hear them so will be looking to purchase
Hi Tommo, and welcome to the madhouse! I applaud your approach to system building, you'll have a lot of fun and learn a lot,without breaking the bank. It's always fun to take the path less trodden, and there's the chance you'll discover something new to all of us!
I look forward to reading of your escapades in audio (hey - a title for your system blog!).
Hello everyone, havn't had any music for 8 months, since off loading a Weiss DAC, Adam Audio speakers and HD800 headphones. Well from getting a text out of the blue from the chap who bought the DAC, I'm pleased to say its sitting right next to me, after I picked it up earlier today!!! From confirming my intention to buy it last Friday, by luck I snapped up a pair of second hand Adam Audio Epsilon speakers. I just love the sou d it's producing. Hello to Alan and Dave, missed your humour, and to James and Keith.
Hello everyone, havn't had any music for 8 months, since off loading a Weiss DAC, Adam Audio speakers and HD800 headphones. Well from getting a text out of the blue from the chap who bought the DAC, I'm pleased to say its sitting right next to me, after I picked it up earlier today!!! From confirming my intention to buy it last Friday, by luck I snapped up a pair of second hand Adam Audio Epsilon speakers. I just love the sou d it's producing. Hello to Alan and Dave, missed your humour, and to James and Keith.
Good to be back.
Hello stranger! Looks like you've landed on your feet then! You'll need to be catching I reckon...see you on the 'listening to' thread.
Hey Justin welcome back! I know that setup very well having owned Epsilon speakers previously.....in fact I wonder if it's the same pair? Can't me more than a handful in circulation in the UK.
How would you say the Epsilon's compare to the floorstanders you had previously?
Hello All Had a fleeting discussion with Alan over on CA a couple of weeks back, took him up on his invite and here I am. I went down the computer audio road a couple of years ago, bought a mac mini, sold a cupboard full of shiny discs and haven't looked back. I use the mini with a Young dac, a Leema Tucana amp, ART Exposure speakers and a combination of Nordost and home made cabling. For the most part, I'm happy with my system at the moment. I'm not looking to replace any of the major components just now but I am considering an upgrade to the dac's power supply. My music tastes vary with mood, situation, etc and cover most genres. My friends and family are all a bit poppy so I don't really get the chance to discuss and share opinions on anything other than mainstream stuff. Anyway, I look forward to joining you guys on the forum and hope I can contribute in some small way.
Comments
Welcome to Chews! You are most welcome here, particularly to help redress the imbalance we have in the digital/analogue continuum here...
Wright audio must be pretty special then? I must confess to never having heard of them before (but then I'm not a real audiophile...) - fancy starting a thread to tell about them? If you have difficulty posting pics one of us will be happy to walk you through it.
BR, Alan.
Joined yesterday after being at the hospital. My goodness, what are they putting in my pills now?
Not in the trade but know a few people in it who have been very helpful getting me some hi-end stuff at mid-end prices.
Based in London and almost retired.
What do you think to Hans Zimmer's Dark Knight soundtrack?
Welcome to 'Chews. A different sort of treatment altogether....
Hope your recovery is absolute, hope to see you around!
EarLicks ... a word that might describe how music might settle upon your auditory senses.
My name is James Ive been a hifi fruit cake for some time.
I have been a John Farlowe Exposure fan and had an XI pre with a whopping IX power supply going into a IVDR power amp. Feeding these was either a M2Tech Young Dac or an Audiolab MDac. On the other end of my system is a pair of ATC scm 35's
I recently made the the very very impulsive purchase of a pair of NVA A80's & A40's from Steve on the Wam. I had no intention of leaving the Expo camp but I have always fancied the idea of Monoblocs.
So Thats me really, I am a big fan of acoustic music, I love Jazz, and ANYTHING that sounds good. I recently came across a chap called Victor Wooten, which is down right Funky and I have been buying up all of his albums.
People have been talking about the sound of old school Tannoy type speakers for a long time and I have always been very curios so I made the most impulsive purchase yet, I bought a pair of Goodmans Magister speakers that are being delivered to me on Wednesday. I think they need a bit of work to get them up to speed but they are going to be my tweaking/restoring project so watch this space.
And welcome.
I had a mate who had the full-cock Farlowe-era Exposure monoblock set-up at about the time I got into NVA, way back in the day. The Exposures had a little less subtlety (particularly rhythmically) than the NVAs, to my ears, but were nonetheless very good.
I'd be interested what you think about the A40/A80 combo.
Good luck with the Goodmans Wardrobes(TM) :-)
Thanks for the comprehensive intro.
As I've posted, I look forward to reading how you get on with those big speakers!
I started with A70/A40 and I know what you are talking about. I hope to join you and return to a Bi-Amp situation sometime soon.
Hi James, about time you came here best Col
I run a Win 7/64 source and a 401/SME V/ Goldring 1042/Icon Audio PS1 vinyl set-up as well. This feeds a TEAD Vibe/Pulse, then a Tron 300b amp, then AN-E speakers. There is an Io back at AN for investigation, and an AN SUT of uncertain lineage as well but that is for the future!
My musical tastes are pretty broad though dance and opera don't feature much, and I can't help but try to sneak valves into everything audio, even if not required. As a result I am in near continuous danger of electrocution as I move about my office...which may be the reason my wife indulges my hobby...
Another 401 user here though I have a Valdi too. And valves also. Not heard the Tron amps though.
Love those AN-Es as well.
cheers
Hi!
Hifi plus the risk of electrocution...hmmm...
Perhaps you could tape some of those sorbothane Hifi feet/pads to the soles of your shoes as part of your risk assessment...?
Thanks for stopping in! I hope you enjoy it here, you look like you have a lot of interesting gear & probably experience to go with it.
the Tron is stereo rather than a monoblock amp and sounds sublime to my ears, not the rounded off nostalgia-fest type sound, a more 'modern' presentation and capable of beefy bass. It uses 5842 drivers and the 300b power tubes, I have found the GEC drivers to sound the best out of my choice of them, W.E, and Raytheon. Curently I have AVVT 'Audio Note' branded 300b tubes that I prefer to the Sophia Carbon Princesses and Billingtons that it came with (though the latter are probably a bit tired now); in this amp they are more alive and exciting. I would like to try Emmission labs or (of course) WE 300b, but haven't had the chance sadly.
Thanks for the kind words Alan, I have a little experience and a bunch of fun things to play with, possibly a dangerous combination but I am still alive! I collected stuff in my teens (1970s) - mostly valve stuff as I liked it (and it was affordable then - I only had pocket money) and wish I had continued when I had a bit more to spend in the 80s. I might have gained a kind of pension pot if I had! Ah well, c'est la vie.
Isn't Graham Tricker the dude behind Tron? I read some of his posts on PFM with interest, he seems a really knowledgeable and nice guy. Everyone speaks very highly of his work too.
I hope you find Chews a nice place to hang out, I look forward to your posts.
And yes, his kit is a masterclass in careful, tidy, point to point wiring and clean design with carefully considered components throughout, also beautifully finished (as indeed it should be at the price).
How does your Francophilia express itself musically?
Hi from sunny (at last) Wilts
Hifi equipment: Advent laptop (Pentium II, 1 GB RAM, Vista SP1, SP 2), Foobar (WASAPI exclusive), M2 Tech Young (SN, mid 700s), rest of equipment bought late 80s: preamp of 2 box Meridian CDP 207Pro, Van den Hul Yellow to Kube (bass enhancer ) of KEF 103/3, Siltech to NAD 2150 power amp, twin core and earth to speakers .
The bass enhancer circuit and the 4 th order Linkwitz-Riley crossover of the Kefs complement the class B amplifier by absorbing the nasties wile allowing most of the music through. For domestic reasons the speakers sit in an “L” shaped room, 2.5 ft from a window and 2.5 ft from 1 side wall and 12 ft from other side wall and 6.5 ft apart (with TV in the middle ). I sit 16 ft away with a window 2 ft behind me. I tend to listen to “greatest hits” - each track tends to have different spatial information on it. The soundstage can vary from 12 ft in width, 5 ft depth and 7 ft in heighth; to “between the speakers”, 2 ft high and 3 ft deep.
Music tastes - anything except opera and pop music when it was decided to split it into different genres. I listen to red book CDs and am amazed at the information the Young is able to extract from them.
One issue I have is that I get an error message when I set the bit depth to 32 and therefore set it to 24.
I hope you like it here, feel free to join in anywhere or start a new discussion.
Alan
Welcome.
I look forward to reading of your escapades in audio (hey - a title for your system blog!).
Cheers
Alan
Good to be back.
How would you say the Epsilon's compare to the floorstanders you had previously?
Had a fleeting discussion with Alan over on CA a couple of weeks back, took him up on his invite and here I am.
I went down the computer audio road a couple of years ago, bought a mac mini, sold a cupboard full of shiny discs and haven't looked back. I use the mini with a Young dac, a Leema Tucana amp, ART Exposure speakers and a combination of Nordost and home made cabling.
For the most part, I'm happy with my system at the moment. I'm not looking to replace any of the major components just now but I am considering an upgrade to the dac's power supply.
My music tastes vary with mood, situation, etc and cover most genres. My friends and family are all a bit poppy so I don't really get the chance to discuss and share opinions on anything other than mainstream stuff.
Anyway, I look forward to joining you guys on the forum and hope I can contribute in some small way.
Cheers
Jim (A Fifer)