The Grand Wazoo's Garden of Earthly Delights

[The Grand Wazoo]

Reposting my system piccies post-hacking incident.

In the blue corner...............
....we have sources & pre-amp plus some stuff from the past and some just passing through............

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2986/sourcesprewg6.jpg

On the left on an HNE Beech & Granite rack is my Gyrodec with Zeta & Koetsu Black.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2426/gyrozetakoetsublackxl1.jpg

The Zeta is a rare gold armed tube one. As such it was one of the first 20 made. It's been rewired & spiffed up a little by the designer, who, apparently was amazed to see one of his original babies coming back to him.
The Koetsu is my 3rd Black - I still have a van den Hulled one as a spare.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/2512/zetagoldarmtubetm6.jpg

Below the TT is my Accuphase DP67 CD player a thing of beauty and fantastic sound quality.

On the bottom shelf is the Michell QC PSU (Alecto style - you know the ones, they look a bit like a 'stealth toilet seat'). The PSU sits on an Isol-8 mains filter thingy.

On the right hand side is a Sound Organisation rack (my other HNE one is waiting for me to get my arse in gear & turn some new legs on my lathe, which is buried under mountains of crap in the garage). On top is a Marantz 1515L receiver, just being stored at the moment, having been replaced by a big ol' Yamaha CR1020 in the satellite system at the place I kip in when I'm working away from home. The Marantz looking for a new home to go to.

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/2482/imgp1555.jpg

Below the Marantz is what's been the heart of my system for about 17 years an Audio Research SP8. Stuffed full of NOS valves & still sounding as good as ever.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/1769/sp8qu9.jpg

Tucked away behind the SP8 are a pair of Bent Audio Mu step-up transformers. Massive and black, infinitely adjustable for loading resistance in a couple of seconds while playing, and in my view the absolute dingo's doughnuts of the MC transformer world.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4531/bentaudiomu1channelfb1.jpg

..................by the way, that's non-resonant audiophile dust you can see there. Did I mention they were massive?

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/1695/bentaudiomustepuptransfnk9.jpg



Next up is the tuner - an Accuphase T101. A marvel of 70's gizmology, built like a brick cludger.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/316/tunerste1.jpg

Below that is an old Troughline MkII, unused at the moment, having been thoroughly trounced by the T101 in all respects (except perhaps looks).

The other stuff you see below the Accuphase in the first photo comprises a HiFi News Headcase headphone amp for my Grado SR325's and an LFD MC1, which I used to use into a line input of the SP8. (I hung onto it with half an idea of getting a 2nd TT). Tucked under the rack is a ratty old Technics tuner (don't know the model no. & I can't be arsed to look to find out).

..........and in the red corner.............

..........we have power amps & speakers.

Mark Levinson ML9 juicing up the woofers and Mark Levinson ML11 tittivatin' the tweeters and mid range drivers. Forget about the newer Mark Lev stuff - the old ones were the best!

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/220/levinsonml9ml11ed7.jpg


..........and finally, a pair of Mirage M3Si speakers. Big at just under 5' tall. Heavy at 63kgs. Drivers aplenty - 3 in the front, 2 in the back. 10" woofer. Fantastic soundstage. Trouser flappin, bass. Can't show you the drivers, cos the grills don't come off

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/6058/miragem3sizh8.jpg

That's yer lot..................

..............except for the stuff in other places like the Radford STA15, the Cyrus 2, the SD OBS speakers, the Sansui, Pioneer & Yamaha receivers, the Tannoy Mercurys, the Thorens TD160.................................well you know how it is, don't you!!

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Grand Wazoo


Nice to see these pictures once more....thanks for taking the time to post them again.



Regards D S D L-----Neil :)

[Beechwoods]

Ditto, Chris! Is there any chance that you harvest and make some of your spare audiophile dust available to other members of the forum? :lol: It looks like you have some impressively hefty kit there. I can see why it might be a bit dusty. Once you've got some of those beasts in place you aren't going to move them again in a hurry. Not without a hernia at any rate ;)

[The Grand Wazoo]

I can't spare any of the audiophile dust - what on earth do you think I would do if I didn't have that magical stuff to isolate my cables from the untoward influence of the wall?

Actually dust is the biggest source of woe in my life at the moment. The house is a 250 yr old stone cottage. What was supposed to be a 1 yr. project turned into 5 yrs.......... & counting. Some walls are falling (or being knocked) down, some are going up. There's plaster & sawdust everywhere all the time. You try & keep it out of the one important room in the house, but no matter what you do it finds it's way in there!

What makes it worse is that the pre & sources are in what was a fireplace, so headroom is extremely limited when it comes to getting round the back with the old dust abatement equipment.

[The Grand Wazoo]

..........By the way, regarding the Marantz. SOLD

[The Grand Wazoo]

As I said in the first post:



Below the TT is my Accuphase DP67 CD player a thing of beauty and fantastic sound quality.


http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/8140/imgp1600.jpg


This replaced a Naim CDI. Yes, that's right a Naim CDI through a valve pre-amp and Levinson power amps!

I listened to all sorts of different players including the Levinson & Audio Research ones. I'd never heard anything by Accuphase & I first heard the DP55, which I thought was great. But this thing is something else again. People talk about the build quality of Esoteric CD players, but I think Accuphase gear is just as good - it fills you with confidence to see the effort they put into their gear.

I managed to get this 2nd hand - it was just barely used, but in perfect condition, only a couple of months old, and at an absolute knock down price. I would've had to think very hard about paying full retail price for it.


http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/1569/cdpclose.jpg

[Spectral Morn]

Yes...kit like Accuphase reminds me of the early days of cd when all the Jap companies had gear like this with that type of build. All that missing is wood end checks.:)

Dust is an issue for me too....having a real coal fire is nice, but very messy.


Regards D S D L---Neil

[The Grand Wazoo]

Yeah, except that the extra width would make it even bigger!!

One thing I like about this player is that it's got some extra inputs & a volume control, so it can be used as a digital preamp if you wish & squirt it straight into a power amp.

I don't do that, but it could be a possibility in the future. At the moment I route it through the SP8 & use the extra digital inputs for our DVD player & Freeview box.

[Marco]

Nice stuff, Chris. I dig all your gear, as it's 'proper', if you know what I mean: no pee-soaked weenie-boy WAF pleasing shit ;)

And, hey, dust gives character! Old houses and real coal/log fires rule! :eyebrows:

:respect:

Marco.

[The Grand Wazoo]

I was looking through some old photos today and found some piccies of a couple of the older incarnations of my system.

(I was actually searching for a photo of a desert roadsign to Tonapah for Beechy - see Zappalogue thread). Of course, it was on a backroad, so I didn't get weighed

First up - Gyro/Zeta/Koetsu/Naim CDI/ARC SP8/Art Audio Tempo mono's

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/1663/imgkrb.jpg

-You can tell by the size/quality of the TV where my priorities lay at that time!!

Next up...............

I got a stealth toilet seat for the gyro (on top of the CDI). Out went the Tempos: in came the Radford STA15. The little in-line box you can see in the interconnect going to the Radford is a 20dB pad, cos the output of the SP8 was huge. I also put some better support under those shelves to stop them sagging from all the vinyl/CD's!!

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/9388/img0001ikr.jpg


......same telly though!!

All of the above squirting into a pair of SD Acoustics OBS's, later SD1's - cranked down with threaded bar going into the spike inserts, through the floorboards & tightened up from underneath with some nuts & massive repair washers.

[Beechwoods]

(I was actually searching for a photo of a desert roadsign to Tonapah for Beechy - see Zappalogue thread). Of course, it was on a backroad, so I didn't get weighed


:lol: :lol: Are you sure it wasn't the weed, whites or wine that somehow caused it to slip your usual filing systems ;)

Thanks Mr Wazoo

:gig:

[Spectral Morn]

I love seeing photos and hearing about where people have come from, on their audio journey. You have certainly been on a journey. Did you ever think you would end up where you have stopped now Chris?



Regards D S D L---Neil :)

[The Grand Wazoo]

:lol: :lol: Are you sure it wasn't the weed, whites or wine that somehow caused it to slip your usual filing systems ;)

Thanks Mr Wazoo

:gig:

Probably all of them actually!
................BUT THEY SHOWED ME A SIGN!!

[The Grand Wazoo]

I love seeing photos and hearing about where people have come from, on their audio journey. You have certainly been on a journey. Did you ever think you would end up where you have stopped now Chris?



Regards D S D L---Neil :)

Maybe next week I'll delineate the main parts of my entire journey, but no, I would never have guessed that I'd end up with almost all semi-vintage gear. I'd never have dreamed of owning two Mark Lev power amps & I'd never heard of Mirage speakers (most people in UK never will).

The nice thing, I think, though, is that I'm still in touch with where I've come from. For example, my daughter owns my first amp, which is up in her room - She's got a Thorens TD160 & her computer, MP3 player & Korg stage piano that she plays through that. I still own the old Radford, with which I will never part, and the SD OBS's.

There's an old Cyrus 2 knocking about somewhere & all the old recievers & tuners help me realise that music is the important thing - & you can get music out of the most humble set-up imaginable. It's nice to have a big hi-fi that sounds impressive but when push comes to shove, I'd rather have good music to play through crap gear than crap music to play through good gear - every single time!

[Marco]

I'd rather have good music to play through crap gear than crap music to play through good gear - every single time!


:)

Marco.

[The Grand Wazoo]

My Zeta tonearm has been in my system for longer than any other component & I honestly can’t see myself changing it unless disaster befalls it, or I come into some serious spare crispies.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/652/zetagoldarmtube2bd1.jpg

Was this the first of the battleship tonearms? It was certainly one of the priciest when it came out. There’s nothing wishy-washy about this arm – both in build and sound quality and it’s best suited to low compliance MC cartridges (effective mass 16g). It weighs a bleedin’ tonne and is too much for some suspended TT’s. The originals came with a cable that was designed for use in microphones and was connected via a non standard plug. The fitting is to the Audio Technica / Linn pattern, but with 6 bolt holes instead of the usual 3. The bearing housing is massive – I mean huge and the bearings are of great quality. There was a spell where quality control went a bit by the wayside & some examples gave the Zeta a bit of a reputation for having sticky bearings, but a good ‘un is great.

The counterweight was a clever design, consisting of an alloy shell containing up to 3 different disc shaped steel weights with rims, allowing a bewildering combination of possibilities. You can put combinations of weight with the rims to the back or front of the weights to allow the mass to lie towards the front or the rear of the counterweight stub, depending on what you need. The whole lot is bolted into the shell and a cover bolted over that. The weight can’t be dialled in, so you need a balance for setting tracking force. When you’ve done that, you lock the whole lot down with 2 Allan bolts. Bias is set with a little wheel on top of the arm pillar and you do it by ear or with a test record.

Sound quality is ………err……..forceful shall we say. If you put this arm into a suitable well matched system, it will slap you round the chops repeatedly, yelling “Listen to this you wimp!” in your ear. Bass, rhythm and dynamics are the real strong points, but you can also hear into the mix due to fantastic resolution so that separate elements of even the most complex passages of music can be analysed. The treble is clean and sweet and the midband is superb. I’ve heard it described as a bit rough in the mid-range, but I think this is a result of poor matching. It works really well with the Koetsus, and I seem to remember some of the Goldbug cartridges being fantastic in a Zeta (who remembers those wooden bodied beauties?).

I bought my Zeta in a mad cross-country dash one Saturday morning when I was supposed to be doing something more important.

I’d just finished college and was about to start my first job in south-west Scotland. The morning we were due to move, I was reading a magazine in bed and absent-mindedly looking at the For Sale ads and trying to put off piling furniture into the van we’d hired. Then I saw an ad for a Zeta arm - £150. For quite a while, I’d had in the back of my mind that I should change the Linn LVX on my AR turntable for something better. I knew the AR was capable of hosting a decent arm and with a bit of modification, I’d heard them running some really exotic arm/cartridge combinations. I hadn’t considered anything nearly so rarefied as a Zeta because my budget was decidedly curtailed. But this was a chance to get some high-end magic into the proceedings………the start of something big!!

I broached the subject with my girlfriend, eminently sensible, but not completely averse to falling foul of the odd mad spontaneous whim

Question – “How long do you think it would take to drive from Penrith to Liverpool?”
Answer – “…………………..why???????”

Question – “If we set off now, without breakfast, do you think we could get there & back and still have time to get the stuff in the van and drive to the new house?”
Answer – “…………………..why???????”

………and so it went on. Not for too long though because she loves music as much as me and she’s great. I know, ‘cos I married her.

Anyway, down in Liverpool, our man the seller had a mate who worked in a hi-shop & got first dibs on his cast-offs. His mate was buying something (I guess an Ekos) to replace his Ittok, so he got the Ittok & he had to move the Zeta on. I handed over the lolly & he said that I might as well have the old cartridge – a Koetsu Black!

We raced back to Penrith, got the van loaded & moved to Scotland.

The Zeta was great, the arm rest was a little damaged, but it went on the AR to great effect. That’s an underrated turntable and can stand plenty of upgrades. It was what later became called ‘The AR Legend’ and was turned into a cut down version to make the EB101. Later, the Zeta went on my Gyrodec, bought when they were the cinderella turntable, thought only to be mere jewellery. Not to me, though, I preferred it over the Roksan, the PT Anniversary and the omni-present Linn.

Later still, I had it rewired & tweaked up by the original designer, who let it be known that this was one of the first 20 Zetas he ever made – as signified by the gold coloured arm-tube.

[Spectral Morn]

Great story Chris.

I too am blessed with such a wife.


Regards D S D L

[The Grand Wazoo]

I bought a pair of these to replace a pair of Castle Pembrokes – the old stand mounted ones, which were very nice in their own way.

I listened to all sorts of other speakers at the time Magnaplanars, Tannoys, Spicas, TDL’s but these were something else. They have their bass & mid-range drivers on a flying open baffle with a box mounted bass driver that’s rear ported. They stand at 1m tall and are tri-wire/amp capable with the crossover mounted in the open section of the baffle. The baffle is arranged so that what the mid & treble drivers ‘see’ is much narrower than the total width of the speaker, because of the rear angled wings (see the photo ‘cos I can’t describe this very well!)

These speakers lasted me years & saw me through many upgrades to the system & despite using Mirage M3Si’s in my main system, I still own them. I actually preferred them in many ways to the more expensive SD1’s that I had a brief flirtation with – the drive units seemed much more integrated, giving a far more coherent sound.

They’re a little coloured, but the imaging and soundstage are so believable, that I’ve only heard electrostatics better them in this respect. There's an Audax mid unit and an 8" Vifa bass unit. The tweeter was a SEAS metal dome - later models had an isodynamic unit. They worked well in rooms of all sizes and with amps ranging from an old Radford to my big Levinsons. I know they also work well with Naim electronics (not that that’s my thing), the lightning fast character showing these off to their best effect.

There are all sorts of simple things you can do to them to get that last bit of performance out of them. The respond really well to being slightly tilted back to just the right amount– which I guess puts the drivers into time-alignment. I bolted 16 mm of steel plate onto the bases which was the biggest single improvement I have ever made to a hi-fi system & it only cost me £22.

The best sound I ever got out of them was with my 15 watt Radford driving the mid range & a Levinson doing the rest.


.......and now for the piccies.

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/5710/imgp0207.jpg

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/8209/imgp0206.jpg

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/8043/imgp0205.jpg


These are great speakers, and if you ever see a pair for sale – then snap ‘em up. They go for pitifully low prices, because no-one has ever heard of them (£200 - £260 seems to be the going rate).

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Chris

I remember these....but I have never heard a pair. Sound very interesting from your description.


Regards D S D L

[John]

The Zeta is a great arm when I had one I had it rewired by Audio Orgami and it made it even better

[Beechwoods]

The speakers sound really interesting Chris. It's amazing how much variety of design there is out there.

[David Price]

You know your Gyro will sound vastly better if you take the dustcover off, don't you?

[The Grand Wazoo]

You know your Gyro will sound vastly better if you take the dustcover off, don't you?

Hi David,
Yes, of course, & I do remove it for proper critical listening.

However, I live in a 250 yr old stone cottage, with 2 wood burning fireplaces & a 5 yr old on-going renovation project!!!!!

We've got a whole lot of dust, David..............a lotta dust!!!!

Cheers