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Thread: A great afternoon

  1. #1
    Join Date: Aug 2012

    Location: North East

    Posts: 3,670
    I'm Steve.

    Default A great afternoon

    Had a great afternoon mixing it up with fellow AOS member Richie yesterday, A full Saturday afternoon of great music and tinkering. Having said that, It's going to cost me a fortune because Richie brought with him some great CD's and LP's which i am going to have to track down. Not least was an album by Younger Brother called Vaccine, brilliant. The highlight of the afternoon for me though was listening to Elbow live at Joderal Bank. That's already been ordered. We spent the afternoon swapping things in and out and i was pleased that Richie brought along his Techie with upgraded power supply as i am in the middle of such a project with mine. It sounded absolutely great. We slotted my old Ruark Crusader III's in for a while to give them an easier time and they just took everything we could through at them. Cracking amps for silly money.
    The biggest surprise is when we swapped speaker cables. Swapping my Witch Hat audio cable for Mark Grant's new hi fi cable filled out the sound and brought some warmth to the party. This was perhaps the biggest surprise of the day and i may just have a punt.
    A big thanks to Richie for an entertaining afternoon and for being kind enough to bring with him some great things to play with.
    Last edited by Floyddroid; 03-05-2015 at 23:53.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

    Default

    Excellent Steve, it's always a bit tempting to acquire new music when presented to you, if the wallet can cope

    I had a really good session with lots of different artists around at Oceanobsession's yesterday, cracking system and sound.

    Alan
    I love Hendrix for so many reasons. He was so much more than just a blues guitarist - he played damn well any kind of guitar he wanted. In fact I'm not sure if he even played the guitar - he played music. - Stevie Ray Vaughan

  3. #3
    Join Date: Aug 2012

    Location: North East

    Posts: 3,670
    I'm Steve.

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    Indeed. I played Richie the propeller heads via the Firebottle/Lenco/Jelo/103 and he was suitably impressed. Richi brought some nice vinyl with him too which i am having trouble tracking down.
    Quote Originally Posted by Firebottle View Post
    Excellent Steve, it's always a bit tempting to acquire new music when presented to you, if the wallet can cope

    I had a really good session with lots of different artists around at Oceanobsession's yesterday, cracking system and sound.

    Alan

  4. #4
    Join Date: Mar 2008

    Location: Galashiels

    Posts: 13,669
    I'm inthescottishmafia.

    Default

    Shame that Elbow isn't available on vinyl..
    “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel. I have always needed fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio”

    Hunter S Thompson

  5. #5
    Join Date: Aug 2012

    Location: North East

    Posts: 3,670
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    Indeed. However, the CD sounded great Ali.
    Quote Originally Posted by Ali Tait View Post
    Shame that Elbow isn't available on vinyl..

  6. #6
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    Steve, if you liked the Younger Brother 'Vaccine', I recommend their 'Flock of Bleeps' album as well. You'd probably like 'Skylon' by OTT too and while you're at it bung 'Are You Shpongled' by Shpongle on the list/ great albums with fantastic recordings.
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  7. #7
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Newcastle UK

    Posts: 3,745
    I'm Rich.

    Default

    Yes a very enjoyable afternoon had catching up with Steve outside of our normal NEBO meets.

    As well as catching up with Steve I was dead keen to hear his Avondale voyager monoblocks and preamp built especially for him by the most affable Mr Les Wolstenholme himself. They certainly didn't disappoint and delivered all the verve and musical excitement I've come to associate with Les's work. Having heard AlanT's voyagers at the last NEBO it was interesting to see how Les's implementation of the design worked. Given it was a while ago since I heard Alan's I am going off memory but Steve's amps had more 'edge' and seemed to voiced to be more exciting. Loads of power and ruthless insight but at the beginning the sound was a little hard for my tastes. The cable was definitely playing a role here... more on this in a bit.

    To start with we enjoyed some Thomas Dolby playing via Steve's Lenco into his VTL phono stage. Steve describes this as a big American type of sound and I wouldn't fault that. I really enjoyed hearing this phono stage it's really something special but I preferred it's MM presentation than the MC after we'd opened the case and changed a couple of loading settings. For me it seemed more balanced with MM than MC and partnered well with my Technics which has eally starting to come on song now. My AT440mla cart has broken in now and I was more than happy with how it sounded via the VTL.

    Time to try some other cables though, Steve had been using some Witchhat Audio cables with his voyagers to his speakers. To be honest I'm not a fan of these, they seemed to deliver loads of headroom and ultra high sparkle to the system but switching to the pair of Vandamme HiFi cables that Qwin had kindly loaned me at our last meet made a huge improvement for me. The soundstage seemed not as big but overall more balanced much sweeter in the treble and upper mids. If I were Steve I think I'd be flogging the Witchhat stuff and buying some of these. They made the the system less edgy and chilled things out a bit which is really a matter of taste I guess.

    We enjoyed some CDs by Younger Brother - Vaccine, King Crimson - Discipline, and Fleet Foxes. The Hold Steady's Boys and Girls in Amercia is great test CD for me. They're a band who play live and record with an 'everything on' kind of sound reminiscent of the E Street Band at their best but with a punky vocal and attitude. I love this band and as the music is so busy it can easily wrongfoot a less able system I find. Pleased to say Steve's system passed this test for me and produced it warts and all despite their noisy production values.

    Then onto some more vinyl, we had some of Beck's wonderful Morning Phase album which is quite lo-fi and a bit squashed sounding anyway. The system brought out the ethereal vocals and subtle banjo and mandolin tracks which sit quite far back in the mix and put them centre stage. Nice!

    Steve then let his Lenco rip with some Propellerheads and Goldfrapp via the Firebottle phono stage. The propellerheads track had the sofa shaking with the bass, Steve must have some very understanding neighbours The Goldfrapp, whilst never one of my favourite artists was big highlight for me. Luscious vocals and moody backing tracks coming across well.

    I'd brought along my little NVA A40mk2 monoblocks to see how they held up against against the mighty voyagers and they certainly didn't disappoint. For me they were clear and open sounding, if not as 'exciting' as the Avondales they were very musical indeed and both Steve and I described them as honest sounding. They more than held their own and partnered beautifully with the Avondale preamp. It will be interesting to create this setup again at a future NEBO and get Les's take on this pairing. I'm sure the owner of NVA would prefer his own designed passive with these but there was something special in this match, indeed I'd go as far as saying I'd happily live with this combination with a Firebottle handling vinyl duties.

    To finish the day we brought out Steve's Ruarks, much beloved of the NEBO faithfull, to hear them with this pairing. Also excellent if nowhere near the the scale of the big Tannoys, and we enjoyed some of Elbow's live at Jodrell Bank and some live Pink Floyd. I did say to Steve that if I were him I'd probably only ever listen to live material on his system, such is the concert scale it provides...

    A real treat to hear the Firebottle2 phono stage also, a smashing bit of kit which gave all the gain and tube warmth I like in my vinyl sound but did it's job and shone in particular through the NVA and Avondale combo.

    So much more I could say but I'd be rambling and my thumbs are tiring from writing this on a tablet so I'll quit now. All that remains is to thank Steve again for the hospitality, the excellent leaf tea (builder's strength) and biccies. Look forward to having you at my place to hear my kit in situ when I have my RPi and Dac running by then.

    Roll on NEBO6!
    One of these days... I'm going to cut you into little pieces.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Mar 2008

    Location: Galashiels

    Posts: 13,669
    I'm inthescottishmafia.

    Default

    How did the Firebottle compare to the VTL?
    “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel. I have always needed fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio”

    Hunter S Thompson

  9. #9
    Join Date: Nov 2011

    Location: Newcastle UK

    Posts: 3,745
    I'm Rich.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ali Tait View Post
    How did the Firebottle compare to the VTL?
    Just on MC with Steve's Lenco I'd say I preferred the firebottle. They're chalk and cheese I think Ali both do different things well. The VTL sounds bigger, much bigger in fact and more revealing. However the firebottle had more warmth and balance so if in this set up I'd pick the firebottle. That said, if I had to choose between the VTL on MM settings with my deck and my NVA and Croft I'd have the VTL. It's an impressive bit of kit.
    One of these days... I'm going to cut you into little pieces.

  10. #10
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default





    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


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