14 November Bake-off with RFC

[Reffc]

OK...I've had a last minute cancellation so, once again am able to offer a space to another AoS member. Anyone tempted, you'd be most welcome, just PM me this evening for directions and bring yourself, some music and if you like, a but of kit for a bake off. Only stipulation is it must be members with a post history of at least 50 (ie well known to AoS).

[Reffc]

Some photos from today's bake-off:

Before the event when the room still looked like it hadn't been nuked!



First amp up: Emille Ki-40L:



Brumjam (James's) Audionote OTO SE sounding very nice into the Raptors with the Apollo-R as a source






Garrard 401 in fine fettle:




Radford Revival's Prototype pre-amp driving a restored STA 25 sounded fantastic. Great clarity and grip:




Will from Radford Revival demonstrating how an STA25 sounds better when turned upside down with the bottom cover removed



Close up detailing the neatness of Will's fine work:



Teacher of the art of "daft pishanto", grand master Audio Al, demonstrates the correct way to listen to anything that isn't Dire Straits



Close up of the prototype Radford Preamp. No hum or noise even when turned up full whack..a cracking preamp, possibly one of the best actives I've heard to date. Note: Casework will be modified as will switches etc for production models. This is just to get the guts of the amp into a working chassis so it remains work in progress until the new CNC machined cases are ready:



A very enjoyable day in very agreeable company so thank you to everyone who attended.

[DSJR]

Didn't know the HD250 came with a grey? front panel

Re. the STA25. I wish people like this were around when I had mine (1976 - 80). You could barely give the things away back then, let alone get them serviced properly - and mine, a 1966 example, needed it too. I replaced it and its preamp with a Naim CB NAP160/32 - what was I thinking?

[Reffc]

The HD250 preamp front case came as grey or brown as in the example above David (no grey front there). The STA25 as prepared by Radford Revival is the match for ANY valve amplifier of that type at ANY price, and better than most. Viewed in that light, it is a veritable bargain and why they're not flying off the shelves beats the heck out of me. Money does not buy a better sounding or performing modestly rated push pull valve amplifier imho. Low output impedance, plenty of grunt, very low distortion (less than 1% at full output) and neutral sounding with plenty of detail. Does the £6K Emille sound twice as good for being a £6K amp loaded (and I mean absolutely packed internally to the gills) with foo? Nope, no way.

[DSJR]

Thanks, the HD250's and ZD22's I remember selling came in a silvery grey colour. The one that came my way decades later was a bit beat up and I'm not sure about the sonics...

Anyway, glad all hopefully had a great time.

P.S. My SC22/STA25 ended up in Hungary and I agree about the basic design being state of the art back then - there was an HFN test on one and it came out brilliantly, valves or otherwise

[Radford Revival]

Thanks for this Paul, I had a really nice time as did everyone else. It was lovely to meet everyone and it was a pleasure to showcase the new pre-amp design along with one of our restored amps, and it was nice to see they went down well.

Paul's Raptor speakers have a huge non-fatiguing sound and seem to be happy on the end of all kinds of amplifier types - the presentation changing slightly (simply just due to physics) but never falling apart even when driven from anything from a single ended valve amp to a conventional Class-AB transistor amp - implying a nice easy to drive impedance curve. I don't believe I've seen a copy of the curve with the latest revision of the crossovers but as far as I'm aware it's very benign, which explains the fairly relaxed amp requirements.

All is needed is a 10W amp to drive them to satisfying levels for most, having personally witnessed this on Saturday with the Oto, and with some self designed EL84 monoblocks brought up by myself during a previous visit early in the year.

The sound never gets fatiguing due to the quality drive units and careful crossover design, even when driven loud. To be honest you could pretty much just get these and not worry about speakers again, they are happy on the end of most amps, produce deep enough bass for the vast majority of music, treble extends beyond the limits of human hearing and the midrange appears tightly integrated between the woofer and tweeter, there's never an audible disconnect between the two, even when sitting near the speakers.



PS. The HD250 case was already (mostly) empty before I built the preamp into it, no working Radfords were harmed!

[Audio Al]

My turn 2 chip in on the day

I would like 2 thanks Paul for the hosting of the day and the opportunity 2 join in during the day , I was cream crackered when I arrived home , Total of 6 hours driving and 300 miles

On arrival Paul had his Emille in the system along the either the Girodeck or the 401 and the Rega CDP all playing through the Raptor speakers all sounding nice

Then some box swapping started , 1st up was the Radford power / pre combination , The power amp is a work of art , The attention 2 detail is very impressive and boy did this combination of pre / power and Raptors sound amazing , The bass grip and control was very impressive , In my opinion the An and the Claymore were no match for my musical taste when compared with the Radford , The AN Otto was a nice easy listen , non fatiguing as was the Claymore , Each amp was played using the same track from a CD , I can't remember what track it was , This was done for comparison reasons
Again I will say the Radford pre / powers was my preferred combo that suited my type of listening , Others will have their own opinions

Meal time was appreciated and consumed by everyone

Also nice 2 meet other enthusiasts

Once again thanks everyone

[hifinutt]

well missed this little demo in November but had an audition today of the raptor . HUGE sound from a standmount . I used to have focal diablo and really enjoyed these and some great hospitality from the family

they have tremendous bass and wide soundstage
the stands are exceptional and quite rare , in fact I was extremely taken with the stands


http://www.pinkfishmedia.net/forum/s...d.php?t=183015

this pair are available for under 2k which is a snip for what they are