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Thread: MiBO 2016 Photos, Videos and Comments

  1. #1
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

    Default MiBO 2016 Photos, Videos and Comments

    Got to the event early, got all the gear in, was a bit sparsely poulated:



    The gear end of the room:



    This new phono stage made its appearance:



    Equipment table:



    Barrington brought along a fantastic creation, a much improved Rega TT, with many layers of vibration control:



    Much amp swapping was done:



    When Ali arrived his Tandberg R2R was put in to really good effect, it was stunning:



    A side shot also showing Ali's Slagle (?) TVC passive in the foreground, installed a little later:



    Ali's modified 2000 head amp with all Z foil resistors plus external supply gave extremely spacious sound, in comparison with my standard one there was definitely more of everything in the presentation:



    Lastly for this photo round up, Justin's Pro amp was on power duties to rather good effect:



    Overall some stunning sounds were heard, the stars of the day for me were Barringtons amazing TT plus the venerable 40 plus year old Quad ESL57's, which accepted everything thrown at them with aplomb

    I might add at rather higher volume levels than I have ever used them before

    Brilliant first day chaps, more to come from today.
    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

  2. #2
    Join Date: Oct 2012

    Location: The Black Country

    Posts: 6,089
    I'm Alan.

    Default Runners, riders, kit and wit.

    What a fabulous day. Great company, excellent kit, superb craic (is that spelt correctly?.....it is now).

    OK onto the photos. Can't necessarily put details to them all () so will number them and folks can add as they like.

    Number 1. The star, the heroic scale, the impact, the clarity, oh and did I mention the scale.
    Ali's piddling little OBs ......ahem.



    2. The front end



    3. The towers of power



    4. The admiring crowd



    5. JBLs lovingly restored by ...



    6. Goodmans Mezzo 3 with Celestion HF1300 tweeters, a bit of a hit



    7. Justins white heavyweights



    8. The fancy waterfall taps in the rest room* where we went for lunch. (* translation - the bog)



    9. A very tidy system at the other end of the room (memory has gone ...sorry)



    10. ....with a huge amplifier on the floor



    11. Very nice sounding Quad bookshelf speakers



    12. A replacement for number 10, a Proton amp



    13. VU VU VU VU VU , ok I'll stop it now



    14. More JBLs. Good punch with these



    15.



    16. ESL57s raised up off the floor. Cleaner bass with the greater space behind them (couldn't find hooks in the ceiling )



    17. Now don't laugh, it's the dancing partners



    18. Martins Akai's being used properly on stands (at last )



    19. Project Box phono in use in Ali's system



    20. The business end, and what an end



    21. R2R loveliness



    22. Tape



    23. ....and finally (put her down Steve, you don't know where she has been)




    Let's do it again, an overwhelming success, thanks Martin for your sterling efforts
    Last edited by Firebottle; 06-11-2016 at 13:07. Reason: craic
    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: May 2011

    Location: Glasgow

    Posts: 7,718
    I'm Brian.

    Default

    Looks like there was plenty of fantastic gear there Alan . Hope you all had a great day , and thanks for taking the photos and posting them up .

    Here's to the next one
    Last edited by brian2957; 06-11-2016 at 09:11.
    Regards
    Brian

    Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment . (Rumi )


    Korus Computer Audio music server
    JustBoom DAC . HRT Musicstreamer 2
    Amplifier : Sony TA FB740R
    Speakers : Tannoy 637
    Interconnects : MS Audio / Klotz MC5000 .
    Speaker cables : Western Electric 16AG

  4. #4
    Join Date: Sep 2014

    Location: Northern Ireland

    Posts: 1,403
    I'm John.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by brian2957 View Post
    Looks like there was plenty of gear fantastic there Alan . Hope you all had a great day , and thanks for taking the photos and posting them up .

    Here's to the next one
    +1

    And well done Martin for organising, there's always more work than you realise.

  5. #5
    Join Date: Mar 2012

    Location: London and Somerset

    Posts: 2,097
    I'm Dave.

    Default

    Thanks Alan, great photos. Looks like everyone had a great day, roll on the next one..
    Kraken, Saturn, Emotion, Flying V Rocket, Planets.

  6. #6
    Join Date: May 2016

    Location: Birmingham, U.K

    Posts: 351
    I'm Taz.

    Default

    Great kit there and everybody looks to have had a good day. Wish I was there too now... A little jealous Lol.
    Martin's akais look lurvly

  7. #7
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    Some names to the faces would be good. Just so we can see who the guilty are.
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  8. #8
    Join Date: Jul 2011

    Location: lancashire

    Posts: 802
    I'm brian.

    Default

    Some great pictures of what looks a great day.

    Not sure about the dodgy dancing but hopefully that was only a brief comedic interlude , before the serious stuff took over.

    Well done to all.

    Ps any bake off that features Sonny Rollins, centre stage, gets my vote.

  9. #9
    Join Date: Feb 2013

    Location: W Lothian

    Posts: 99,005
    I'm Grant.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by walpurgis View Post
    Some names to the faces would be good. Just so we can see who the guilty are.
    Yes, shame the drunks.
    Regards,
    Grant .... ؠ ......Don't be such a big girl's blouse

    I've said it before and I'll say it again: democracy simply-doesn't-work
    .... ..... ...... ...... ................... ..... ..... ..... ..... .....
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    Oh my god! There's nothing wrong with the bidet is there?

    “Nothing discloses real character like the use of power. It is easy for the weak to be gentle. Most people can bear adversity. But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never abused it, except on the side of mercy".

    “You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police ... yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts: words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home -- all the more powerful because forbidden -- terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic.”

    "You don't have free will. You have the appearance of free will.”

    “There's a war out there, old friend. A world war. And it's not about who's got the most bullets. It's about who controls the information. What we see and hear, how we work, what we think... it's all about the information!”


    ***SMILE, BE HAPPY***

  10. #10
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

    Posts: 37,779
    I'm Martin.

    Default

    First of all just want to say many thanks to everyone who attended and made this a great time with absolutely no issues or problems, in particular Ali and Alan who calmly and expertly dealt with any technical problems and threw themselves enthusiastically in to the event, and to everyone else who set up their kit with no fuss, I really didn't have to do anything except book the room and be 'mein host' . (Although as to the latter, whilst being an angry loner has its advantages it isn't the best training for doing this sort of thing. Starting drinking at midday didn't help..I'm not in very good shape this morning ).

    Anyway I was please we could follow the example set by NEBO of effectively having a big, happy party with some awesome sounds from so many different set ups, all of which offered something different an with a sound quality that you rarely get to hear at a dealership or a commercial show.

    I only took a couple of pictures but here they are:

    Alan's (Firebottle) QUAD ESL speakers. Heard ESL before, never heard them used as a disco PA though, but it worked. Ever seen a 600W pro amp clipping into ESL 57s? None of us had until Friday night, we are still waiting on the technical report for that one Also shown here are Alan's modded Goodman's Mezzo 3, these sounded better than you would think on Friday, but on Saturday, powred by a Luxman and with Sharif's (Audioflyer) modded Thorens record deck I and a lot of people were absolutely amazed at the capabilities of these speakers. They actually stood toe to toe with the superb JBLs in the same system.



    Y'all know I'm a digital/solid state man who likes Power! So wasn't sure what to expect from this 12 watt Leben valve integrated that Steve (Bourney) brought along, although even sat in its box on a table it was drawing some worship from those who know. This was set up with Sharif's Thorens as a source and some JBL 4410 studio monitors to create the standing waves in air. And what standing waves they were! Okay not cheap system even if you bought it all used but my God it really did sound like the voice of angels, and with great bass quality and dynamics. Hugely impressive bit of kit and wonderful build quality and styling too.



    Don't seem to have a picture of Sharif's modded Thorens but have to mention it anyway. He is using a Philips ceramic pick up, new old stock from 1968. Frankly, it was hard to believe the quality of the sound. Anyone who tells you that pickup cartridge technology has come a long way since 1968 simply hasn't heard this cartridge and badly needs to. Sharif has more plans to improve the deck, lord knows what that will be like as right now it is certainly one of the best record players I have ever heard.

    And speaking of outstanding record decks this was another:



    Barrington's heavily modded Rega (no idea what model Rega it started out as) which took him ages of meticulous set up. Jaw-dropping sound quality, faultless in fact. He has the bearing so smooth that it is impossible to see the platter spinning unless you are looking at it from six inches away, when you can just about detect it. Absolutely flawless sound.

    JBL 4410 Studio Monitors, the rare appearance (for Stoke) of some sunlight spoils it a bit. I have always been a slavering JBL fanboy so not hard to please with JBLs but I thought these were exceptional, although they did have some superb partnering amps with the Luxman and later the Leben, and a fantastic vinyl source. Rare in the UK and not a cheap used buy, they put a lot of silly-money modern speakers to shame, not just for clarity but because they are fun to listen to as well.



    Last but deffo not least, Ali's active open baffle system. He played some Hugh Maskala - truly a wtf? moment. People often say 'no hi-fi can reproduce music with the dynamics that you get live' and maybe that is true but seriously how close did this system come? Just staggering levels, and very clean, anyone who thinks their KEF LS0 (or whatever) 'have good dynamics' really should hear this system. For that matter I suspect even the biggest Tannoy DC could not compete. 'Shock and Awe' encapsulated in an hi-fi system. Should also mention the Garrard 401 that was fronting it. Ali has built this into slate plinths, it is enormous and must weigh 50 kilos (I helped him carry it in so believe me that isn't a guess). A deck that majors on speed and slam fronting a speaker/amp combo that majors on, well, speed and slam. Crazy but fantastically good. Thanks, Ali for going to the massive effort of bringing this huge system all that way.



    Indeed, thanks to everyone who came along and made it a great event, everyone seemed to be having a good time all the time and that was the most important thing for me. Hope to see you all again next time.

    EDIT will post a bit more later as there is a lot I haven't mentioned including Barry's yummy Mark Levinson pre and Quad amplifiers. Need more cups of tea first.
    Last edited by Macca; 06-11-2016 at 10:42.
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

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