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Thread: The Odyssey

  1. #1
    Join Date: Sep 2010

    Location: Nr Ashbourne, East Midlands, UK

    Posts: 109
    I'm Mike.

    Default

    Ive been on here and the Wam a while but never got around to posting much about my system, anyway I thought I would do so, so here goes.

    I was a keen musician at school and thought about going to music college. Giving up this idea I was keen to have a decent system to reproduce music at home.

    This started as the usual Richer Sound system (Technics CD/Marantz PM66SE/MS 10i) which was pretty enjoyable, though compromised by my room at the time.

    Not sure why, but I progressed (!?) to a Naim pre/power around 2000 and some PMC GB1s.

    I never was happy with this and eventually I was in a position to do something about it. I bought a XTC Pre/Art Audio Quintet, and suddenly everything came alive. This sounded great but in limited way. So now I wanted more...Living Voice IBX R2s came next...in hindsight not a great choice (for me) most probably down to the shape of the room/proximity of the side walls.

    I felt/was told that it couldn’t be the speakers and started the journey.



    Some small changes coincided with a move to a different room where the side walls were much further away and things did improve but by now I had heard better. Also I had started playing for a local amateur orchestra which had reignited my interest in classical music.



    Listening to the LSO perform Rachmaninov Symphonic dances at the Barbican, brought it home. I had been changing my musical taste/programme to suit my set up and in reality my system did a poor job of playing anything with real scale.

    By now I had got to know some people in the industry and had listened to a fair bit more kit.
    I thought it could be the lack of pre amplifier. This lead to the purchase of a Puresound L300 which helped but didn’t really solve the problem.
    Next I decided that it must be the Power Amplifier. So I auditioned several including Canary, Border patrol etc.
    The Canary 300b PP were the closest to right but the ones I borrowed had a noisy transformer and a couple of conversations convinced me that I didn't want to sort this out.

    In fact I was talking to an amplifier manufacturer explaining that I couldn't get the scale/dynamics and realism that I wanted and that I didn’t know where to go...Tannoys he said they would be a step in the right direction for you…
    Last edited by Mike Adams; 15-01-2017 at 19:10.
    StSt Motus DQ + SME 312 'MB Special'
    Transfix Axia / HM7
    Art Audio Vinyl 1 Ref
    Modified Mac Mini/Weiss DAC 202
    SJS Model 2
    BP P20 (SJS upgraded)
    Trenner and Friedl RA
    [/SIZE]

  2. #2
    Join Date: Sep 2010

    Location: Nr Ashbourne, East Midlands, UK

    Posts: 109
    I'm Mike.

    Default

    The Tannoy Saga

    Well some more exposure to different systems and I was convinced that Tannoys were a step in the right direction for me. I had read through the threads here and heard various models.

    I wont go into what a disaster it all was but I didn’t get the drive units I paid for and eventually I returned them with a significant cost to myself.

    Along the way I had some glorious sound.



    Changing from early Golds to actual Reds was a positive, and in particular once I had swapped the Lockwood Majors for rectangular GRFs that were Tom's (Montesquieu)...It could sound sublime

    If I could have got it to work without fault it would have been great but some 18 months of trying and I decided it was time to cut my losses…
    Last edited by Mike Adams; 10-01-2017 at 13:45.
    StSt Motus DQ + SME 312 'MB Special'
    Transfix Axia / HM7
    Art Audio Vinyl 1 Ref
    Modified Mac Mini/Weiss DAC 202
    SJS Model 2
    BP P20 (SJS upgraded)
    Trenner and Friedl RA
    [/SIZE]

  3. #3
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    Lovely looking system and delicious speakers....
    Adey

    Sent from my Aquaris E4.5 using Tapatalk
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  4. #4
    Join Date: Sep 2010

    Location: Nr Ashbourne, East Midlands, UK

    Posts: 109
    I'm Mike.

    Default

    Thanks Adey...

    Somewhere along all this I decided that I needed to try vinyl. Every time I visited someone with a turntable I always preferred the sound this produced, so decided to give this a go….

    I purchased a modified Lenco B51 with a Schroder style arm. I got a nude 103 and a Icon Audio PS1 phono stage. This was easy to set up and sounded great.



    I also found that with the Tannoys I preferred PP to SE, so went from) SE300b to PP KT88 though contrary to others I preferred the amp in triode mode which I found slightly sweeter/more refined.
    StSt Motus DQ + SME 312 'MB Special'
    Transfix Axia / HM7
    Art Audio Vinyl 1 Ref
    Modified Mac Mini/Weiss DAC 202
    SJS Model 2
    BP P20 (SJS upgraded)
    Trenner and Friedl RA
    [/SIZE]

  5. #5
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    Looking great. I was reading up about that arm the other day as one was on the bay for a reasonable price. How does it perform?

    One day I may go the Tannoy route...

    Adey

    Sent from my Aquaris E4.5 using Tapatalk
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  6. #6
    Join Date: Sep 2010

    Location: Nr Ashbourne, East Midlands, UK

    Posts: 109
    I'm Mike.

    Default

    Well I got mine with the TT, at the time I just didn't want the faff of finding a suitable tonearm.
    I think the design is amazing TBH; mine sounds very good, but if I could find an affordable original reference I would be very temped...
    Last edited by Mike Adams; 09-01-2017 at 23:59.
    StSt Motus DQ + SME 312 'MB Special'
    Transfix Axia / HM7
    Art Audio Vinyl 1 Ref
    Modified Mac Mini/Weiss DAC 202
    SJS Model 2
    BP P20 (SJS upgraded)
    Trenner and Friedl RA
    [/SIZE]

  7. #7
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    I think yours is a German make and uses only magnetism whereas the Schroeder users magnetism and a fine thread to maintain geometry.

    Adey

    Sent from my Aquaris E4.5 using Tapatalk
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  8. #8
    Join Date: Sep 2010

    Location: Nr Ashbourne, East Midlands, UK

    Posts: 109
    I'm Mike.

    Default

    The Tannoys would have been the end of the journey for me but issues with matching the HF units of the Reds made it impossible for me to live with them on a long term basis, so eventually they went.

    Initially I had aspirations of building a 3 way horn system around the GRF cabinets, but I realised I actually wanted to be able to enjoy listening again rather than dealing with mis-aligned drivers/building cross overs, so when the opportunity came to try some modern dual concentrics I thought it was worth a try.

    Enter Trenner and Friedl with their RA units.



    Somewhat different to the Tannoys I had as they actually have a wave guide for the HF unit so are like a cross between a Tannoy and a Altec 604 unit. They are also 12 drive units (rather than the 15s) and the cabinets are of a significantly smaller volume than the GRFs.

    Firstly they weren’t faulty. No weird imaging or resonance issues (which I had with the Tannoys) They are more neutral/less coloured and work far better at lower volume than the Tannoys had. Being a ported box similar to the Lockwoods I hadn’t actually lost any bass extension…

    However some of what the Tannoys did, they don’t do so well. The dynamic impact is less (most likely due to the change in driver size) and I think they aren’t quite so revealing. Also I had got used to the horn loading from the GRFs which coupled with my room quite well to give a more 3D image than I got from a ported box.
    StSt Motus DQ + SME 312 'MB Special'
    Transfix Axia / HM7
    Art Audio Vinyl 1 Ref
    Modified Mac Mini/Weiss DAC 202
    SJS Model 2
    BP P20 (SJS upgraded)
    Trenner and Friedl RA
    [/SIZE]

  9. #9
    Join Date: Dec 2015

    Location: Alicante. Spain.

    Posts: 1,885
    I'm Adrian.

    Default

    Lovely. I've emailed them for more info.

    Adey

    Sent from my Aquaris E4.5 using Tapatalk
    Technics SP10 mk2
    Jan Allaerts MC 1 Boron mk1 cart
    Miyajima Shilabe cart
    Hashimoto HM-X SUT
    Siggwan (gimballed not unipivot) Cocobola 12"
    Aurorasound Vida LCR Phonostage
    The Truth linestage
    Dave Slagle Autoformer Volume Controller
    Cary 805c SET amps
    Audio Note ANe-SPX speakers
    Townshend Isolda speaker cables
    Cardas Golden Presence interconnects

  10. #10
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

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

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Adams View Post
    The Tannoy Saga

    Well some more exposure to different systems and I was convinced that Tannoys were a step in the right direction for me. I had read through the threads here and heard various models.

    I wont go into what a disaster it all was but I didn’t get the drive units I paid for and eventually I got them taken pack with a significant cost to myself.

    Along the way I had some glorious sound.



    Changing from early Golds to actual Reds was a positive, and in particular once I had swapped the Lockwood Majors for rectangular GRFs that were Tom's (Montesquieu)...It could sound sublime

    If I could have got it to work without fault it would have been perfect but some 12 months of trying and I decided it was time to cut my losses…
    Interesting account of events, Mike, and sorry to hear of your various trials and tribulations! So what was the issue with the Lockies? I use a pair of Majors myself (fitted with 15" Monitor Golds), with modded crossovers, on the end of a nice P/P 50W Class A valve amp, powered by KT150s, and the results are sublime

    Btw, I went from Reds to Golds, and aside from the superior midrange of the Reds, the overall balance was much preferable with a wide range of music.

    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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