The time has come, hi there!
Hi all,
For over 30 years I have a passion for music and audio gear. It started with singles, LP's and cassettetapes in my teens up till now exploring de dungeons of digital audio. After quite a long stable period I am now in transition with new speakers, amplifiers and a fresh look at the virtues of vinyl audio.
For those interested I will disclose my philosophy, history and current system below:
Speakers and amplifiers:
My first audiophile system consisted of SPICA-TC50s with the Musical Fidelity A1 “cooking plate” amplifier. What a synergetic combination! I’ve also auditioned tube amplifiers back in the day: what a great sound, but those were out of the question financially. After ten years of service the amps were cooked ready and I needed new amps (I was not into kitting, modding and repairing back then) and decided to go for the tubes. In the day these were still unaffordable for me so I build them myself from a local 300B kit. The search for efficient speakers ended with my diy Altec VOTTs wich lasted for almost 20 years in the system. Triode gems and efficient speakers rock my boat!
The Altecs have provided for much enjoyment but I decided that I wanted something a tad smaller so that the system can fit in a smaller room. They are sold now and now I am enjoying a bespoke set of Bastanis Mandala Duo speakers with alnico drivers (100dB+). What a great speaker this is! Sound is already superb with my intermediate and compromised SE EL95 amplifier but I expect it to be stellar with to-be-build Transcendent OTL amplifiers or the non-plus-ultra SE amp I have in my sleeve (diy of course).
Digital:
I can remember the introduction of the CD payer which I first heard at a Philips venue. I was very impressed with the sound and decided to purchase one, but finally at home it sounded nowhere as good as the demo unit. This difference has been haunting me of years and though my Rega Planet and Luxman CD players sounded quite good I really recreated excellent digital sound at the introduction of “computer audio” in my system. For a long time now I’ve been experimenting to explore the limits of what’s possible. Now I’ve been forced to ‘outsource’ this to PeterSt of Phasure, who does an excellent job in finding another level all the time. Dac is NOS1a with matching Music player PC and is my main source and ultimate reference.
Vinyl:
This is less of a successtory as my digital, speaker and amplifier adventures. I never forgot the sound of my old cheap Akai turntable. Not the kind of clean high end sound of digital but the exiting, fat, thrusting and organic flow that it was able to reproduce. I also missed the recordcovers, smell and needle-in-the-groove ritual of vinyl playing. If there is anything I would like more from digital it is that substance of the old deck. So I decided to reenter vinyl around 2008 with a Technics SL-1200-mk5 on sale. Over the years I’ve been modding this deck, but ultimately to no definitive success. Another opportunity knocked two years ago when a friend pointed me to a Thorens TD-124 with SME 3009-S2 arm. This deck is better at recreating my vinyl dream sound yet I am always zooming in the cartridge every time I play. The arm is prime suspect since it is very finicky about setup and cartridge.
Now for the fun of it I will be picking up the SL-1200 and explore its untapped potential. The SL-1200 has a stock arm replaced after poor and unsatisfying results with both a modded Rega RB-300 (too "live") and a Jelco 750ST (too "dull").
Phono stages are a Lounge Audio LCR and a superb bespoke LCR tubed phono (unfortunately on loan). Carts have been Dynavector DV17D2 MK2/3 (two destroyed by the sleeve of my pullover, so no more expensive carts for me anymore) and are at present a Dynavector 10x5, a DL-103 and a superb grace F9 with ordinary cantilever and stylus.
I hope to meet you in the threads,
regards, Coen
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