My session at the Toyster's...

[Mike]

I don't think there are any 'guarantees' Marco, as always, use your ears!

[Marco]

Yep, valves are strange beasts!

But I've not been disappointed so far with any 1950s era valves I've used or heard. GEC 1950s KT88s were wonderful sounding, as have been ECC83s, 6SN7s, and ECC35s from that era. No doubt though something will come along eventually that will be a sonic disaster...

Marco.

[Mike]

No doubt though something will come along eventually that will be a sonic disaster...

Like that Chinese 12AX7 I sent you maybe?

What a piece of crap!

[Iain Sinclair]

I'll let him tell you himself. I'm sure he'll be adding his own comments in due course - and with pictures [Note to Steve: get them uploaded from your phone and posted A.S.A.P]

Interesting read, thanks. It does put Steve's earlier rhapsodies about his system into perspective! I look forward to reading his comments.

[Mike]

I look forward to reading his comments.

Don't hold your breath!

[Marco]

Oh don't worry he'll be along in the early hours of tomorrow morning once he's finished his taxi duties...

I'm quite sure though, Iain, Steve's "earlier rhapsodies" were entirely accurate. The last time I visited him he had (apart from the Spectral preamp) an entirely different system. The Bel Canto CDP is undoubtedly better than the Linn Majik it replaced, as are the Hecos compared to the Piegas. I think all the Hecos needed was a decent valve preamp in-line, and Steve is taking the necessary steps to obtain one. I also never heard the Puresound A30 in its standard guise in Steve's system. No doubt though after hearing how phenomenal it is in AOS/TD form he was justified to wax lyrical about the improvement Anthony's redesigning has brought about.

Marco.

[pure sound]

1950's valves are crap Marco. Its valves from the 20's & 30's you want!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-2-Globe-1...ayphotohosting


http://cgi.ebay.com/3-RARE-NICE-MATC...3286.m14.l1318


Interesting write up though. Looking forward to Steve's comments. You actually heard the standard A30 and the Celan 500's at the Practical show in Manchester last Autumn. We played a couple of tracks from the Mark Knopfler solo album you'd just bought.

[Marco]

Guy,

1950's valves are crap Marco. Its valves from the 20's & 30's you want!

LOL - mad stuff. Hence why I said "or earlier", and I guess that's ok if you're into SETs

Interesting write up though. Looking forward to Steve's comments. You actually heard the standard A30 and the Celan 500's at the Practical show in Manchester last Autumn. We played a couple of tracks from the Mark Knopfler solo album you'd just bought.

Yep, that's very true, and as I told Steve, I didn't like it much until your SP10 went on

The Bel Canto is undoubtedly a fine CD player - it's just that in my opinion its DAC is not of the same quality as its transport section, or perhaps I'm just spoiled by the Sony?

The Hecos are superb for the money but in my opinion need a good pre/power valve combo to achieve greatness. It was difficult to assess the A30 at the show and judge exactly what it was doing in a then unfamiliar system, but based on what I heard at Steve's it appears the Hecos need somewhat more serious amplification to show what they can really do.

Marco.

[Steve Toy]

I think Marco was right to point out the fact that my system is slightly imbalanced and that my source component/pre needs to be upgraded to match the rest. The Spectral is a good pre and I prefered it to the Croft before Marco had it modified, but the latest mods have taken the Croft well into the Big League for detail and effortless beautiful music Now I want one or at least something like it.

The Heco Celan 500s in place when Marco was here are a 2 and half-way design that perhaps lends itself to sounding slightly full in the bass with an equally recessed midrange.

The 700s I now have and own are better in this regard in that they are a full 3-way design. The midrange has more presence and the bass is tighter. I still miss what the offboard DAC and valve pre can do though.

My plan is to get a DAC of some description, either the DAC3 by Belcanto or a Sony DAS R1 if I can find one for reasonable money (or at all). I think the Bel Canto DAC is more likely. The pre could come from either Glenn Croft, Anthony or possibly elsewhere. An offboard PSU for the pre and a matching one for the Bel Canto transport that runs off 12 volts DC, would also be desirable.

It does put Steve's earlier rhapsodies about his system into perspective! I look forward to reading his comments.

Iain,

I think you were eagerly awaiting to read (and reply with) something negative here. I don't know if you deliberately set out to pick fault, look for flaws and generally play the role of negative sceptic, raining on parades and doubting the integrity or accuracy of experiences shared on this forum for the sake of balance, or because you're a grumpy old sod.

Either way I don't think such contributions really add anything of benefit to the forum, tbh. I hope that your future contributions here will do more than just have a knock at what others are doing to improve their music listening experiences.

.....

Ahem, pictures of our little bake-off will follow shortly.

[alb]

It's good to have someone come round and give their honest opinion.
All to often people are too polite to say anything, for fear of upsetting the owner.

The difficulty is ... that everyone has their own ideas about how things should sound.
This is where taking your gear to a friends place can be invaluable, sometimes for both parties. Always something to be learned.