Hello I'm Mike

[MikeMusic]

From sunny Surrey
MartinT suggested I join in the hifi conference from a multi conferencing system, cix.co.uk we are both in
Could have called myself MikeEbay as that is where I pick up all sorts, working on the basis that if it doesn't work I can resell
I haven't resold anything yet, so maybe MikeMagpie !
Current system :
New mains board after the house was refurbed last year
Dedicated circuit for the hifi
Special unswitched socket into a Power Plant Premier driving a Linn LP12, Naim CDX, Naim 82 and Naim 500 quite late Linn Isobariks
Various Kimber power kords and interconnects
The kit sits on Mana sound bases and tables with reference tops for the LP12 and CDX
Around 5 years ago a similar system to that sounded rubbish.
Most of the improvements came from the mains - unswitched sockets and Kimber power kords
Currently listening to Alex Harvey, SAHB Stories on my work system
Mike

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Mike of many possible names, welcome to AoS :) Looks like Martin sent you in the right direction, though you many not think so after a while on here i can assure you :eyebrows:

Nice load of kit you have there by the sound of it, perhaps you'd grace us with some pictures i the gallery?

All the best to you & i hope you enjoy your stay :wave:

[MartinT]

Hey Mike

Welcome at last! I'd clean forgotten (!) you had a Power Plant Premier, join the clean mains club! Mark (above) wants to design his own from a class T amp circuit; I suspect we'll see a red glow over the Cambridgeshire skies at some future date ;)

Have a good poke around and do post a photo or two in the Gallery area. Meanwhile, I'm going to get myself over very soon now for a listen.

[Beechwoods]

Welcome to AOS, Mike!

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AOS Mike


Enjoy the forum and have fun.


Regards D S D L

[Alex_UK]

Hello Mike, I like the Mechanics of your introductory post, and I see you like to Bolt-on the Mana! Bet it helps when you want to Caine the system - hopefully you haven't got too many neighbours nearby and live in an Old field or something? Hope the forum doesn't Fox you, or it looks too much like we are in our own little Bub(b)le?

Sorry, couldn't resist, but now run out of Mikes or Michaels that I can think of! :lol:

Sounds like the mains was a great upgrade for what looks like a very nice system "on paper." As Mark suggests, if you can manage some pictures in the Gallery some time that would satisfy our voyeuristic tendencies.

Enjoy the forum, and promise I won't take the Michael again! ;)

[MikeMusic]

Thanks guys
Just found time and worked out how to search and reply

Latest purchase just arrived at work

Some Mana Sound Bases (not stands) to go under the Isobariks
(didn't know they had made them)
Price was nice. Asked Colin who sold them if they really would support Isobariks, he said....
>I've heard Isobariks on Mana stands with about nine Sound Bases under them! So that's the weight of the speakers, stands and eight other Bases bearing down on that poor little Base at the bottom. No problem. Fairly drives the spikes in though ;0) Sounds pretty interesting by the way.
also
>People have put stuff on top of nineteen Sound Stages, probably more
Er, that is quite high
Course all I need now is the time and the sheer strength the balance then lift all this gear up and on as well as do about 2 weeks work, all on Sunday
Mark Stewart - Control Data just finished, very good work out for your bass, onto John McLauglin- The Promise
Photos, right. Another time issue which also requires me learning to us the camera properly and finding out how to post to here....
Ooh looks like
>Attach files could do that
Back soon (er or later)
Mike

[JohnM]

Welcome Mike :cool:

[MartinT]

Mike - talk to Marco (the site owner) about Mana stands, he uses loads of them to good effect.

[MikeMusic]

I just found out from Colin that Marco used to own these !
Listening to National Health - Dreams Wide Awake. Great Soft Machine, Caravan, Hatfields like sound

[Marco]

Indeed. I'm surprised that Colin has sold them... However, if you need any advice or info, Mike, just ask :)

Marco.

[MikeMusic]

Put the Sound Bases under the Isobariks on Linn stands yesterday
Took a long time as I was levelling on a not great floor, cleaning and almost completely single handed. My Isobariks have the 'interesting' 3 cables into the base with the xovers and then the 3 cables into the top, mid and bass in the back of the speaker

So far as I can hear they do seem to make quite a difference

Difficult to do an A-B test due to the time for changeover but unless I
overdosed on placebos .....
More detail, quite a lot more mid range and more bass.
Sally remarked how much more bass she hears upstairs, even at a low volume

Noticed more clarity in other rooms

I've heard 3 Sound bases improve sound under a 4 shelf rack, still not sure why.
Why do the speakers sound better ?

(Colin is funding some more Sound Stages, but had such a wide ranging chat on the phone I'm not sure what it was now)

Mercury Rev Yerself is Steam. A bit odd, still getting used to it. Reminds me a bit of early Pink Floyd and German bands of that time

[Frog]

Hello Mike, welcome aboard !
I'm another newbie, they all seem quite gentle here...

[MikeMusic]

Hello Wayne and welcome to you too

I seem to start wars in "another place" when I talk about mains leads making a difference to sound. Hope it goes down better in here

Iggy Pop - Beat em Up. A nod or two to heavy metal, pretty good. Mr Pop is a nutter

[MartinT]

I seem to start wars in "another place" when I talk about mains leads making a difference to sound. Hope it goes down better in here

No worries in here, Mike. Lots of us use special mains cables but we don't get it all our way as there are naysayers too.

I wonder where 'another place' could be? ;)

[JazzBones]

Hi ya Mike and welcome,

Back in the 1980s I actually went to John Watson's, the founder of Mana Acoustics, house in Pinner, Middlesex where he was trying out various platforms etc on his Baraks which were placed tight into corners of a smallish square room. His Linn was on a Mana table as were his electronics (all Naim :)) at the time although he did go in for Stealth amps later. The sound was really good and I enjoyed my time with John, where is he now?

I ended up buying a Mana sub table and about five years ago managed to get hold of a genuine Mana platforms for my SBLs (now slightly modded). There is a defo improvement when used with the rig you have although I must say that the multi stacked Manas are, shall we say, and aquired taste ;).

Also, a few years ago NEAT speakers manufacturers used his stuff to demo there gear at one of the HI Fi London shows, from memory old Naim amps, Pink Traiange DAC, forget the make of transport but I think it was Arcam, similar to what I use to own. Have a happy time here, even the valve heads are friendly (I think :lol:).
Cheers Mick, erm Miguel, erm Mikey, what the hell, Michael :):):)
:piano: Ron

[Marco]

Hi Ron,


Back in the 1980s I actually went to John Watson's, the founder of Mana Acoustics, house in Pinner, Middlesex where he was trying out various platforms etc on his Baraks which were placed tight into corners of a smallish square room. His Linn was on a Mana table as were his electronics (all Naim ) at the time although he did go in for Stealth amps later. The sound was really good and I enjoyed my time with John, where is he now?


I didn't know you knew JW. I used to know him quite well, through the old Mana forum, (we still exchange Christmas cards) but have now lost touch, compared to how things once were. John is somewhat of a 'character', to say the least, but we used to get on pretty well.

Unfortunately, Mana Acoustics Ltd went bust, and the old forum's gone, too.

John now lives in Anglesey in North Wales, and Del and I have been to his house a few times (old one and the new one). Last I heard Julie and he were setting up a B&B business, but that was about 4 years ago...

I used to use ECS (Stealth) monoblocks. They were the last SS amps I had before going over to the world of glowing bottles :)

Marco.

[JazzBones]

Hi Marco,
I didn't know John all that well, just as a customer and later chats at shows. I remember John use to use highly polished 15amp round pin mains plugs for his home system. He also gave me one of his first, if not his proto type, platter spindle levelling bubble in silver for free, I still have this in use today. Later ones were in black, this was before spindle bubbles became a popular accessory. I also remember him trying out a thin fine foam mat from Tom Fletcher NAS which I had taken around for him to try, he preferred the Linn felt mat :) I also remember him pinging each corner of the glass shelf to have this truly settled on each corner spike of the welded L frame, he had this down to a matter of seconds. Today glass shelves/platforms are common place and I sincerely think that Naim Audio owe Mana Acoustics a debt of acknowledgement as their Naimframe owes alot to John's pioneering work which did not follow the Sound Organisations pattern. I think he had a hand in the development work on the Stealth/ECM amps?

Ron