Delayed Reaction

[RochaCullen]

Hi Guys,

I've been meaning to post a few photos, but never quite got around to it. My sister is on a visit at the moment and I decided to make use of her camera, which is decidedly better than mine. Still my lack of photography skills will be more than evident.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi2.jpg

This is the room where I have everything set up, generally used as my office space and parking lot for prams of all kinds.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi1.jpg

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi4.jpg

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi13.jpg

From top to bottom:


Marantz CD-50 on loan from the very kind Tweedle-Dee, as soon as he comes to visit I have a friend lined up to purchase it from him.
Gatorized Caiman
Linn Mimik
Linn Majik i
Rogers HG-88 Mk3 (can't recall for sure, owned by a friend of mine)
Gainclone monoblocks


http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi12.jpg

I still have a few little things to do with the gainclones, they are sounding pretty good lately, but they need a coat of paint and perhaps a bit more damping inside. I should post more pics of these plus some nudey shots on the DIY thread.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi15.jpg

My modded TD160

I put this on a cobbled together wall shelf, but have since got my hands on some lovely granite, so my next project will be to construct a shelf from these granite pieces. Should be a monster.

I have a Cambride Audio 640p placed under the plinth.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi8.jpg

It has a Rega R200 arm with Denon DL304.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi6.jpg

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi5.jpg

Sorry for the unsteady hands.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi19.jpg

The plinth is layered ply with numerous coats of black paint. The springs and gromets, etc. have been replace by new Linn versions. All superflous bits and pieces have been binned. The arm is wired to a set of RCA connectors at the rear of the plinth to allow easy swapping or interconnects, and an IEC inlet is also in place so I can play with power cords.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi9.jpg

My concrete seas based speakers. They weigh a ton but disappear when playing. They can get a little bright in this room however.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi17.jpg

In the corner you can see my piddly record collection. I've only just started on vinyl, so I think I can be forgiven.

I've been using the Belkin speaker cables and have noticed a definite improvement in bass, I've yet to notice anything major from the Belkin interconnects.

My power cords were assembled by myself but the bits and pieces came from David at Mains cables are us.

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/hifi18.jpg

I wanted to thank the people on this forum for all their helpful advice,as I began putting together my kit upon joining this forum, and some of the advice I gained here has proven invaluable. I plan on flogging my Linn pieces and trying something a little more left field, mainly due to the fun I see people on this forum having with lesser known bits of kit. Plus my audiophile credentials won't be served by remaining loyal to my first purchases. :eyebrows:

Hope you have enjoyed the pics of my modest system. I've tried my best to get most things second hand or make them myself. And I think I've managed to achieve a decent sound on a relatively small outlay.

[DSJR]

I was going to say, "The Shrine," but seriously, it all looks great and I LOVE the window and the "vibe" in the room as a whole :)

What happens to the sound if you bring the speakers further forward away from the back wall? Regarding bass, may be a good idea to consider a "ZAP250" via Avondale or wherever - old Naim amp boards, fettled/updated (or some kit NCC200 boards) and put in a 180/250 sized box with large supply (or two ;)). Suitably done, these will fulfil the DIY aspect and also give you more weight and welly I think. Updating the RCA amp concept should also eliminate the notorious harshness the CB era Naims can have when off-song..

Well done sir

:hotrod:

[RochaCullen]

I was going to say, "The Shrine," but seriously, it all looks great and I LOVE the window and the "vibe" in the room as a whole :)

:hotrod:

I live in a 200 year old cottage that has been totally rebuilt. The cottage was originally built, as were all the original cottages on the road, for the people who worked in the castle that is just around the corner from us, called Castle Bernard. The windows are lovely, but a bugger to clean. They give you something nice to look out as you listen to a few tunes.

[Rare Bird]

Love the window & Reveal

[jandl100]

Lovely system, Nathan :thumbsup: - although I am glad to hear that the Linn kit may be getting the old heave-ho. :eyebrows:

I'll bet the Rega arm was a nice upgrade on the Thorens. :)

I quite enjoyed my time with Gainclone amps - I had a pair of Audiozones. A smooth musical sound.

Lovely room you have there, too.

[RochaCullen]

Lovely system, Nathan :thumbsup: - although I am glad to hear that the Linn kit may be getting the old heave-ho. :eyebrows:

I'll bet the Rega arm was a nice upgrade on the Thorens. :)

I quite enjoyed my time with Gainclone amps - I had a pair of Audiozones. A smooth musical sound.

Lovely room you have there, too.

Thanks Jerry,

I fancy getting myself a nice preamp to front the gainclones, when I get rid of the Linn kit. I am also considering my next speaker project and wondering whether I should go full range with a set of 12" Audio Nirvana drivers or build a classic 3 way according to a design of Troels Gravesen:
http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/3WClassic.htm

[Welder]

I think the surveyors stand with the light in top (if that’s what it is, maybe an old camera tripod) is lovely. The artists easel is a nice touch too; need a painting on it though.
Like the others commented, gorgeous window.
I would rather fancy an old station clock on the wall instead of the more modern looking item you have there. Nice rug as well. I’m still cleaning mine.
Really interesting room :)

Oh arr, the Hi Fi. Very nice looking boxes mate :)
Not sure about the speakers on wheels though :eyebrows:

(why do we post pictures of something that reproduces sound :mental:)

[RochaCullen]

Not sure about the speakers on wheels though :eyebrows:


I went a bit mad with the wheels. But given the weight of the speakers I think it was necessary, they weigh about 45 kilos each.

I am pretty sure the stand for the lamp is a surveyors Theodolite stand.

[s70rmp]

I love that window, oh the HiFi is nice too :-)

[WOStantonCS100]

+1

[synsei]

Gorgeous, Gorgeous, Gorgeous!!! Oh, and did I say 'Gorgeous'? :lol:

A lovely room and an intriguing system Nathan. I must admit I originally had concerns about the castors too, but I suppose with concrete cabs there is more than enough mass to keep things from scooting around the room :lolsign:

I like what you have done with your TD160. Mine has a white Billy Bean top plate and in the future I will be looking to re-plinth the beast (currently housed in its manky original plinth). Not sure how I am going to approach it just yet. I might just be lazy and buy one from Russ Collinson as his Kevasinga plinth for the TD160 is a joy to behold as well as being very reasonably priced. :cool:

[macvisual]

Hi;

Would love to more about those Gainclone monoblocks please! Are they British made? How many watts output etc? Are they single ended or come with balanced outputs?

They look the business!

Regards;
macvisual

[RochaCullen]

Hi;

Would love to more about those Gainclone monoblocks please! Are they British made? How many watts output etc? Are they single ended or come with balanced outputs?

They look the business!

Regards;
macvisual

Hi Peter,

I built them myself. I will have to take some more shots of them, and their insides and post them.

[macvisual]

Nice..!!

What's their power output?? Can they be configured in balanced output connection?

Regards;
macvisual

[howlindawg]

Looking good there Nathan.

The TNT Flexi brought me back.
I had one of them for years but SWMBO genuinely hated it. :lol:

[jason]

Nice set Nathan and a very nice room...

[MartinT]

As everyone has said, Nathan, nice room and beautiful window. I too would replace the clock with something a little more fitting. Is the rug Russian? It looks a little like mine. Are you using the Rogers as a preamp?

[RochaCullen]

As everyone has said, Nathan, nice room and beautiful window. I too would replace the clock with something a little more fitting. Is the rug Russian? It looks a little like mine. Are you using the Rogers as a preamp?

Hi Martin,

I tried using the Rogers for a little while as a power amp, using the majik as a pre, but I found the sound was just too coloured. I'd say the rogers could do with a good servicing. As its a friends, I'll leave that to him. He's tight on room for the minute so I am holding onto his rogers and Quad IIs for the minute.

[RochaCullen]

Been meaning to pop in here and do an update on what is my current set up. As of last night I put some new feet on my SLP-1200:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/SLP1200/Technics_SLP1200.jpg

I love this CD player. It sounds great on all sorts of material, has fantastic bass and is never fatiguing.

Getting the Isonoes onto the SLP-1200 was a bit of a job. First of all the bolt that is used to fasten the feet to the bottom of the deck are fine for the SL-1210 I have, but are too short for the SLP CDP. So I had to take the feet apart and add a 50mm bolt. This was fine in principle, but the bolts are in so tight the torque required to remove them was massive and my hand is still sore today from the job. Even so there were two of the new feet which I couldnt get the bolt free of and so I had to start trying the feet attached to my SL1210. Thankfully of the eight feet, I did manage to find four that I could free of the bolt.

I did however break one of the silicone rings in the process, which was a major annoyance, and means I am going to have to purchase a repair kit to replace it.

So, top tip, if you do want to put Isonoes on your SLP-1200, buy some 50mm bolts and perhaps send them back to Isonoe for the job. The director of Isonoe, Justin Greenslade, is a nice chap and I am sure will help you out.

I've totally changed what is in my listening room and all items are now on a set of Kallax Ikea shelves. More pics to follow.

[Tarzan]

Lovely looking room and set up there Nathan, and as others have said that window is cool- are you a Vicar by any chance?

[Tarzan]

:lol:

[RochaCullen]

Imagine. A vicar.

In short the answer is, no.

The house I live in is part of a set built on the grounds of a castle. They were built to house the staff who worked in the castle. They are about 200+ years old.

A few years ago the cottage was totally revamped retaining only the front wall, which holds the windows you see in the pics. The house is listed, so the front appearance had to be retained. The unfortunate thing about these windows is that they are single paned and during the winter become a bit of a problem in that they let out a lot of heat. I rent, so I've not gone to the trouble of adding another layer of glass to stave the heat loss.

[The Black Adder]

Lovely space, Nathan.

Great kit too and nicely matched too. Love that rack, is that a self build job?... looks exactly like something I could do with to be honest.

[RochaCullen]

Lovely space, Nathan.

Great kit too and nicely matched too. Love that rack, is that a self build job?... looks exactly like something I could do with to be honest.

If you are talking about the rack with the threaded bar. I just took that apart the other day. I was using it to hold the various projects I was working on. All my kit now sits on a set of Kallax shelves from IKEA. These do the job perfectly. I can't recall the name of the rack I made, but it is the easiest thing in the world. Its just three threaded bars, a set of ply shelves cut to size and then drilled to allow the bar through. All you need then are the nuts and washers to secure each in place. Its a bit basic looking, but it was all I could afford at the time.

I really need to get some new pics up.

I am having some friends over for a whiskey/whisky and vinyl night and I may venture to take a few pics when doing this, as I will move all my kit into our main living room just for the evening. Although given that is not where it normally lives, the place could end up being an unholy mess. Still enough drams should sort out any such distraction.

[RochaCullen]

Someone mentioned the name of the rack in a previous posting: TNT Flexi.

[The Black Adder]

oops, sorry must have missed that. Have a good whiskey/whisky night.. :)

[RochaCullen]

I had some buddies around the other night for some drinks, some dinner, and to listen to some tunes. :cool:

In preparation I set up my system in the living room, moving it out of the office where it normally resides.

Here are some pics I took before anyone arrived:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0136.jpg

The sublime SLP1200:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0125.jpg

Ikea's finest:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0112.jpg

The SL1210:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0106.jpg

As an experiement I bought a brush recently at B&Q. It is a big wallpaper brush, which is exactly the right width for a record. Not sure if its a success really.

Ditton 44s with Audio Note P-Zeros:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0092.jpg

The other speaker:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0090.jpg

I had the stands made recently to match the 44s, and accomodate the P-Zero. The stands, containing amp and granite weigh about twice what the speakers do. I was knackered by the time I got everything in place.

The night went well and we played many a record. My favourite at the minute is Pat Matheny's As Falls Wichita, so Falls Wichita Falls.

I am very happy with the system at the minute. The sound could be termed polite, but provides plenty of detail and enjoyment at low levels, which is mainly how I listen.

The total gear list is:

SLP-1200 with Isonoes
SL-1210 with Isonoes, Rega Moth RB301, Audio Technica AT440MLA - Graham Slee Era Gold + PSU1
Lenovo S206 - MF VLink - Audio Note DAC Zero

Audio Note M Zero - Audio Note P Zero

Celestion Ditton 44s

[Macca]

I The night went well and we played many a record. My favourite at the minute is Pat Matheny's As Wichita Falls, So Falls Wichita Falls.



A brilliant album, probably my favourite Metheney/Mays effort. Great looking house and system too. One tip for the single glazed windows - get some bubble wrap and staple it to the frames, very effective heat insulator and doesn't stop the light getting in. When spring rolls around just rip it off :)

[Zoidburg]

Good to see that you have the RB301 set up on the 1210. Looks very good!

[RochaCullen]

One tip for the single glazed windows - get some bubble wrap and staple it to the frames, very effective heat insulator and doesn't stop the light getting in. When spring rolls around just rip it off :)

Great idea. It doesnt seem to cause too much of an issue in the rooms downstairs, but the upstairs rooms can get quite cold. I might just use that idea.

[RochaCullen]

Good to see that you have the RB301 set up on the 1210. Looks very good!

Thanks Ben, the arm has been a great addition. I do think it looks the part too. How are you getting on with your new arm. A Wand if I am not mistaken?!

[struth]

I used to do that in the greenhouse in the colder weather and it made a marked difference.

[Barry]

Lovely neat and tidy set up you have there Nathan.

Where did you get the two 2 x 2 compartment units on castors you are using for equipment support/record storage ?

[Reffc]

+1...very nice. I like the stands for the 44's...I'm a fan of open stands like that.

Liking the SLP-1200. Heard a few now and they always impress.

[Spectral Morn]

I had some buddies around the other night for some drinks, some dinner, and to listen to some tunes. :cool:

In preparation I set up my system in the living room, moving it out of the office where it normally resides.

Here are some pics I took before anyone arrived:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0136.jpg

The sublime SLP1200:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0125.jpg

Ikea's finest:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0112.jpg

The SL1210:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0106.jpg

As an experiement I bought a brush recently at B&Q. It is a big wallpaper brush, which is exactly the right width for a record. Not sure if its a success really.

Ditton 44s with Audio Note P-Zeros:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0092.jpg

The other speaker:

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz230/rochaCullen/WhiskyVinyl/DSC_0090.jpg

I had the stands made recently to match the 44s, and accomodate the P-Zero. The stands, containing amp and granite weigh about twice what the speakers do. I was knackered by the time I got everything in place.

The night went well and we played many a record. My favourite at the minute is Pat Matheny's As Falls Wichita, so Falls Wichita Falls.

I am very happy with the system at the minute. The sound could be termed polite, but provides plenty of detail and enjoyment at low levels, which is mainly how I listen.

The total gear list is:

SLP-1200 with Isonoes
SL-1210 with Isonoes, Rega Moth RB301, Audio Technica AT440MLA - Graham Slee Era Gold + PSU1
Lenovo S206 - MF VLink - Audio Note DAC Zero

Audio Note M Zero - Audio Note P Zero

Celestion Ditton 44s

My introduction to Pat Metheny was on the Friday Rock show, and that album, when Tommy Vance played all of the title track As Falls Wichita, so Falls Wichita Falls. Fabulous music, haunting and beautiful. Part of that track was used in the TV commercial for Fahrenheit aftershave.

On the Saturday I headed up to Belfast and bought the ECM vinyl record in Caroline Music, what was a fabulous record shop, now sadly gone. I still have the record, in the same condition as I bought it.

xU_hEGxtZwk


Regards Neil

[RochaCullen]

Lovely neat and tidy set up you have there Nathan.

Where did you get the two 2 x 2 compartment units on castors you are using for equipment support/record storage ?

Hey Barry,

The 2x2 stands come from Ikea. They are part of the Kallax shelving set.

[Floyddroid]

What an interesting system and a fabulous room. Great vibe. Where did you get the little light near your turntable?

[Firebottle]

That's a LED light from Ikea Steve, £10.

:cool: Alan

[r100]

hey Rocha, what about those gainclone pics 😇 and how do they sound ?

[RochaCullen]

hey Rocha, what about those gainclone pics �� and how do they sound ?

I have a set of celestion ditton 22s I've been using with the Gainclones and I think they sound great. I've not played them for a while, and my sonic memory is not great, so I can't comment on how the compare with my current set of monoblocks. I've been meaning to rehouse them as the MDF housing is not the nicest thing to look at, and I also plundered a few bits from them.

I'll have to get back to you on that one.

:)

[r100]

Cool, I'm about to build a pair myself. Great to know that they sound good. I think I'll put mine in a arctic white Corian case, we'll see... Just waiting for the trannies being built in Poland [emoji12] Greets

[costerdock]

Great room and setup - love the window!

[Zoidburg]

Pleased that your happy with it Nathan, certainly looks the part on your technics mate.

Yes I have a Wand and cant see myself parting with it any time soon, I found it to be a big improvement over the RB, much bigger almost live soundstage. Keeps a smile on face anyway. Its a little fiddly without an armlift (you lift it from its pointed "beak") but once you get over that its not a problem. I also think it suits the style of my deck as well which helps.

PS - Love the look of that CD player of yours too dude, very stylish indeed.

[RochaCullen]

Thanks guys.

The gain clones are something I am going to revisit. I'm going to get the best of wiring and separate the amp and power sections with some aluminium and a bit more space.

Moving to a new house soon and there will be plenty of room for these projects. Can't wait.

One thing about the new place is it used to be occupied by a woodwork fanatic (he passed away) and some of the machinery that remains in the work shed (it's more an extension to the house than a shed) is seriously heavy duty. I'm nearly afraid to ask if it's included in the deal. I hope it is.