Hi There from Polmont

[Aligauld]

Hi there,
My name is Alistair and I now live in Polmont Central Scotland although I grew up in Dingwall, a small town in the Scottish Highlands.
I first bought a planar 2 in 1990 along with a Nad 3020 and Celestion 3 speakers. This set up was still in use until about 6 months ago when I discovered the joys of after market upgrades.

Earlier this year my employer finally coughed up a substantial amount of cash that they had been due me for 18 months and I used some of it to fund the following system.

Rega RP6 Plinth,
Astor subplatter from Arentina,
CACHAFAZ 2 adjustable feet,
Delrin Platter,
Audiomods Classic Tone Arm
Roksan cartridge with Goldring 1042 Stylus
Little Bear T10 Phono Preamp
Yaqin MS-20L with Russian 6J1P-EV and Winged C EL34 valves.

For the digital part
Cambridge Audio Azur 540C CD player
Onkyo Ipod Dock
A Maplin DAC for the computer.

As to musical tastes. Well, everything from Stiff Little Fingers to Mozart.
I was brought up in a house where everything was worth listening to to find out what you liked and it kind of stuck.

Cheers,
Alistair

[struth]

Hello Alistair and welcome to AoS. Nice intro . That sounds like a nice deck. Hope you can get some picture posted in The Gallery section. We all love pictures of gear. I am not so far from you in Bathgate
Cheers Grant

[Spectral Morn]

Been on the train through Polmont railway station on the way to Edinburgh, but never stopped, been to Dingwall though.

Welcome to AOS


Regards Neil

[Macca]

Great intro Alistair, dozens of Scottish members here. Wonderful to see that old NAD/Celestion system soldiered on for almost a quarter of a century, although I suspect what you have now is a few notches above it. Welcome to the forum.

[Aligauld]

Thanks Folks,

Will attempt to post some pics.
Realised I didn't mention the speakers I'm currently using.
They are Mordaunt-Short Festival 3's, picked up for a song but sounding wonderful despite their age.

Cheers,
Alistair

[mik_rik]

Hello from me too.Noticed you've got a Little Bear phono stage ,love to hear your views on it as I was thinking of buying one. I've got a Little Bear valve pre-amp [15 quid delivered from China] and what a giant killer it is[so good I bought another before the secret is out].Anyway ,pull up a chair and make yourself at home , regards , mick

[Aligauld]

Hi there,
The Little Bear Phono stage is a wonderful piece of kit.
It sounds beautiful right out of the box, was delivered in 10 days and cost about £70 at the time.
I've replaced the stock valves with Russian military spec ones, easy to get hold of and fairly cheap.
Once they settled in brings the Little Bear into a whole new level.
This amp sounds better than many priced well above it IMHO.
I'm just waiting for a new case to be delivered which encloses it completely.
I've got a nephew who visits regularly and although he's really good about not going near it I want to get the internals covered to save any accidents with little fingers.

Cheers,
Alistair

[mik_rik]

Hi ,I found the same thing when I changed the stock valves to some n.o.s Mullard EF 95's .Talking of Russian ex military,I use their equivalents to EL84,exellent valves, and I really rate the 6p3se for EL34 [had them fitted to my Radford at the NEBO get togethers we have had and had favourable comments] , might want to give them a try, matched quads from around 30-40 quid from ex Soviet Union.Fitted Russian mil spec caps to one of my Little Bear preamps and also upped the performance ,imho."Power supply" is definately an accident waiting to happen if its the same as on the basic preamp ,needs covering up!.Sorry to ramble yours , Mick

[Eagle owl]

Hello and welcome Alistair.

Geoff. :wave:

[Aligauld]

Thanks for that will have a look at them.

Cheers,
Alistair

[windhoek]

Welcome to the forum Alistair :)

I was about to write a short story about the time I cycled from Airdire out towards Polmont and passed the young offenders institution, then remembered it was Longriggend lol. So, I've seen the defunct institution in Longriggend, but it looks like Polmont is still on my CTL (cycle to list) lol

[walpurgis]

Hi from me too Alistair and welcome to AOS.

Sounds like you're well into your sounds. I'll look forward to seeing some piccies.
We have a Gallery section you may like to browse or add to.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[Ali Tait]

Hi, welcome, nice to see another Scot joining. I'm in Dunfermline these days, but originally from Braemar.

[Aligauld]

Many, many thanks for the warm welcome.


Cheers,
Alistair

[archiesdad]

Howdy and welcome, I'm just over the water in Dunfermline, enjoy the banter.

[Aligauld]

Many thanks Martin

[KONDO]

hi,and welcome,im in Livingston,know dingwall well,the little bear stuff sounds interesting.yours charlie