Hello - joined today

[worrasf]

Hello to all - first time here but a life time of HiFi (started with a Garrard SP25 IV and Goldring G800) - any way arrived here as have been a great fan of Stan Beressford's DAC's - just ordered a Caiman and he pointed me to a thread here - so here I am.
Regards to all :)
Steve Worrall

[Mike]

Hi Steve,

Welcome to AoS. :)

Someone will no doubt be along shortly to ask about your system and what music you like. And probably invite you to post some pictures...

Oh, I seem to have already done it! :lol:

Cheers...

[DSJR]

Welcome to the mad 'ouse :)

[Alex_UK]

Hi Steve, welcome!

Tell us about your system and what music you like. And here's an invite for you to post some pictures... :lol:

[aquapiranha]

Hi Steve, welcome to the friendliest hifi forum, Enjoy.

[worrasf]

Many thanks for the warm welcome - much appreciated.

Music wise I am "into" angsty female singer/song writers so currently Thea Gilmore :) (just booked tickets for her gig in York in November), Marriane Faithful etc. Also like simple guitar/vocals like Bert Janesch & John Martyn :smoking: also (showing my age and Black Country roots) Page & Plant, LZ, Pink Floyd (not to keen on Gilmour's "on an island mind you) Roger Waters, Jethro Tull - you get my drift. Tend not to listen to much classical (although have quite a bit) but do like "monk music" in particular Mnemosyne (Jan Galbraith) and similar genre - absolutely hate opera.

Regarding the system I've currently got a couple: In my study I have a Quad 33/303/FM3 set up upgraded by Net Audio which is beautiful - my main system which has taken many years of getting to is Origin Live deck/arm with Audio Technica 150 VMX - best moving magnet I've ever heard - also have a Music Maker III which is mighty fine but lacks the clarity and pace of the AT. Having gone through the standard LP12/Ittok/Troika 32.5/HiCap 250 route I had a total change to a Croft Vitale valve preamp and Chord SPM 800 power amp and never looked back - maybe the only bit I slightly miss is the Troika. I dabbled with a passive preamp but gave it up as a bad job. I have now become the ultimate valve tube boor! I've spent hours and mucho money on tracking down esoteric valves and swapping different ones in and out but I have now hit on (for me ) the "perfect sound" - it's all about tone and what tones make the hairs on the back of your neck tingle - for me it's this system with a 1958 Telefunken ECC801S and a pair of 1970 TESLA E83ECC'S - Told you I was a valve boor:lolsign:

I'm putting together a system for the kids which will be my Wadia itransport (they dont own CD's and god help me if they wanted vinyl) via my soon to be not required Beresford 7520 DAC (the Beresford Caiman should be here at the weekend) into an Onix OA31 and a pair of Ruark Epilogues - not bad when your only 13 is it:)

I'll get some nice piccies of the kit and upload over the next few days - thanks again for the welcome and apols for the lengthy response.

Regards
Steve

[aquapiranha]

Ha!! all the artists you mention except Thea are also favourites of mine too! Nice system you have there too.

[Alex_UK]

I'm putting together a system for the kids which will be my Wadia itransport (they dont own CD's and god help me if they wanted vinyl) via my soon to be not required Beresford 7520 DAC (the Beresford Caiman should be here at the weekend) into an Onix OA31 and a pair of Ruark Epilogues - not bad when your only 13 is it:)

Steve - will you adopt me, please? :eyebrows:

[Ali Tait]

Not quite in the same league,but I have just given my daughter (16) my old but perfect nick pair of B&W P5's.She now needs an amp and cd player.I have lots of old and good stuff she could have,but "It's got to look nice and match dad!!" so I guess it'll be something like a Cambridge combo or something.I'd give her a valve amp if I could trust her friends not to fiddle with it! Welcome Steve by the way. :)

[worrasf]

Hi all and thanks again for the welcome. Some piccies as promised.

The deck is Origin Live Aurora 2 with Origin Live Silver 2 arm and AT 150 MLX cartridge (later only available from Japan so got stung on import duty but worth every Yen). I am using the Origin Live upgrade and performance mats with good effect and have had the arm cable upgraded by OL with their laminar flow 2 - not cheap but huge improvement over standard.

Amp is Croft Vitale with 1970's TESLA E83ECC frame grid valves in phono stage (also had pair of 1959Telefunken 12AX7's but the TESLA frame grids is a huge advance - TFK sold out to TESLA) and 1958 Telefunken ECC801S in line stage. Have had great fun valve swapping until hit on what sounded right to me so have a little insight/knowledge to impart in this area and a few very good valves for sale if anyone is keen ;)

Power amp is a Chord SPM 800 with uprated Black Gate caps - the pre/power combo works very very well IMHO :)

Silver disc is courtesy of Cyrus CD8 and PSxR and optical output to a Beresford TC 7520 but should have my new Beresford Caiman tomorrow:). I know there is a thread on the Beresfords on AoS - I have had the 7510 and 7520 with uprated PSU and although not compared them to Uber DACS it does the business for me at a stupidly low price and stan Beresford provides superb after sales service- I'm not fussed about labels (and given the Croft looks like an ammo box not that fussed about aesthetics either :lolsign:

I feed my Wadia itransport and DVD into the Beresford. The Wadia (no piccies here as its other side of room under TV) is stunning/Brilliant/Amazing - never ever believed an ipod could sound this good - and this is without any internal upgrades but it will make a great music server for the kids at very little cost as I bought it second hand from US :)

Speakers are EPOS M22i with Townshend Supertweeters - must admit to buying the latter during a manic phase but they do what it says on the box (tighter, deeper and more focused bass and significant improvement in instrument/voice separation) and I've tried turning them off but just can't live with the result.

Also have a lovely Quad setup 33/FM3/303 and 67 CD. All bought second hand in great nick. Had the 33/303 massively upgraded by Net-Audio and the 67 had just had a complete Quad service these drive a pair of Quad 21L's.

That's about it I guess - sounds a lot of kit but I have been "collecting" for 35years plus so maybe not so big a deal. Best move I made was to sell the LP12/Ittok/Troika - NAIM 32.5/HiCap/250 I'd had for about 10 years - dont get me wrong it was very good and I was very happy at the time but it "traps" you into not looking (listening) at other gear which may sound more pleasing - just MHO of course.

Oh and I did rebuild 2 pairs of Mission 770 Freedom's which were fantastic (Mk 1 770's were first real speakers I owned when started work and always loved them) - gave a pair to my brother in law and others are in bits in loft.

Hope to have chats and stuff - sounds a good place to hang out.

Regards to all

Steve

[Jonboy]

You have some very nice gear, i too have a Wadia transport going through a stan dac and also a Quad 33,303 tucked away , Townshend super tweeters are on my must buy some day list as well as a Croft Vitale as i need another pre amp for my main system, your right about passive pre amps they just don't seem to have any welly:cool:

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Steve.

Admire your taste in music; similar to my own.

Excuse me for being a bit of a pedant, but your Quad tuner is an FM3 not an FM2. The FM2 is valved and has the stereo beacon and tuning indicator pair transposed on the fascia.

You have some lucky children - in my case it was my father who benefitted from my 'cast offs'.

Regards

[worrasf]

Quite right Barry FM3 not 2 - slip of the keybroad (sic):doh:
Steve

[Beechwoods]

Hi Steve, and welcome to AOS :)

I'd be interested in reading your thoughts on the Net Audio Quad 33/303 upgrades you've had done. My main system is 33/303 combi but mine's all stock parts, albeit serviced and caps changed by Quad in the 90's (quite a long time ago now!). Do you feel the upgrade kept the best of the Quad vision, or changed it for something else? I've considered upgrading myself, but have shied away unsure if it would make a big enough difference. So your experience would definitely be useful!

I'm also very jealous of your teak sleeve :) It really makes the 33/FM3 look great!

PS I can edit your earlier post to fix the FM2/FM3 slip, if you like :)

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to the forum.

Have a great time.



Regards D S D L

[worrasf]

Hi Nick - thanks for that - yes please do edit my previous post faux pas.

My personal view of the NA upgrade is that it retains the essential Quad character of tending to the warm and "bloom" side of tones but significantly improves on detail, sound stage, separation and musicality - none the less to my ears the Quads are still better suited to "classical". Perhaps biggest improvement is on the line level input for CD via the NA tape adapter board which is optimised for CD input. It's very interesting for me to compare the difference between stuff played on the Quads and the Croft/Chord - I prefer the latter for most of the things I listen to but the Quad sound is truly wonderful. I went for the full NA upgrades so the 303 is now a 303 SE and is a stunning power amp I used to swap between it and the Chord while trying things out - bass slam is better on the Quad - again it tends to the warm side but PRaT and highs are better with the Chord. To my ears the majority of the "Quad Sound" is imparted by the preamp and again the NA upgrade retains this but improves on it in all other areas. Again I went the whole hog including minimalist output (bypassing all filters and tone controls) and the external PSU - to be truthful I'm not sure the latter makes a significant difference to the sound as I have listened to it with the external PSU and the standard mains and cant hear any difference but if you go for the full board upgrade it requires the external PSU to power them.

So do I think it worth it - yes definitely - it keeps the character but improves them and the cost/benefit ratio is pretty reasonable.

Not sure if that helps but happy to answer any other questions.

David Pritchard at Net Audio (mail@net-audio.co.uk) is very helpful and always responded to my queries - turn around time was about 2 weeks.

Regards
Steve

[Beechwoods]

Thanks Steve. That helps a lot. Particularly regarding the way it sounds after the mods... I like the sound of the Quad. It also matches my speakers well. I think it's something that will happen sooner or later!

[worrasf]

Pleasure Nick - if you were still undecided I could let you borrow the Net-Audio 33 boards and PSU to try if it would help. The 303 is a fully hardwired upgrade with new chassis plate so nothing to take out.
Regards
Steve

[Beechwoods]

Wow! That is a very kind offer! The 33 is probably the thing I'd sort first and I'd ideally want to hear it for myself before committing funds to it. I've a bit of system reorganisation coming up, so once that is out of the way, I'll drop you a line and see if we can sort out a short-term lend so I can see what it's all about with my own ears! Thanks again :)

[worrasf]

No worries Nick - let me know.
Regards
Steve

[The Grand Wazoo]

I know there is a thread on the Beresfords on AoS

A thread?!
A thread?!
It's a veritable bleedin' hawser

In fact it's a big tangled knot of several hawsers

Welcome!
Nice pile of kit you've got there, by the way!