DSJR
27-10-2009, 10:54
I've been threatening to re-visit Radlett Audio's Dave Wren for a year now and something non-audio related has always got in the way. The promise of a lengthy listen to Glenns amps (amongst others) and the splendid new Harbeth range, coupled with some urgent requirements of my own, finally led me over to West Essex, taking a wrong turn at the Braintree Bypass and going for a very picturesque hour long drive through some very pretty villages and small towns before coming almost full circle on the far side of Braintree (ggggrrrrrr!!!!!).....
Over the first of many cuppa's, I got to know the Harbeth Monitor 40.1. A large speaker in anyone's book and a far cry from the "organically warm" big Spendors I remember from a while ago. There's certainly big bass when asked for, but none when it's not, which came as a huge surprise, knowing some of the big "BBC" style domestic models of yore...
Another HUGE APOLOGY TO NAIM!!!!! I'm eating humble pie here, but the CD player that was running was a CDX-2, which again, and when compared with another player later on, totally lacked the grit and harshness I remember from its Olive ancestor. I was stunned, frankly, and not once did I feel the need to add an XPS-2 to the proceedings. The only negative for me is the £3500 approx price tag, especially when Rega have reduced the price of their popular players (sadly, their new top end machine hadn't arrived, so a Saturn had to do later on)..
The amp we first used was the £1500 approx. LFD, a very "clean" and "clear" amp of utmost "neutrality" with lovely styling IMO - it reminded me of the AVI amps, which many loved and a few didn't..... I was desperate to hear the Croft 25 pairing though and these were duly connected up and switched on :)
I must admit that although the Croft pair may not have been as "clean" as the LFD integrated, the palpable sense of "musicians playing to you" seemed far greater to me, putting broad grins on both our faces. I was now able to relax into the different CD's we were playing and also start to enjoy the vintage delights on offer, the system constantly bring me back to the music in a genteel, yet insistant way :)
Yep, that old techie SL110 is a bit of a beast and ripe for having new feet and a plinth filling of plasticene or similar. The little Godmans maxamp and tuner was lovely. The Yamaha CR2010 (?) was a monster in mint condition and the dear little Rogers Cadet III had me "glowing fondly" as I remember the one I once owned. As for the Tannoy IIILZ's and Robs "old" LGM's.......
Once the R200 arm had its cardas mini-din fitted and we offered it up to the Td125 to see where the moiunting hole had to go on the new armboard (mk1 Thorens with PERFECT main bearing - thanks SteveC67 wherever you are :)), I got out the Quad II's to try out. the faulty valve was replaced with another and they were first used with a pair of baby Heco's, which I found were a little "brash" compared to the Harbeths. To be fair, a retail price of around £500 put things back into perspective and I reckon these would sound great on the end of a vinyl system with valve (Puresound?) amps.
Putting the Quad II's back on the Harbeths was a bit of a let-down to be honest. The top end was soft and rolled off (both amps, by the way) and the bass was also soft and lacking extension by comparison with the Croft 25, which sells NEW for the same price as the Quads used. I wasn't hugely surprised, as the Quads seem to be the archetypal "trad-valve" amp, warm and glowing but ultimately coloured. The Croft power amp just seemed to take all the good "valve" things and add more precision and a far wider bandwidth IMO.
Now it was time for the ATC's to be unpacked, photo'd and checked prior to sale. I wasn't sure how they'd be, to be honest and was also unsure if the Croft pre could drive them via 8m of Belden 8760 interconnects, but it did and they sounded surprisingly good (duh!!!), having a more "assertive" presence band, a similarly good midrange IMO and a very dry, tightly controlled and rolled off bass, despite the bass controls on the backs being turned up a couple of notches. Perfect for "near-field" monitoring though IMO and I was very happy they could still "do it" with the best of modern designs..
Back to the Harbeths. Dave suggested the little P3 ESR's. God, they are stunning little boxes, solid, beautifully finished and the sound is amazingly good with a genuine feeling of "proper" bass, the same midrange quality of the biggies and a lovely clear and sweet treble, even on CD....... Nothing like the squeaky, astringent LS3/5A's I remember and apparently far clearer than the interim small Spendors and older P3's too. Incredible, and I suggest that a pair of these with a Uniti for Mick Parry would be an EXCELLENT choice of UK made quality product for his Spanish "shack."
Later on, we got out the Rega Saturn CD player, which has had a price drop to £875 I understand. Very good, but without the bass weight of the CDX-2 - still makes you wonder why the Naim sels for four times the price though...
Quickie edit. We tried the HL5ES-2 mk256 (or whatever they're called these days!). Highly reminiscant of the HL models that Harbeth started with and with a bass that was good quality, bit still a little dominant over the midrange. Lovely mid and top when there wasn't any bass in the signal and perfectly ok when the 40.1's aren't around for comparison.......
Best till last - DECCA GOLD!!!!! :lol: OOOOOHHHHHHH it's good!!!!!!!! The records we started to play, using AceSpace arm on Hyperspace turntable just sounded so "right," with no romance or "analogue" artifacts. Huge grins all round and a longing from me to get my TD125 and SL150 fetish out of the way and save hard for a Notts Analogue turntable (it's alright Marco, I'll probably visit you first for techie "indoctrination" before I can afford much :D)
If anyone is interested and hasn't fallen asleep by now, I'll post some piccies, although Photobucket isn't happy with my uploads this morning :(
Loads more we did. I'n't get to play with - bigger Heco's, Tannoy Canterbury's, some new Neats which look well made - I shall return...........
Over the first of many cuppa's, I got to know the Harbeth Monitor 40.1. A large speaker in anyone's book and a far cry from the "organically warm" big Spendors I remember from a while ago. There's certainly big bass when asked for, but none when it's not, which came as a huge surprise, knowing some of the big "BBC" style domestic models of yore...
Another HUGE APOLOGY TO NAIM!!!!! I'm eating humble pie here, but the CD player that was running was a CDX-2, which again, and when compared with another player later on, totally lacked the grit and harshness I remember from its Olive ancestor. I was stunned, frankly, and not once did I feel the need to add an XPS-2 to the proceedings. The only negative for me is the £3500 approx price tag, especially when Rega have reduced the price of their popular players (sadly, their new top end machine hadn't arrived, so a Saturn had to do later on)..
The amp we first used was the £1500 approx. LFD, a very "clean" and "clear" amp of utmost "neutrality" with lovely styling IMO - it reminded me of the AVI amps, which many loved and a few didn't..... I was desperate to hear the Croft 25 pairing though and these were duly connected up and switched on :)
I must admit that although the Croft pair may not have been as "clean" as the LFD integrated, the palpable sense of "musicians playing to you" seemed far greater to me, putting broad grins on both our faces. I was now able to relax into the different CD's we were playing and also start to enjoy the vintage delights on offer, the system constantly bring me back to the music in a genteel, yet insistant way :)
Yep, that old techie SL110 is a bit of a beast and ripe for having new feet and a plinth filling of plasticene or similar. The little Godmans maxamp and tuner was lovely. The Yamaha CR2010 (?) was a monster in mint condition and the dear little Rogers Cadet III had me "glowing fondly" as I remember the one I once owned. As for the Tannoy IIILZ's and Robs "old" LGM's.......
Once the R200 arm had its cardas mini-din fitted and we offered it up to the Td125 to see where the moiunting hole had to go on the new armboard (mk1 Thorens with PERFECT main bearing - thanks SteveC67 wherever you are :)), I got out the Quad II's to try out. the faulty valve was replaced with another and they were first used with a pair of baby Heco's, which I found were a little "brash" compared to the Harbeths. To be fair, a retail price of around £500 put things back into perspective and I reckon these would sound great on the end of a vinyl system with valve (Puresound?) amps.
Putting the Quad II's back on the Harbeths was a bit of a let-down to be honest. The top end was soft and rolled off (both amps, by the way) and the bass was also soft and lacking extension by comparison with the Croft 25, which sells NEW for the same price as the Quads used. I wasn't hugely surprised, as the Quads seem to be the archetypal "trad-valve" amp, warm and glowing but ultimately coloured. The Croft power amp just seemed to take all the good "valve" things and add more precision and a far wider bandwidth IMO.
Now it was time for the ATC's to be unpacked, photo'd and checked prior to sale. I wasn't sure how they'd be, to be honest and was also unsure if the Croft pre could drive them via 8m of Belden 8760 interconnects, but it did and they sounded surprisingly good (duh!!!), having a more "assertive" presence band, a similarly good midrange IMO and a very dry, tightly controlled and rolled off bass, despite the bass controls on the backs being turned up a couple of notches. Perfect for "near-field" monitoring though IMO and I was very happy they could still "do it" with the best of modern designs..
Back to the Harbeths. Dave suggested the little P3 ESR's. God, they are stunning little boxes, solid, beautifully finished and the sound is amazingly good with a genuine feeling of "proper" bass, the same midrange quality of the biggies and a lovely clear and sweet treble, even on CD....... Nothing like the squeaky, astringent LS3/5A's I remember and apparently far clearer than the interim small Spendors and older P3's too. Incredible, and I suggest that a pair of these with a Uniti for Mick Parry would be an EXCELLENT choice of UK made quality product for his Spanish "shack."
Later on, we got out the Rega Saturn CD player, which has had a price drop to £875 I understand. Very good, but without the bass weight of the CDX-2 - still makes you wonder why the Naim sels for four times the price though...
Quickie edit. We tried the HL5ES-2 mk256 (or whatever they're called these days!). Highly reminiscant of the HL models that Harbeth started with and with a bass that was good quality, bit still a little dominant over the midrange. Lovely mid and top when there wasn't any bass in the signal and perfectly ok when the 40.1's aren't around for comparison.......
Best till last - DECCA GOLD!!!!! :lol: OOOOOHHHHHHH it's good!!!!!!!! The records we started to play, using AceSpace arm on Hyperspace turntable just sounded so "right," with no romance or "analogue" artifacts. Huge grins all round and a longing from me to get my TD125 and SL150 fetish out of the way and save hard for a Notts Analogue turntable (it's alright Marco, I'll probably visit you first for techie "indoctrination" before I can afford much :D)
If anyone is interested and hasn't fallen asleep by now, I'll post some piccies, although Photobucket isn't happy with my uploads this morning :(
Loads more we did. I'n't get to play with - bigger Heco's, Tannoy Canterbury's, some new Neats which look well made - I shall return...........