Hi from Woodford Green

[mainaman]

Just saying hello,i think this site is a great place to chat about this wondeful hobby.

My setup is:
Roksan Xerxes 20plus with SME 309 arm and Zu DL-103 II cart
Teac UD-503 DAC/Preamplifier with Intona Industrial USB isolator
Anatek MC-1 phonostage
Hypex Ncore 400 monoblocks
Quadral Aurum Phonologue Titan VII loudspeakers
Power Inspired AG1500 ReGen
various cables
Hutter Racktime

[tapid]

Welcome Anton. Not very far from me ( appy Hampstead) . Very good and interesting kit you have there, not heard of the Anatek and Hypex items, might google.
Enjoy forum.

[walpurgis]

Hi Anton. Welcome to AOS.

That's an interesting system you have. Certainly no run of the mill choices there.

Tell us what music you listen to and if you have further plans for your Hi-Fi.

Take a look around the site, I'm sure you'll find plenty to interest you. Feel free to join in any chat that appeals to you.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[Longmanjon]

welcome to the forum,

how do you find the ncore'

[mainaman]

Thanks,guys.When i was forced to sell my home cinema setup two years ago i decided to invest more heavily in my stereo components.Hypex has simply become the most ubiquitious tech in DIY and high-end audio,i will just mention Marantz,Nad,BelCanto,Theta,Merrill,Mola Mola,Auralic and ATI.Mine are in decent quality aluminium cases and have mu-metal isolation,Grimm cabling and WBT posts.

I cannot describe their sound as they really have no sound signature.I think they are as good as the front end and they would not hold back even esoterically priced equipment.They replaced a monstrous Shengya A-203 MK Class A integrated,which i imported brand new from Hong Kong and i sold it only because i was very curious to try out the Ncore monoblocks.The Shengya had made me sell my Kef Reference 2.2 as it was simply too good for these speakers and revealed slight colourations.The next pair,Revel performa F50,was outstanding,but the dreaded woofers issues forced me to get rid of them.I came upon the Titans by chance and the price was too good to pass.These are end-of-the road speakers for me and despite their size,they work fine in less than 25 square meters.The drivers integration is superb,the magnetostats are so smooth and detailed and extend down to 2200Hz!I think there are just three pairs in UK and the later VIII and IX versions seem to be affected by cost-cutting.I am using QED SilverSpiral speaker cables as i tried much more expensive ones from Nordost and Audioquest,but i always came back to the QEDs.Resolution was improved,but the sound was too thin.I havent tried their (even)more expensive ranges,though.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/audioemotion/7830165364/in/album-72157631173788128/

I bought my first turntable,Sony PS-X800 Biotracer,just nine months ago and since then,i stopped listening to digital.The arm and the cart were bought new,while the Xerxes was almost new.The Anatek is my first stage,but i don't feel the need to upgrade.The Teac DAC has a superb analogue volume control(Esoteric tech) and even a high-end DAC like Chord Dave(not heard at home,though) is not a match for what i hear on vinyl.

My plans for the future?I was thinking about SME 20 MK1,but i decided to keep the Roksan and i cannot afford the TMS3.I am set for now and i would replace the Ncores only for something like a high-spec ASR Emitter integrated(with external power supply,battery supply and phono stage),but the weak sterling has put that on hold.

My (still relatively small)record collection(and the terabytes of DSD and PCM files) is pretty eclectic and i don't like the pricing of most audiophile releases,but c'est la vie.

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Anton,

An interesting system you have there - what sort of music do you play on it?

Enjoy the forum
Barry