Hello from York [Archive] - The Art of Sound Forum

DSJR

14-12-2009, 17:47

Hi Andrew and welcome :lol:

You'll have to get your Sara's valve driven you know and the least said about your uber rubber band springy thing the better :D

Seriously, you've worked darned hard on your LP12 by all accounts (a later sound file you posted on PFM was excellent I thought).

You and Andre can talk Prog all night and day and night and day.......:)

Let's have some up-to-date pics and full details of the updates etc..

Rare Bird

14-12-2009, 17:50

Prog :eek:

:youtheman:

Jonboy

14-12-2009, 17:53

Hi Andrew and welcome, what the others said pics very welcome they are porn to us:eyebrows:

Spectral Morn

14-12-2009, 17:57

Hi

Welcome to AOS.

Another prog fan :eek::doh:;) :rave: EXCELLENT.

Regards D S D L

Themis

14-12-2009, 18:33

Welcome to the AoS forums, Andrew. :)

(Prog, yeah ! :eyebrows: is this becoming a majoritary prog forum, or what ? :lol:)

Rare Bird

14-12-2009, 18:36

Holy Moley

:gig:

flatpopely

15-12-2009, 00:19

Guys. System pics and description soon.

So prog is ok on here? I might just bore you all to death with my thoughts on prog.

Starter for 10: ozric tentacles, prog yes or no?

The Grand Wazoo

15-12-2009, 00:31

So prog is ok on here? I might just bore you all to death with my thoughts on prog.

Starter for 10: ozric tentacles, prog yes or no?

I refer the honourable gentleman to wot I just writ 'ere not but a couple o' minits ago.......

Rare Bird

15-12-2009, 01:09

Guys. System pics and description soon.

So prog is ok on here? I might just bore you all to death with my thoughts on prog.

Starter for 10: ozric tentacles, prog yes or no?
Sub Gen: originally Space Rock.

flatpopely

15-12-2009, 10:28

Hi mate,

Welcome to AoS!

What's your first name again? I know you from pfm :)

Enjoy the forum!

Marco.

Hi Marco.

Its Andrew.

Marco

15-12-2009, 10:40

Nice one, Andrew. I've avidly followed your T/T bake-off and needle drop threads on pfm - always a good read :)

Feel free to post some similar needle drops here; infact we could do with a thread like that started in our 'Analogue Art' section......... ;)

Marco.

flatpopely

15-12-2009, 10:46

Hi Andrew and welcome, what the others said pics very welcome they are porn to us:eyebrows:

My system as she is now:-

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w258/Andrew_Popely/Hi%20Fi/EPOS%20ES14/Rebuild/DSC_4031.jpg

Marco

15-12-2009, 11:09

Looking very nice, Andrew. Could you also pop the pic into our Gallery section under a separate thread?

Love the 'shoebox' size Naim gear! Brings back memories...

Cheers, dude! :cool:

Marco.

chris@panteg

15-12-2009, 11:10

Hello Andrew and welcome

BTW i am going to be getting some Porcupine CD's ' looks like another convert:)

flatpopely

15-12-2009, 11:12

Looking very nice, Andrew. Could you also pop the pic into our Gallery section under a separate thread?

Love the 'shoebox' size Naim gear! Brings back memories...

Cheers, dude! :cool:

Marco.

Hi Marco.

Yes just done that with loads of pics.

Andrew.

flatpopely

15-12-2009, 11:13

Hello Andrew and welcome

BTW i am going to be getting some Porcupine CD's ' looks like another convert:)

Get Deadwing/In Absentia/Lightbulb Sun first.

chris@panteg

15-12-2009, 11:24

Thanks ' looking forward to hearing them .

Marco

15-12-2009, 13:24

Hi Marco.

Yes just done that with loads of pics.

Nice one, Andrew. I really like your system - it's Linn/Naim done 'properly'! :)

Marco.

flatpopely

15-12-2009, 13:32

Nice one, Andrew. I really like your system - it's Linn/Naim done 'properly'! :)

Marco.

Thanks.

It does sound good IMHO!

Andrew.

Marco

15-12-2009, 13:51

I'm sure it does, Andrew :)

It's obvious to me, as someone from a similar Linn/Naim background (although these days you wouldn't think so! :eyebrows:), that you know what you're doing.

There's considerable synergy going on there (something that I greatly believe in when assembling a system), which may not be apparent to everyone on first glance.

Clearly your system is the culmination of many years of learning and experimenting with Linn and Naim gear.... I can almost 'hear' and identify with how your system (that's the key word here) sounds just by looking at it, if you see what I mean! (and I mean that in a good sense) :cool:

Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy it here and visit often. It's a little different to pfm (the only other forum I look at with any regularity), but I'm sure that you'll find many of the discussions interesting. Just ignore the 'rambling' from all us Techie diehards! ;)

Incidentally, how did you hear about us?

Marco.

flatpopely

15-12-2009, 14:00

Hi Marco.

Yes I did go through a lot of changes!

Basically
TD150 > LP12

NAD3020 > Onix OA21 > NAC92/90.3/Flatcap > NAC72/Zap250

Helix > Tannoy R2 > Tannoy Eyris DC3 > Linn Sara > EPOS ES14

I make no bones that I like prog and my system was developed and 'tuned' for that type of music however, and you mentioned this, the synergy of my system is now of a standard that it does not favour one genre of music and thats got to be a good thing.

I went to the Wam show last year, thats where I heard of AoS, just never got around to joining.

Andrew

Marco

15-12-2009, 14:20

Ah, the Wam show... Are you coming to next year's one in March? We'll be exhibiting there again :)

I like how you've kept the 72. I loved my 72/Hi-Cap/140 when I had it - again there was real synergy and 'musicality' going on there... I even ran a 72/Supercap/140 for a month before upgrading to a 52 and 135s - that was an interesting temporary 'mullet'!

In my view, the NAC72 is one of Naim's best preamps for vinyl-based systems, and it looks really cool, too!

You might think me mad to say this, but in some ways adding the 52 and 135s caused the system in the process to lose a 'certain magic'. Yes it sounded bigger and more powerful, and certainly revealed more detail, but I'm sure that some of the addictive musical qualities and 'boogie factor' (synonymous with the earlier Naim equipment) also went with it...

Marco.

Rare Bird

15-12-2009, 15:24

Yes I did go through a lot of changes!

NAD3020 > Onix OA21 > NAC92/90.3/Flatcap > NAC72/Zap250

Hi Andrew
I have an Onix 'OA21' I've done a lot of work on it & made vast transformations. What improvements did you make moving to the Naim? I think i have a 110 in the back room somehere.

Rare Bird

15-12-2009, 15:26

In my view, the NAC72 is one of Naim's best preamps for vinyl-based systems, and it looks really cool, too!

I thought the 32 the best old Naim Pre amp..

Marco

15-12-2009, 15:36

Yep, that's why I said that I thought the 72 was one of Naim's best preamps for vinyl; not the best ;)

I think it would be a very interesting exercise to expose Naim's current clientele to music played through a system like Andrew's....

Some would probably get the shock of their lives (in a good sense) when they heard how far the current range of equipment has departed from the way it was originally voiced by JV :eyebrows:

Marco.

flatpopely

15-12-2009, 15:45

Marco.

My 72 is not standard, it has individual card regulation and new 321 and 729 cards BUT. The mods are there to improve on the NAIM sound NOT change it.

I took my unmodified NAIT home and compared to my modified NAIM system. The modified sounded just as I though it would, just like the NAIT but with more oomph and detail.

It was quite close though..................

I have heard modern NAIM gear and I'm not sure I like the direction the sound has taken.

Andrew

Steve Toy

15-12-2009, 16:01

I have heard modern NAIM gear and I'm not sure I like the direction the sound has taken.

Andrew, I think you'll fit in here nicely. A true Flat Earther who happens to use Linn/Naim gear. :)

Marco

15-12-2009, 16:07

My 72 is not standard, it has individual card regulation and new 321 and 729 cards BUT. The mods are there to improve on the NAIM sound NOT change it.

I took my unmodified NAIT home and compared to my modified NAIM system. The modified sounded just as I though it would, just like the NAIT but with more oomph and detail.

Nice one, Andrew. I'm all for those types of upgrades (ones working in sympathy with the original design). I applaud this methodology in terms of system building.

What you're effectively doing is making the most of the existing circuit by using better components, therefore all you end up hearing is more of the design's intrinsic sonic capabilities :)

I've done a very similar thing with all the kit I've had modified (which is virtually everything in my current system!) :eyebrows:

Marco.

Rare Bird

15-12-2009, 17:22

Hi Andrew
I have an Onix 'OA21' I've done a lot of work on it & made vast transformations. What improvements did you make moving to the Naim? I think i have a 110 in the back room somehere.

Change for change sake then i take it :lolsign:

flatpopely

16-12-2009, 22:04

The Onix was very good but it was no match for the detail and PRaT of the NAIM combo I bought.

The NAC92/NAP90.3 is often overlooked but I liked them. Having said that a 42.5/110 is a rather special combo at a bargain price.

Andrew

DSJR

16-12-2009, 22:29

IMO, a 42.5/110 is the quickest way to a headache I know - and that was with NEW ones. i shudder to think what an old one sounds like - oh I remember, even worse but still not as bad as a 42/110 which has diabolical distortion and harshness derived from it. Not a patch on a NAIT 1 or 135's IMO.

Amazing how the same or similar amp circuit can be made or broken by the power supply.. Come back Quad 909, all is forgiven...

flatpopely

16-12-2009, 22:34

Lets agree to disagree on this!

Andrew.

technobear

21-12-2009, 10:03

Hi Andrew :wave:

I met you at Scalford Hall so... errm... hello again :)

Thanks for the Porcupine recommends. I have 'Stars Die' and am interested in getting some more so I'll look into those.

DSJR

21-12-2009, 10:23

Lets agree to disagree on this!

Andrew.

No probs Andrew, but there is evidence to back me up (from an old Stan Curtis review at the time..) and I've seen the crossover distortion for myself at Naim, which has to be regularly checked and tweaked out as the circuit ages/matures...

When you hear how sweet the Nait 1 could be and how capable the 135's are in direct comparison, I suspect you'd have come round to my way of thinking. I mean, I did comparisons up and down the range all the time back then...

These days, with my hearing as it now is, I cannot stand a shrill and over-etched presentation style, finding it fatiguing and limiting on my musical tastes. I suspect the now ageing Naim guys feel the same, the way their products have been toned down into something approaching proper neutrality (HFW's measurements tend to bare this out, as the distortion spectra are rather friendlier than of yore on the tests I've seen).

P.S. Does this mean that you aren't interested in trying out the NCC200 boards in your Zap250? I supose I'd like them better and you'd find them too "safe" perhaps?

flatpopely

21-12-2009, 22:24

I have heard NCC200s, too safe for me. Not the refined NAIM sound many claim.

Andrew

DSJR

22-12-2009, 06:56

Interesting, as I haven't heard them either...... :scratch:

captain

22-12-2009, 15:18

Hi Andrew somebody else from York

flatpopely

22-12-2009, 15:31

I was born and raised in York, now live 10 miles North.

captain

22-12-2009, 15:40

Moved up here about 4 Years ago as I brought the deli next to the market LINK (http://www.deliyork.co.uk). A really nice city to live in.

flatpopely

22-12-2009, 15:50

I'll pop by soon! Looks good.

Beechwoods

22-12-2009, 21:20

Pleased to meet you Andrew. Sorry it's taken a few days to get round to saying hello properly :doh:

flatpopely

22-12-2009, 21:46

Hi Nick.

Nice to be here!

Andrew.

Haselsh1

24-12-2009, 08:13

Hello to you from a fellow Prog Rocker. I live in Pickering so I'm not too far from you. We're all a bit snowed under at the moment. It's good to see you here.

flatpopely

24-12-2009, 21:21

I have close to the edge on vinyl!

Vinyleyes

25-12-2009, 12:58

Hi Flat and Haselsh .. from a fellow newbie just over on the edge of Scarborough .. although I am a long way from there at this moment.

I tried the 135's a long time ago in a local area shop but could not warm to them .. I preferred my Nakamich 730 receiver .. 100 watts of smooth grunt .. but I know nothing !! .. since then I turned to valves ... :eek: but still have the Nak and I'm dying to hook it up to my CD sysytem when I've got my speakers fixed ..

On the prog front .. You guys and others are talking about bands I never heard of !! ... Maybe I still have new stuff to discover .. :) ... With respect are any people from the North Yorks area old enough to remember the Penthouse club in Scarborough .. I remember seeing The Enid there on several occasions ,, they were an institution ... Do they qualify as prog rock .. if so then count me in ... But Crimson were the best !! :cool:

Also I am looking for advice on a bedfellow preamp/phono for my Radford STA 25 ..

Hope your'e having a great xmas day ...

DSJR

25-12-2009, 14:08

Hint - Croft - hint...

EAR's good too, but recent price increases have lifted the 834 out of the VFM stakes IMO.

The valve Quad comes up occasionally on fleabay for a reasonable sum and I understand it's pretty good in stock form (and beautifully presented).

As this thread is dedicated to FlatP, I ought to suggest the new "baby" Avondale pre based on the 821 version of the Naim preamp line stage. It'll be neutral enough, but for well over a grand I cannot understand why it only has one input (don't give me the cost-saving vibe either ;)) and it will take some hours to bed in fully, unlike the valve equivalents which come on song much quicker IMO....

Labarum

25-12-2009, 20:33

Welcome Flatpopely.

I am a York lad, though I have not lived there since going up to the Unversity of Durham in 1969.

My mother has lived in the same house in Osbaldwick since 1954.

That's Domesday Book stuff

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osbaldwick

flatpopely

26-12-2009, 00:57

Hi Brian.

I know you from another forum, but I don't know which!

Andrew

Labarum

26-12-2009, 09:05

I know you from another forum, but I don't know which!

Tell us about your screen name Andrew.

Mine may be Googled, but if you look outside the south door of York Minster you can see the man associated with my name.