Mike Reed
22-01-2010, 15:39
Or, to be more inclusive, four stages, if you count the one I started with and the one I ended up with.
As soon as I fitted my Koetsu Black nearly two years ago, I started research on a replacement for my Naim Prefix (powered by my 552 pre.), as I (possibly mistakenly) thought that the healthy 0.6mv output of the Black was pushing the boundaries of the Prefix.
Kuma (PFM) and Chris (here), among others, pointed me in the direction of Art Audio (Vinyl 1) and LFD. There were, obviously, other contenders, but these two shone out on paper, and were more likely to be accessible. The Naim Superline was the obvious choice, but had a limited sensitivity to a range 0.1 to 0.5 mv.
Last springtime a chap brought his V1 over from Gloucestershire. Yes, a hell of a distance but there was an ulterior motive, so he wasn't that put out.
We tried everything to make it sound reasonable into my 552 and then directly into my 509 valved monos. I suppose the fact that there was so little discernable difference between going through the pre. and direct to power amps says something for the 552, IME.
Basically the sound was thin and underpowered (and the V1 has a 70db gain!!!) He was mystified; I was surprised and the designer, Tom Willis, couldn't put his finger on a cause either. The unit wasn't faulty, as it was sold directly afterwards to a satisfied customer. The jury is still out on that one!
Next into the arena is the local Naim dealer with his demo.Superline. He fixed it up and I marvelled at what I had been missing these past few years (with the Prefix). RFI. Loads of it; multilingual, loud and erratic. What was worse was the loud cracks from the speakers at frequent, albeit irregular, intervals.
Whilst we were having lunch and the SL was warming up we were assailed by these unmusical aberrations. The dealer tried, half-heartedly, to investigate earthing, but the audition, though enlightening, was marred by these discharges.
That the SL was superior to the Prefix became evident, though having the dealer choose his own music (some of which I'd forgotten I had!) from my records didn't really help with that prognosis. He seemed happy, though! However, there was no way I could live with that kind of musical disruption, so I declined his offer. Subsequent enquiries to Naim, whereby some communication was supposed (????) to have been instigated with the dealer, yielded silence.
Next up was the LFD MCT (£3K bracket). I almost bought, unheard, a used one from a genuine adherent of this phono stage, back in September. Oddly, at the same time, a dealer whom I'd had bought from many years previously, had a used one for sale at about the same price.
Luckily, as it transpired, he couldn't access this unit (out on loan) when I called and lent me his dem. unit. He had no doubt whatsoever that it would transform the sound from my Black. This wasn't bullshit, either. This dealer has long-standing knowledge of a hell of a lot of gear (including Koetsu) over many, many years, and knew his onions. I trusted his judgement (still do, actually) and ears.
Bloody Nora!!!! Not only could I not find the 'on' light (you can only spot this pinprick from a specific viewpoint), I couldn't find the musical Nirvana this was supposed to deliver. Guess I couldn't fault its impeccable behaviour (no hums, RFI, static discharges) or, indeed, general detail retrieval, but there was just no life. Image width was narrow, and everything was just matter of fact. Great for insomniacs, maybe, but I was used to a bit of dynamism; a bit of verve; joie de vie. I felt like a filleted fish; gutted!
I hadn't mentally pencilled in another trip to Kent to return it two weeks later, but needs must, and I was lucky I hadn't made a commitment. An object lesson, that! Triumph of optimism over scepticism? My friend thinks so, but once bitten......
I was so pissed off by this year of disappointments that I bit the bullet and bought a used Superline in November; later added a Supercap power supply and a Burndy cable. In for a penny.........and I got a pound. Brilliant. Yeah, maybe the Black could be pushing the envelope a bit (though this is probably more psychological that aurally evident) and the minimal RFI I experienced was soon dispelled by a bit of earthing jiggery-pokery. AND no RFI static discharges (well, hardly any!).
Guess there might be a few morals to this story, but it's a fact that I'm a year older than when I started. A large percentage of time remaining at my time of life. Or, maybe, only through suffering do you obtain peace. Who knows?
I imagine the foregoing will have limited appeal, but it's something I've been promising to relate for some time.
Nine months or so ago Marco's parting shot on a thread was ' get a Superline, Mike; you know you want to'. I put it down to 'dismissive' at the time, but just maybe (and I have my doubts), this was 'prescience' on his part.
VINYL KIT INVOLVED ABOVE. ORBE / SME5 / BLACK; 552 + 509 monos
As soon as I fitted my Koetsu Black nearly two years ago, I started research on a replacement for my Naim Prefix (powered by my 552 pre.), as I (possibly mistakenly) thought that the healthy 0.6mv output of the Black was pushing the boundaries of the Prefix.
Kuma (PFM) and Chris (here), among others, pointed me in the direction of Art Audio (Vinyl 1) and LFD. There were, obviously, other contenders, but these two shone out on paper, and were more likely to be accessible. The Naim Superline was the obvious choice, but had a limited sensitivity to a range 0.1 to 0.5 mv.
Last springtime a chap brought his V1 over from Gloucestershire. Yes, a hell of a distance but there was an ulterior motive, so he wasn't that put out.
We tried everything to make it sound reasonable into my 552 and then directly into my 509 valved monos. I suppose the fact that there was so little discernable difference between going through the pre. and direct to power amps says something for the 552, IME.
Basically the sound was thin and underpowered (and the V1 has a 70db gain!!!) He was mystified; I was surprised and the designer, Tom Willis, couldn't put his finger on a cause either. The unit wasn't faulty, as it was sold directly afterwards to a satisfied customer. The jury is still out on that one!
Next into the arena is the local Naim dealer with his demo.Superline. He fixed it up and I marvelled at what I had been missing these past few years (with the Prefix). RFI. Loads of it; multilingual, loud and erratic. What was worse was the loud cracks from the speakers at frequent, albeit irregular, intervals.
Whilst we were having lunch and the SL was warming up we were assailed by these unmusical aberrations. The dealer tried, half-heartedly, to investigate earthing, but the audition, though enlightening, was marred by these discharges.
That the SL was superior to the Prefix became evident, though having the dealer choose his own music (some of which I'd forgotten I had!) from my records didn't really help with that prognosis. He seemed happy, though! However, there was no way I could live with that kind of musical disruption, so I declined his offer. Subsequent enquiries to Naim, whereby some communication was supposed (????) to have been instigated with the dealer, yielded silence.
Next up was the LFD MCT (£3K bracket). I almost bought, unheard, a used one from a genuine adherent of this phono stage, back in September. Oddly, at the same time, a dealer whom I'd had bought from many years previously, had a used one for sale at about the same price.
Luckily, as it transpired, he couldn't access this unit (out on loan) when I called and lent me his dem. unit. He had no doubt whatsoever that it would transform the sound from my Black. This wasn't bullshit, either. This dealer has long-standing knowledge of a hell of a lot of gear (including Koetsu) over many, many years, and knew his onions. I trusted his judgement (still do, actually) and ears.
Bloody Nora!!!! Not only could I not find the 'on' light (you can only spot this pinprick from a specific viewpoint), I couldn't find the musical Nirvana this was supposed to deliver. Guess I couldn't fault its impeccable behaviour (no hums, RFI, static discharges) or, indeed, general detail retrieval, but there was just no life. Image width was narrow, and everything was just matter of fact. Great for insomniacs, maybe, but I was used to a bit of dynamism; a bit of verve; joie de vie. I felt like a filleted fish; gutted!
I hadn't mentally pencilled in another trip to Kent to return it two weeks later, but needs must, and I was lucky I hadn't made a commitment. An object lesson, that! Triumph of optimism over scepticism? My friend thinks so, but once bitten......
I was so pissed off by this year of disappointments that I bit the bullet and bought a used Superline in November; later added a Supercap power supply and a Burndy cable. In for a penny.........and I got a pound. Brilliant. Yeah, maybe the Black could be pushing the envelope a bit (though this is probably more psychological that aurally evident) and the minimal RFI I experienced was soon dispelled by a bit of earthing jiggery-pokery. AND no RFI static discharges (well, hardly any!).
Guess there might be a few morals to this story, but it's a fact that I'm a year older than when I started. A large percentage of time remaining at my time of life. Or, maybe, only through suffering do you obtain peace. Who knows?
I imagine the foregoing will have limited appeal, but it's something I've been promising to relate for some time.
Nine months or so ago Marco's parting shot on a thread was ' get a Superline, Mike; you know you want to'. I put it down to 'dismissive' at the time, but just maybe (and I have my doubts), this was 'prescience' on his part.
VINYL KIT INVOLVED ABOVE. ORBE / SME5 / BLACK; 552 + 509 monos