View Full Version : Dave Cawley - Superstar!
twelvebears
04-02-2010, 19:59
Just wanted to say a big public thank you to Dave for spending the day, chatting about hi-fi, feeding me with tea and lunch, doing me a great deal on a new Jelco 750 and Timestep PSU AND fitting them for me.
Very much appreciated Dave. :cool:
Time to inaugurate an AOS award for services rendered to the Audiophile Community? ;)
Enjoy your upgraded turntable. It seems that the running in of the replacement bearings won't ever take long...:D
The Vinyl Adventure
04-02-2010, 20:47
Time to inaugurate an AOS award for services rendered to the Audiophile Community? ;)
you arnt the first to suggest such a thing...
Nice one, Steve - how's it sounding, then? :)
Marco.
twelvebears
05-02-2010, 07:44
Well it sounded pretty f@#king excellent hammering out a live Kraftwerk album through Dave's system yesterday but after a 500mile round trip, including the last 60 miles in M4/M25 traffic, I was too knackered to set it up last night. :zzz:
I'll be going home early today to do just that and will report back.
Told Dave he needs some decent cabs for those fancy speakers of his though... ;)
Well it sounded pretty f@#king excellent hammering out a live Kraftwerk album through Dave's system yesterday but after a 500mile round trip, including the last 60 miles in M4/M25 traffic, I was too knackered to set it up last night.
Tell me about it - it's nearer 600 miles for me... :mental:....Worth it, though! :eyebrows:
I look forward to reading your thoughts later. You should now have a rather serious turntable ;)
Marco.
chris@panteg
05-02-2010, 09:51
Marco and Steve ' all i can say is i am in awe 600 and 500 mile round trip's:youtheman: .
It must give you piece of mind ' that its set up just so , not sure if i could do that myself ' a trip to Dartmouth and stay overnight would be preferable or fitting the SME ohh ops or Jelco ;) myself would be easier .
Well, all the guys on the Steve Hoffman forum say that the Sound HiFi mods and arm upgrade "Can't be that good"...
Glad to hear you are enjoying it. I agree that it's pretty awesome! Hats off again to Dave!
Why can't it be that good? I mean, I did hear that the techie motor unit was fitted to many former belt driven cutting lathes, the plinth is solid and well damped in the 1200/10 mk2 and the Jelco 750 is based on an arm that sold for £800 back in the mid eighties.. A real bargain IMO...
chris@panteg
07-02-2010, 22:20
Dave ' perhaps not many folks in the states have heard the Techie with either the Mike New or Timestep Bearing yet ' when they do it might be very interesting to gauge the reaction ;)
Well, all the guys on the Steve Hoffman forum say that the Sound HiFi mods and arm upgrade "Can't be that good"...
Not me.
twelvebears
08-02-2010, 07:07
Well, all the guys on the Steve Hoffman forum say that the Sound HiFi mods and arm upgrade "Can't be that good"...
Glad to hear you are enjoying it. I agree that it's pretty awesome! Hats off again to Dave!
That's interesting... The phrase 'can't be that good' differs from 'aren't that good' by the fact that one implies disbelief on the basis of assumptions which out actual experience, while the other is an actual judgement.
Sounds to me like the guys are having their heads bent by the concept that a 'DJ deck' can be made to perform like a serious turntable through a series of affordable upgrade steps... :)
Of course a DJ deck can't be "that good" ! It's obvious ! I saw it on TV ! :lol:
Hi Steve,
Sounds to me like the guys are having their heads bent by the concept that a 'DJ deck' can be made to perform like a serious turntable through a series of affordable upgrade steps...
Yup; people should understand just how serious this T/T becomes with all the Sound Hi-fi mods in place, together with a high-quality arm and cartridge - as such it is extraordinarily good.... Of course you wouldn't know unless you'd heard one! The Steve Hoffman forum appears to be populated by some rather blinkered, narrow-minded, people with rigidly inflexible views - indeed that was my own experience when I contributed there :rolleyes:
What needs to be made quite clear is that I never began my journey with the SL-1210 to try and obtain a top-notch turntable on the cheap (as appears to be considered the only logical reason for owning a Techy by critics elsewhere). That is categorically NOT what I got into this for, and so obtaining a 'bargain' turntable was not in any way my motive for going down the Technics SL-1210 T/T path.
I embarked on this project to obtain a truly world-class turntable, able to compete with the best, which is full of brand-new easily serviceable parts, without spending 'silly money' (i.e. upwards of £5k and beyond). I also have no interest whatsoever in owning 'desirable badges', being part of a clique, or creating "bandwagons" for people to jump onto.
Have you got that, Mr Dunn? ;)
And a truly world-class turntable is exactly what I've obtained... Look out for a full review of the Mike New bearing and a summary of my thoughts to date on the modifications I've had carried out to the SL-1210, amongst lots of other stuff, in Strokes of Genius later this week! :)
Marco.
Has anyone got the Ken kessler review in HFN of the mk2 gold techie from the early to mid nineties? He raved about it then - and that was BEFORE anyone started modding it.....
I can't get on the review, but he speaks here : http://hometheaterreview.com/denon-dl-103-cartridge-reviewed/
Ammonite Audio
08-02-2010, 10:52
........................What needs to be made quite clear is that I never began my journey with the SL-1210 to try and obtain a top-notch turntable on the cheap (as appears to be considered the only logical reason for owning a Techy by critics elsewhere). That is categorically NOT what I got into this for, and so obtaining a 'bargain' turntable was not in any way my motive for going down the Technics SL-1210 T/T path.
I embarked on this project to obtain a truly world-class turntable, able to compete with the best, which is full of brand-new easily serviceable parts, without spending 'silly money' (i.e. upwards of £5k and beyond). I also have no interest whatsoever in owning 'desirable badges', being part of a clique, or creating "bandwagons" for people to jump onto.
Have you got that, Mr Dunn? ;)
And a truly world-class turntable is exactly what I've obtained... Look out for a full review of the Mike New bearing and a summary of my thoughts to date on the modifications I've had carried out to the SL-1210, amongst lots of other stuff, in Strokes of Genius later this week! :)
Marco.
Neither did I! The plan involved trying out a nearly new deck for fun, sold on by a friend for a good price; however the Techy has evolved into a seriously satisfying device, using some Sound HiFi stuff and other bits from elsewhere, all of which which amount to quite a hefty overall sum. The end result is not a cheap deck at all, but one that still represents good value, particularly when taking into account how easy the Techy is to live with - a far cry indeed from the rather unimpressive standard 'table. I used to have a Heavied and Waved Spacedeck, and good as it was, the Techy is as satisfying, if not more so, but it demands far less of me than any other deck that I have used. I am constantly amazed at how good this thing sounds, particularly since fitting the Mike New bearing.
Next step for me is to get a Pete Riggle VTAF for the Jelco (I already have one for my Tecnoarm).
twelvebears
08-02-2010, 11:37
Admittedly I've still to upgrade the bearing, but I've just totted up my total outlay on my Techie so far and it comes to £1450 all-in, including mat, feet etc.
So not cheap as such, but certainly MUCH cheaper than I could get similar performance elsewhere. Even with a Mike New bearing I'll still be under £2k, and as Shuggie says, the Techie has the advantage of being the most user friendly deck on the planet!
All I have to do is think about the grief of having to move belts between pulleys on my old Manticore Mantra used to put me off playing 12" singles, to fully appreciate how much of a plus a bit of user-friendliness is!
Neither did I! The plan involved trying out a nearly new deck for fun, sold on by a friend for a good price; however the Techy has evolved into a seriously satisfying device, using some Sound HiFi stuff and other bits from elsewhere, all of which which amount to quite a hefty overall sum. The end result is not a cheap deck at all, but one that still represents good value, particularly when taking into account how easy the Techy is to live with - a far cry indeed from the rather unimpressive standard 'table. I used to have a Heavied and Waved Spacedeck, and good as it was, the Techy is as satisfying, if not more so, but it demands far less of me than any other deck that I have used. I am constantly amazed at how good this thing sounds, particularly since fitting the Mike New bearing.
Indeed, Shuggs. Although others might be (and good luck to them), I'm simply not interested in going through the hassle of 'renovating' an old TD124, Garrard or PL-71, even though all are, when appropriately set-up, very good T/Ts in their own right - and miles ahead of a standard SL-1200/1210 in terms of performance. The latter fact is beyond question.
However, that certainly isn't the case though once the Techy has been fully modified. It just depends on how far you want to go.
The maths is easy, as far as my Techy upgrades are concerned: to date I've spent around £2500 on the initial cost of my SL-1210, including all the KAB and Sound Hi-fi modifications (excluding partnering cartridges), and have ended up with a turntable that can compete against any other costing up to £10k and beyond (leaving the likes of a stock PL-71 in its wake)... And if anyone doubts this then they're welcome to bring their fully-loaded LP12s, SMEs, Avids, Roksans or whatever round for a shoot-out! ;)
That's a no-brainer win-win situation and a serious high-end bargain to boot - end of, no matter what some narrow-minded individuals elsewhere think!! :cool:
Marco.
The thing is, one starts with a perfectly capable deck in stock form - possibly the mk5 with better arm tube(?). Fit a sympathetic MM cartridge and enjoy. As finances allow, the deck can be improved in careful stages BY THE OWNER.
Glad of the Spacedeck comments. Another bargain for a grand plus arm IMO...
I despair of vintage LP12 owners who think they can set their decks up as well as a trained and experienced dealer. Perhaps they can, once they've been shown, but it's not an easy deck to "play with" IMO.
Agreed Marco, I make my total outlay to be about £1800 for the Techie and all the mods and I'm well pleased at comfortably surpassing the Roksan Xerxes/SME IV that I used to own. I now have a platform that can take more, such as a new arm, any time I feel the need. Very happy indeed with it.
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