Jimbo
29-12-2018, 16:34
I can't believe it has been 2 years since I visited Alans house and listened to his system. I have spoken and seen Alan a few times since then but not actually listened too his rig for 2 years and in that time there have been many changes, some big and some small. However all of these changes have resulted in quite a large change to Alans system and the listening experience. Many of the components are the same but they have all been tinkered with. I apologise in advance for not putting up photos but Alan maybe along later to add these in and I also apologise if I do not state exactly which model of equipment Alan is using which is sort of irrelevant as they are either home built or modified!
I was greeted with the usual hospitality by Mr and Mrs Firebottle and spent about 3-4 hours listening mainly to vinyl on Alans GL75 Lenco. This had undergone significant changes since I last heard it and I feel these changes account for about 50% of the improvement in overall sound quality of Alans system.
So the Lenco has been replinthed in a beautiful layered plywood plinth with a natural finish and a cables routed to new connectors built into the plinth. This sits on some very nice cup and cone steel spiked feet. The whole upgrade to the plinth has brought about major significant benefits in reducing sound vibration both airborne and from the main turntable top plate. The Lenco no longer contributes much of its own sound to the music. On top of all this Alan has now installed a Lyra MC cartridge which unbelievably works superbly with some tweaking of the Lenco standard arm. Just shows you do not have to junk this arm to get a great sound. The Lyra cartridge has a very detailed but solid sound with great bass weight and transparency.
Amplification is home brew Firebottle via the Kin preamp and Alans power amps. I know these have been tweaked and sound as good as ever with another new tweak from the addition of a Industrial but effective volume pot. I forget exactly which one Alans is using but he believes it had changed the bass performance in his system which I don't doubt having listened to it.
Speakers are Alans Quad Esl57 with addition of a super tweeter and supplemented with a REL subwoofer. Alan did swap in some Neat speakers for 2 minutes but the Quads were so much better we decided to listen only to them.
Music kicked off with some jazz which I believe was LA4 Just Friends - stunning recording. I immediately went to Discogs to buy it but at £42 for a minty condition its a bit pricey. Good find there Alan. :) We also listened to KEB Mo KEB Mo and a rather tasty piece of music which knowing Alans very varied taste in music I knew he would like. it was Sera un Noche 'Nublado' 45rpm.
The overall effect and improvement in Alans system since my last visit were across the board. There was a greater solidity and dynamic impact to the music with greater weight and transparency. On some live recordings you felt like you were there - very nice. The lyra cartridge certainly digs out the detail but is even handed and quite dynamic unlike other Lyra cartridges I have heard which can be airy fairy. I liked it a lot and in the context of Alans system it worked well. This was one area of discussion we had over the course of the afternoon and that was system synergy. Simply you put together a system in your own environment according to your own taste and synergistic involvement with the other components in your system. It is no use trying to assume listening to any piece of equipment anywhere or any other system that it will effectively guarantee it will work in your system. The sum of the parts in your own system and environment will determine wether it works or not.
We did listen to a bit of the other stuff - digital via a retro Philips Cd player via a rather tasty Bel Canto DAC. I felt although the resolution was not absolute it did a very good job indeed in turning out a solid musical performance that was not far too far behind Alans analogue system, However that distance no matter how small is quite important as it is always that last bit that delivers the icing on the cake in believability in musical playback and therefore for me analogue still wins. There is something still about the analogue sound that still leaves digital some way behind but not far! The Bel Canto DAC is a great find and sounded good in Alans system, better than many DACs I have heard recently apart from DAVE but that is different story.
Only one area in Alans system I did feel lacking from my point of view and that was soundstage both width and depth. This may have been down to the listening room acoustics, a bit more space to the side and behind the speakers may have allowed them to breath better but I felt they were constraining the acoustic ambience of the soundstage. This is problem many of us have in smaller listening environment so it is quite common.
I would like to thank Alan for a very pleasant afternoon and allowing me to hear his system 2 years on. It has certainly not stood still and as I said at the beginning it has moved on significantly through all the changes he has made. If I was to take away one single piece that was the most significant I would say it was Alans now much modified Lenco GL75. What a great turntable this now is especially with the Lyra cartridge. It make me think just what other cartridges could be fitted to this arm.:scratch:
I was greeted with the usual hospitality by Mr and Mrs Firebottle and spent about 3-4 hours listening mainly to vinyl on Alans GL75 Lenco. This had undergone significant changes since I last heard it and I feel these changes account for about 50% of the improvement in overall sound quality of Alans system.
So the Lenco has been replinthed in a beautiful layered plywood plinth with a natural finish and a cables routed to new connectors built into the plinth. This sits on some very nice cup and cone steel spiked feet. The whole upgrade to the plinth has brought about major significant benefits in reducing sound vibration both airborne and from the main turntable top plate. The Lenco no longer contributes much of its own sound to the music. On top of all this Alan has now installed a Lyra MC cartridge which unbelievably works superbly with some tweaking of the Lenco standard arm. Just shows you do not have to junk this arm to get a great sound. The Lyra cartridge has a very detailed but solid sound with great bass weight and transparency.
Amplification is home brew Firebottle via the Kin preamp and Alans power amps. I know these have been tweaked and sound as good as ever with another new tweak from the addition of a Industrial but effective volume pot. I forget exactly which one Alans is using but he believes it had changed the bass performance in his system which I don't doubt having listened to it.
Speakers are Alans Quad Esl57 with addition of a super tweeter and supplemented with a REL subwoofer. Alan did swap in some Neat speakers for 2 minutes but the Quads were so much better we decided to listen only to them.
Music kicked off with some jazz which I believe was LA4 Just Friends - stunning recording. I immediately went to Discogs to buy it but at £42 for a minty condition its a bit pricey. Good find there Alan. :) We also listened to KEB Mo KEB Mo and a rather tasty piece of music which knowing Alans very varied taste in music I knew he would like. it was Sera un Noche 'Nublado' 45rpm.
The overall effect and improvement in Alans system since my last visit were across the board. There was a greater solidity and dynamic impact to the music with greater weight and transparency. On some live recordings you felt like you were there - very nice. The lyra cartridge certainly digs out the detail but is even handed and quite dynamic unlike other Lyra cartridges I have heard which can be airy fairy. I liked it a lot and in the context of Alans system it worked well. This was one area of discussion we had over the course of the afternoon and that was system synergy. Simply you put together a system in your own environment according to your own taste and synergistic involvement with the other components in your system. It is no use trying to assume listening to any piece of equipment anywhere or any other system that it will effectively guarantee it will work in your system. The sum of the parts in your own system and environment will determine wether it works or not.
We did listen to a bit of the other stuff - digital via a retro Philips Cd player via a rather tasty Bel Canto DAC. I felt although the resolution was not absolute it did a very good job indeed in turning out a solid musical performance that was not far too far behind Alans analogue system, However that distance no matter how small is quite important as it is always that last bit that delivers the icing on the cake in believability in musical playback and therefore for me analogue still wins. There is something still about the analogue sound that still leaves digital some way behind but not far! The Bel Canto DAC is a great find and sounded good in Alans system, better than many DACs I have heard recently apart from DAVE but that is different story.
Only one area in Alans system I did feel lacking from my point of view and that was soundstage both width and depth. This may have been down to the listening room acoustics, a bit more space to the side and behind the speakers may have allowed them to breath better but I felt they were constraining the acoustic ambience of the soundstage. This is problem many of us have in smaller listening environment so it is quite common.
I would like to thank Alan for a very pleasant afternoon and allowing me to hear his system 2 years on. It has certainly not stood still and as I said at the beginning it has moved on significantly through all the changes he has made. If I was to take away one single piece that was the most significant I would say it was Alans now much modified Lenco GL75. What a great turntable this now is especially with the Lyra cartridge. It make me think just what other cartridges could be fitted to this arm.:scratch: