Hello all

[dcarol]

Hi All

Came across the forum just a few days back and it looks nice. My name is Dirk and I'm an alcoholic ;) - seriously though I was introduced to music by both my parents back in the late 50's. I listen mainly to Jazz, prog-folk although I can appreciate most things except opera, classical and most female vocal like Nora Jones, Eva Cassidy etc. I inherited a medium size record collection which was where it all started.

My main system consists of what is in my signature but I also have a second system in my study which is again vinyl based and revolves around my old 1980s Rega 3. I live in SW London and do not have a dealer that I frequent.

I am retired but work as a mentor/consultant to small startup and SMEs. My background is/was in banking but I had 3 companies back in the 90's that I did well from. No yacht in Miami though!

I am new to audio forums so excuse the lack of etiquette while I get used to them (the other being Audiogon).

What I am looking for now in life?.... nothing really, just an easy life.

[Spectral Morn]

Hi All

Came across the forum just a few days back and it looks nice. My name is Dirk and I'm an alcoholic ;) - seriously though I was introduced to music by both my parents back in the late 50's. I listen mainly to Jazz, prog-folk although I can appreciate most things except opera, classical and most female vocal like Nora Jones, Eva Cassidy etc. I inherited a medium size record collection which was where it all started.

My main system consists of what is in my signature but I also have a second system in my study which is again vinyl based and revolves around my old 1980s Rega 3. I live in SW London and do not have a dealer that I frequent.

I am retired but work as a mentor/consultant to small startup and SMEs. My background is/was in banking but I had 3 companies back in the 90's that I did well from. No yacht in Miami though!

I am new to audio forums so excuse the lack of etiquette while I get used to them (the other being Audiogon).

What I am looking for now in life?.... nothing really, just an easy life.

Hi Dirk

Thank you.

Don't worry you will get the hang of forum etiquette soon enough. AOS is perhaps a tad stricter about getting new members to post here first, rather than launching straight into posting. We think its nicer to get to meet people and learn a bit about them before getting down to audio business.

Nice system.

I was a few hours ago remounting my Graham Phantom arm on my SME model 20 turntable. Not the most easy thing, as while the Phantom fits okay it needs a tad of fiddling with, to get it aligned right. Bob Graham developed the arm with the Model 30 in mind, so it was my thought when getting the arm that it should fit on the model 20; if it hadn't I would have mounted it on my Oracle Delphi mk4.

Anyway it brings life and energy to what is a rather sat upon and safe sound with the SME 5 arm in place, so I imagine the same will be true for a model 30 turntable. What do you think ?

It would be nice to see some photos of your system. If you can post them in the Gallery part of the forum.

Welcome to AOS have fun and enjoy.


Regards D S D L

[John]

Lovelly system hope you enjoy it here

[dcarol]

Yes, I heard the Phantom was designed with the SME 30 in mind but I bought my Phantom after the Stereophile review. It does work extremely well. The SME V does not work however on the 20 or 30. It is just a complete mismatch, unless you don't like listening to music in which case you'll love it. Seriously though, you'll never get music out of a full SME setup IMHO

I do enjoy the system immensely but am always looking for 'more'. I think the next item to go is the preamp. I pretty fed up changing valves after 3-4 months. The manual says 3 months and they are spot on. I will look at a decent solid state one or a decent valve one that lasts longer.

My last purchase was the Whest PS.30RDT Special Edition which to me was/is probably the biggest eye opener since going from my old Practica L to a Leica M6. If you think you know what your record collection is like.....think again :lol:

I'm a die hard film user so will have to borrow my sons digi camera at some point.

[Spectral Morn]

Yes, I heard the Phantom was designed with the SME 30 in mind but I bought my Phantom after the Stereophile review. It does work extremely well. The SME V does not work however on the 20 or 30. It is just a complete mismatch, unless you don't like listening to music in which case you'll love it. Seriously though, you'll never get music out of a full SME setup IMHO

I do enjoy the system immensely but am always looking for 'more'. I think the next item to go is the preamp. I pretty fed up changing valves after 3-4 months. The manual says 3 months and they are spot on. I will look at a decent solid state one or a decent valve one that lasts longer.

My last purchase was the Whest PS.30RDT Special Edition which to me was/is probably the biggest eye opener since going from my old Practica L to a Leica M6. If you think you know what your record collection is like.....think again :lol:

I'm a die hard film user so will have to borrow my sons digi camera at some point.

I agree totally with you. Its pretty crazy when you think about it that SME design the so called ideal motor unit for their flagship arm and the two don't match...unless of course you like the end result, which I don't. The SME Motor units are excellent in their own right and the arms are very good when used with the motor units others make.

The SME 5 that came off the Model 20 is normally in use on my Oracle Delphi mk4 where it sounds excellent.

Know what you mean about phono stages, though I went valve having been using a Pass labs Xono for ages. I ended up with a BAT VK10 se.....beautiful sounding.

I would worry about you going through pre-amplifier valves that quickly as most designs I am familiar with will go years with out needing their valves changed. THE CJ must be canning them pretty hard (can you can a pre-amp valve hard :scratch:)


Regards D S D L

[dcarol]

can you can a pre-amp valve hard

Yes. I think it's because they drive the valves so hard that they give up after a few month. When it is working properly which is about 10% into its lifespan, it's brilliant. I think the ART and the one box preamp below it are pure Class AAA! I thought there was something wrong so called Lou Johnson and he told me ' read the manual'. That was a wasted call to the USA!

I went from a a Pass Xono to a Whest PS.30R which was a great jump-UP. The Xono is so American - read into that what you want.

[Spectral Morn]

Yes. I think it's because they drive the valves so hard that they give up after a few month. When it is working properly which is about 10% into its lifespan, it's brilliant. I think the ART and the one box preamp below it are pure Class AAA! I thought there was something wrong so called Lou Johnson and he told me ' read the manual'. That was a wasted call to the USA!

I went from a a Pass Xono to a Whest PS.30R which was a great jump-UP. The Xono is so American - read into that what you want.

The CJ is I think only single ended (just looked on their website but no photos of the backs), imho the Pass while good hooked up via its RCAs takes a fairly big jump forward in sound quality when used balanced, via its XLR outputs.

However I think I know what you mean about the American sound flavour.

I happen to quite like the sound of a lot of American kit but equally I like gear from other parts of the world too. Bottom line for me is, does it sound right and as part of the system does it match and add to the whole, if so then frankly where it comes from is not really high on my list of concerns.


Regards D S D L

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi All
My name is Dirk and I'm an alcoholic ;)
2385 Hi Dirk, join the club 2386


Seriously though, welcome to AoS & like others have already said - that is a very nice system indeed ;) No big surprise you have loads of vinyl with a deck like that :)

Bests to you...

[Alex_UK]

Hi Dirk, I think what was meant was to put "Dirk" in your signature, not your screen name, so we know who you really are when you post ;)

Other than that, just to reiterate what everyone else has said - nice system, some piccies some time would be great if you can sort the technology! :)

Enjoy Aos - welcome to the forum.