Man Cave

[baron]

I've spent some time reorganising and tidying my loft space.

The PC & JPW Mini Monitors.
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk320/baron103/DSC_0269.jpg

Tangent RS4 speakers
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk320/baron103/DSC_0270.jpg

Workbench
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk320/baron103/DSC_0271.jpg

Listening Position
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk320/baron103/DSC_0274.jpg

Akai 400D GL75 RB300
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk320/baron103/DSC_0275.jpg

Rega Planar3
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk320/baron103/DSC_0276.jpg

View from Listening Position
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk320/baron103/DSC_0277.jpg

One day I will get around to refurbishing the Quad kit
http://i283.photobucket.com/albums/kk320/baron103/DSC_0278.jpg

[radio]

hi there phillip,nice pics,like the guitars:) regard maria

[Jac Hawk]

Awsome mate :fingers:, i would want to do that to my loft if my whole house wasn't my man cave:eyebrows:

[baron]

OK then Loft;)

[Marco]

Now, Philip, *THAT* is quality! :respect:

I wish you many hours of quality listening there :cool:

You need a minibar, though!

Marco.

[Reid Malenfant]

What a fantastic room :) Just the kind of place you'd instantly feel at home in! Most excellent :cool:


i would want to do that to my loft if my whole house wasn't my man cave:eyebrows:
I'm in the same boat :eyebrows:

You need a minibar, though!
:lolsign: Hark at Marco putting bad ideas in his head :eyebrows:

Noooo, you need a mini refridgerator for the tinnies ;)

:sofa:

[baron]

Thanks Marco, I'm working on the mini bar:cool:

[baron]

Thanks Mark

[Marco]

Thanks Marco, I'm working on the mini bar:cool:

Or failing that, a bell that alerts 'her downstairs' to bring up a frothy cold one (along with the biccies and a bacon sarnie) - and snappy, too!! :eyebrows:

Marco.

[DSJR]

That looks great if not obscenely tidy ;)

Some lovely stuff, I shan't mention the bastardised GL75 any more ;) but may I suggest the Rega is put on some sort of isolation as a metal filing cabinet really isn't the thing with an R200 arm and dear old RS4's with loads of tuneful but "port augmented" bass (hope yours aren't suffering the old age that afflicted a friends pair - one of the bass units' glue joints started to fail with catastrophic effects on soprano voices).

:respect:

[Jonboy]

very nice man cave, wish mine was as tidy

[baron]

Or failing that, a bell that alerts 'her downstairs' to bring up a frothy cold one (along with the biccies and a bacon sarnie) - and snappy, too!! :eyebrows:

Marco.

Great idea Marco, but I want to stay married :)

[Marco]

Lol - you just haven't trained her right! :lol:

Marco.

[Beechwoods]

I love the room Philip! Everything a man could want or need at his fingertips. Nice to see the Akai spooled and ready to go.

There's nothing like a well-appointed man-cave!

[baron]

That looks great if not obscenely tidy ;)

Some lovely stuff, I shan't mention the bastardised GL75 any more ;) but may I suggest the Rega is put on some sort of isolation as a metal filing cabinet really isn't the thing with an R200 arm and dear old RS4's with loads of tuneful but "port augmented" bass (hope yours aren't suffering the old age that afflicted a friends pair - one of the bass units' glue joints started to fail with catastrophic effects on soprano voices).

:respect:

Thanks for your comments. :)

It took me 2 weekends to tidy up, wish I took a before picture :doh:

I know about the GL75 but it sounds better with the RB300, one day I will build a proper plinth for it.

The RS4's are holding up quite well considering their age, I think I got them in 1978 from Grahams Hi-Fi in London, along with the Sugden amp and the Rega. I will do something about the isolation when I sort out a cartridge for it.

[baron]

Lol - you just haven't trained her right! :lol:

Marco.

I've been trying for 35 years!

[baron]

I love the room Philip! Everything a man could want or need at his fingertips. Nice to see the Akai spooled and ready to go.

There's nothing like a well-appointed man-cave!

Thanks Nick,
I have been using the Akai and the TEAC cassette deck.

[baron]

very nice man cave, wish mine was as tidy

Thanks Jon,
I don't suppose it will stay tidy for long. :)

[Spectral Morn]

Nice :)

I like the Dalek :):lolsign:


Regards D S D L

[baron]

Nice :)

I like the Dalek :):lolsign:


Regards D S D L

Christmas present about 3 years ago

[Alex_UK]

Nice - I have the exact same Rega Planar 3 in system 3 (or is it 4? :scratch:) and Dalek! Missus bought it for me for Christmas probably the same year! Avatar now has it in her playroom, but has no idea of the provenance! :lol:

[Spectral Morn]

Christmas present about 3 years ago

I bought one for myself :lolsign:


regards D S D L

[baron]

Dalek's are great, always liked them when I saw them on Dr Who when it first come out.

[Techno Commander]

Excellent space. Everyone needs a soldering iron. :)

[baron]

Thanks, Andy

[MartinT]

Awsome mate :fingers:, i would want to do that to my loft if my whole house wasn't my man cave:eyebrows:

Yes, I have the same setup and haven't even looked at my loft :)

[synsei]

(sighs) I don't have a loft. I live in a 3 storey town house with a flat roof. Don't even have a cellar. :unfair:

I do have a garage and have suggested to Mrs 'S' that I could use it to store all my gear, but that it would need to be stored in such a way that it replicated a 'listening room' environment. The look she gave me said it all really... :lolsign:

Top man-cave there Phil... Incidentally, I call my Weller, Paul... hehe

[Techno Commander]

Can you put a shed on the flat roof?

[synsei]

Not at all, no way to get it up there except by crane or helicopter ;)

[Haselsh1]

Absolutely love that Sugden amplifier.

[Rare Bird]

Some Tangent 'TM1' on auction these used the Kef 'T27/B200, where as those 'RS4' uses Kef 'T27/Audax

[baron]

Absolutely love that Sugden amplifier.

Thanks Haselsh,
Its not in the best condition externaly, I changed the caps a while back. It sounds fine, it also alows 2 record decks to be used.

[Covenant]

When I designed my house I considered putting attic trusses in-at the time it would have only cost £1500 more. I could have done the loft conversion later when money was a bit less tight. Stupid, stupid, stupid me.

[Puffin]

Jerry, don't beat yourself up. I have converted an integral garage in our last house to a hifi room and last year cut our large double garage in half to make a nice room. Do you have a garage? Do you put a car in it? Is it full of crap?

Rob.

[Covenant]

Rob, I do have a single integral garage which has never housed a car but it has an awful lot of crap in it. My wife is a seasoned recycler so there are about 6 big containers in there. Don't think it would go down well to suggest turning it into a hifi room! No, the room I have is small but ok. With some acoustic treatment and the ceramic tile floor replaced it will be really good.

[trio leo]

Hi Baron,
Love the mancave, I'm sure you have many a great listening sessions in there, and super systems throughout your house, nice to see others playing vinyl, it's my only source and I converted my garage to a mancave, where I can blast my music without upsetting anyone.
enjoy your music.

regards Al

[alex_san78]

Wow! How could I miss this post and such a beauty! :) Nice looking system and great room. Your private cabinet? :)

[Slippershod]

Wow! How could I miss this post and such a beauty! :) Nice looking system and great room. Your private cabinet? :)

for sure. I'd never want to leave such a space.

love the way the akai reel to reel seems like part of the ferrograph (?) separate beneath it ... and those gee-tars behind the tangents ... :stalks:, mind you, if anything like mine, watch out for 'em resonating (although could improve things for all I know :scratch:) in sympathy.

[baron]

Thanks for all the comments guys :cool:

Its in need of a bit of a tidy up at the moment, may get around to it thisweekend ;)


for sure. I'd never want to leave such a space.

love the way the akai reel to reel seems like part of the ferrograph (?) separate beneath it ....

Its a Sugdon A48II amp under the Akai. The guitars seem to be quite well behaved. They are just for decoration now.

[northwest]

Well I have been messing around, like you do, in my den and here are a couple pics. My beloved 405 monoblocks and Martin came around with the Croft pre-amp again so it's on loan to me for a while.
Bit confused about how it all sounds because, as we all do, I changed a number of things all at once instead of just one thing at a time. I will have some time to myself over the weekend and I can be a bit more subjective then.

http://immersible.co.uk/hifi/kit.JPG

http://immersible.co.uk/hifi/two405s.JPG

http://immersible.co.uk/hifi/monoblock405.JPG

I have a real soft spot for the 405's of course because I totally rebuilt them, but I also rebuilt my 303 and it has transformed it, I have owned it for more than twenty years, the power supply next to it is the supply for the 34 pre-amp:

http://immersible.co.uk/hifi/303.JPG

[baron]

Interesting, what model is the croft pre amp? I would love to know how you think it compares with the Quad 34.

[northwest]

Interesting, what model is the croft pre amp? I would love to know how you think it compares with the Quad 34.

I have agonised over my reply. Truthfully I have only had a few brief sessions, with it and then of course I started to mess about with a number of (major) changes. I am going to sit down for a couple of hours tomorrow and do a more subjective comparison.
These are my thoughts though and I must preface the following with this: I am no Hi-Fi review buff. I have only just recently been introduced to words like "bright" "clear" "clamped bass" etc. I am sure we use these terms because we cannot adequately describe "sound", so please excuse my feeble efforts.
When I first plumbed the Croft Micro into my system it was because it had been brought 'round to my house just so I could experience it.

My first impression after substituting the Croft for my Avondale Audio Quad 34 pre-amp was that the music was much 'brighter' more transparent at the mid and top. I do believe this was at the cost of bass though.
The second thing, the use of left and right hand volume controls had me confused for a moment. This took some getting used to. I am not sure I am totally happy that I don't have the tone and slope controls afforded me by the '34 - sometimes, and this is a personal thing, I imagine the music should have a little more or a little less bass or treble somewhere. Purely subjective and purely my interpretation and I know that in the search for "the purest" sound we dispense with these controls but some days I am not looking for that "pure" sound - I just want to listen to a familiar track the way I imagine it should sound.
However, my system(s) as they are give me terrific pleasure and as I sit on my own enjoying my music I really do believe that if I thought there was something wrong I would change it. I don't, these two pre amps are just quite different, they produce a sound poles apart. Right now I have decided that I have two systems, the Quad 405 monoblocks coupled to the 34 pre-amp and the Croft pre-amp coupled to the 303 Amplifier. The snag of course are the speakers. I have a pair of Quad ESL 57's and these are the finest speakers I have ever owned. What I would replace them with I have absolutely no idea and to be honest I wouldn't want to. Sure, they are big and not for everyone but as I have been shuffled off upstairs out of sight they are not an issue for me.
As with everything audio - Your Mileage May Vary.

[northwest]

Oh yes, and just one more - minor - point. None of any of this would have been remotely achievable, or nearly as enjoyable without the generous help of people on this forum: John for his "go for it" regarding digital, David for his invaluable suggestions regarding the gain on my 303 and all of the other very generous contributions.

[baron]

Thanks Graham for coming back to me on this.

I asked because while I'm very happy with the NA Dais, 34, 606, 63 system a the moment, its coming to that time when the stylus will either need re-tipping or the cartridge upgrading (not made my mind up yet).

I will more than likely get / make a phono stage instead of using the one in the 34. I'm pretty sure that the 34 will then be the weakest link in the chain (if it's not already), and a Croft pre was on the list.

I think another trip to Hi-Fi Dave will be in order later this year.

I agree the Quad ESL 57's are great speakers. I like the 63's as well they were rebuilt by One Thing about 18 months ago, they also serviced the 57's at the same time.

I don't use the tilt control on the 34, but I do use the bass lift sometimes, just 1 notch.

[jason]

Stunning Philip if you need a new mate I'm your man lol, those quad's look nice sitting there one of my biggest regrets selling mine.

Jason