all looking spiffing old bean :D
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all looking spiffing old bean :D
Sounding good to me old fruit. :)
Troops across when the new stuffs all bedded in, its been a while.
Would I get any change from £2,000 for the SET? :eek:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
nae bother.. look forward to it. hope im well that day :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
:rfl::rfl:Quote:
Originally Posted by Sherwood
uhm....wish I could say yes?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sherwood
Got fed up buying, selling and side-grading.
in the spirit of “do it once and do it right” I took the nuclear option.
Was happy to live on toast n beans for 6 months...money saved in the long run old chap! :)
Happy to sort a day round about that Grant.Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Was good having you over last time.
I keep getting e-mails from Western Electric about their imminent 300B re-issue, and how to pre-order them.
Will see what the world thinks of them before getting interested. If at all. They don't seem to want to give up with the idea of making them.
Anyway, glad the Psvane's are doing the business for you.
Just think how long you'd have been on beans and toast for if, say, AudioNote had produced it instead of Nick?;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
System's looking good, mate! Must swing by for a wee listen next time I'm up:cool:
Marco.
Commercial... *Shudder*
McIntosh money, easy.
Welcome mate,
just give us a shout, can sort summit when your back in the old country.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
Will defo be in touch then, as I intend to take the Brabster on a few road trips this year... Will see if my gangsta car stereo can compete with your system:eek::D
Marco.
Of course I meant £2,000 per channel!Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
OK,
so thought I'd blab a bit about cables and how I got to my final setup.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Cables do make a difference. :)
DIGITAL CABLES
Prior to getting my current Dac I ran a Logitech Transporter, which though it had a great Dac inside I preferred it as a transport into my Young Dac at the time.
Was always on the lookout for the "best" way to hookup the Transporter to a Dac, so I spent a long time trying different options, Optical vs RCA, which cables, even BNC and XLR connections and different brands of cables.
Looking back I think this played a big part in my getting a bit jaded with the whole system merry-go-round "thing"and I got a little bit fed up with all the sidegrading I was doing!
Turned out XLR was the best connection for me, tried all sorts of cables some of which are below.
And THEN it turned out (Dac dependant...) that i2s was far and away the best digital connection.
Who'da thunk it!?
So it's what i use nowadays.
RCA cables
Linn Black > Tellerium Q Black > (the infamous) SLIC interconnect > Brian's Klotz (Better than the SLIC) > Wireworld.
With the new Preamp, its XLR if I can.
https://i.imgur.com/IgRqcFO.jpghttps://img.usaudiomart.com/uploads/...ect-cables.jpg https://i.imgur.com/DDNB6l5.jpg
Think we know what Brian's Klotz cables look like, so here's what I finally settled on, best I've ever heard.
Spend more time nowadays on American high end forums and Wireworld kept coming up in some pretty esoteric systems.
Wanted to keep my Valve power amp (with its big transformers) a distance away from my valve input Pre-Amp, so needed a 1m RCA.
I wanted to know I wasn't limiting the potential of my amps, so went for one of these.
Not the cheapest, but worth every penny imo.
https://i.imgur.com/0cQmVB4.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/CLNNm25.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ne8naWl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/8sswWPz.jpg
So thats was the connection between Preamp and power amp done, had to be RCA as my Poweramp doesn;t have XLR's.
Again, didn't want to limit the performance of my Dac connecting to the Preamp, so again went with the same cable, this time in an XLR connection.
Thankfully I could get away with an 0.5M length here, which took the sting out the cost a fair bit.
https://i.imgur.com/8hHR6pd.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/TVUO4Kw.jpg
I tell you, these cables are built to last, but I needed another XLR cable to connect my PS Audio phonostage (shown earlier in the thread) to the Preamp.
But I needed a 1m length, and as vinyl (sorry!) is now a secondary source compared to the digital stuff I thought twice about spending what I did on a second 1m Wireworld cable.
Reality's gotta kick in at some point, but thankfully the Dealer I bought all my PS Audio gear from, Igloo Audio, do their own XLR cable which Peter@Igloo was happy to throw in a superb XLR cable for free with my new Preamp.
School of thought about balanced XLR cables, given their "Pro" nature, that they aren't as susceptible to the problems of single ended RCA cables.
And whilst this is true in part, they certainly don't all sound the same!
I tried probably 4 or 5 different XLR cables from Bluejeans, DH Labs, Morrow Audio and Mogami when looking for the best connection from my Transporter to Dac...and differences could easily be heard.
BUT
As vinyl was secondary to my listening habits I decided that I didn't need to spend Wireworld money to call this one done.
The new phonostage had an i2s connection to my Dac which is very cool, especially for ripping vinyl to 24/96, the PS Audio phonostage's analogue outs sounded better into my new Preamp than digital i2s connection via my Dac.
The new Pre's very transparent and it's letting the quality of the phonostage's output stage show how good it actually is.
So needed an XLR cable here, but didn't want to break the bank.
As it happened, Igloo Audio sell their own XLR cable assembled from modified Neutrik/ Mogami stock parts, and it measures superbly in terms of impedance and capacitance
Being sold as "absolutely transparent" and Details here:
http://silvermogwai.com/
Getting one for free, and even before the new Pre and cables I LOVED the sound of my vinyl rig hooked up with the Firebottle phonostage even with Klotz MC5000 cable into my old Densen pre...WAY more than good enough.
The new set up is a lot,lot better.
Vinyl...done.
Was going to get my SME V rewired with Kondo silver cable...naa, not necessary.
https://i.imgur.com/2YymnDC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/11H2zNc.jpg
So thats interconnect cables done and dusted then. :thumbsup:
Next up, New Adventures in (powering) Hifi.
Mains cables 'n such.
BTW The new Pre was designed by this guy:
(Designed for Constellation, Infinity, Infinity class-A, Conrad-Johnson, and Marantz)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHl8F9amyY4&t=1s
Good post mate . I'm really looking forward to getting over to yours next week . Your system's going through so many changes in such a short space of time . It's really hard to keep up :)
Good stuff. Always interesting reading your various 'mutterings' on audio, Gaz-baz... So, I remember asking your somewhere, I forget where, what your new valve preamp was, and so don't know if you replied or not.
So, I'll ask again here, since it's your Gallery thread... What is it, and could we have some pics of the beastie?:cool:
Marco.
Lol... Ok, but when you reveal it, I'd like to know what the big secret was - and it better be good!:trust:
;)
Marco.
So...couple of things have happened, time for an update.
Since getting the PS Audio dac I've became a bit of a fanboy of theirs, and wanting to make the most of my SET valve power amp I looked to upgrade my Densen Preamp.
An awesome bit of kit, sent it back to Densen for full service and recapping (and they replaced the two transformers as well) so sounded wonderful.
But PS Audio did a matching preamp to the Dac, and by all accounts it was something really special sounding.
Information on it fromPS Audio's website here:
https://www.psaudio.com/products/bhk...-preamplifier/
Short answer, wow. :eek:
Significant upgrade over the Densen and lets me brings out the best of the rest of the system.
Some pics:
Double boxed and well packaged...
https://i.imgur.com/MFydlgX.jpg
Front:
https://i.imgur.com/5zqpSAj.jpg
Rear Panel - LOTS of input options. Balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA for each input
https://i.imgur.com/BNjbqpN.jpg
Notice that hatch on the top panel, the one with the two screws?
This comes away and lets you get access to the two valves on it's input stage - PS Audio encourage valve rolling,for myself I stuck with the recommended types that the amps designer Bascom H King prefers.
Good enough for me!
Really high quality caps and components in this thing - its really top notch stuff.
https://i.imgur.com/alVcC6K.jpg
In place with the matching Dac:
https://i.imgur.com/30VphTZ.jpg
You tease. That's not some pics.. Looks great
Ah more pic.. Ti's a fair chunk of gear mate. I fancied one of their bits of kit too but was too rich for me. Think it was the phono
Was updating the thread as you replied. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Think you were quite taken with the Phono Grant, but you got one that did the similar digital chicanery I think?
Need to get over to yours, have your Power Inspired regen to return (not to mention try some great coffee and discuss coffee machines!)
Anytime.. Yup it does digi on fly etc. Works quite well at its price point. About 500/550 I think it was.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
I'm like u going more toward digital all time
Without wanting to sound like a bad American Infomercial...but wait, there's more.
As much as upgrading my Dac and preamp were game changers, this one was far more fundamental.
Systems completely changed now, pretty sure I'm really hearing what the various bits and bobs I've upgraded are capable of now.
Endgame stuff for sure.
So, different schools of thought about the hierarchy of system upgrades - whats the best thing to upgrade, where should you allocate most resources...etc.
Source first vs optimise the room vs get the best speakers and work back.
Components been upgraded and I'm calling them done, so what was next?
Source is sorted...and my rooms OK no complaints...so look at speakers?
I have the Eddingdales, Colin Topps' amazing box speakers - best box speakers I've heard and give massive bang for buck.
Commercial from new talking silly money for this quality.
Fantastic...box...speakers.
See where I'm going with this?
Oh dear lol. Got some open baffles have we?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
I dare say they can be TOPPed Gaz, but it will be difficult. The edi gdales are great and take on all comersQuote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Yep, it does sound like a Bastanis moment, the very definition of ‘curates egg’ performance in my experience....
The Edingdales were perfect with that amp, and the amp limits your choice a bit, so I'm going to say even better Edingdales :)
Naa.
Never got on with open baffles Ollie.
With an 8/9 watts SET amp, it was something I had thought about?
Great as the Eddingdales were (at 94dB efficiency) after the recent upgrades, turns out they were the bottleneck holding my system back.
The funny thing is that changing the speakers wasn't planned and happened completely by accident.
:eek:
Good story:
My SET power amp was back with its designer getting some TLC last couple of weeks and at the weekend there I drove down to collect it.
A mate lived 40minutes away so took the opportunity to pop across and see him.
Plumbed my amp into his system to hear how it sounded with his kit, particularly on his Bastanis open baffle speakers.
Unexpected results on listening, not a great match, but I happened to notice a couple of massive wooden cabinets in the corner which were, he let me know, up for Sale.
Speakers I had been curious about since reading of them in magazines back in the day, but never thought I'd get a chance to hear.
These were as minty as you could ever want, recently refoamed and had a tweeter crossover mod to improve them done.
So ideal really...just one of life's weird coincidences that sometimes happen.
Impulse H2 horn speakers - A review from Jimmy Hughes (remember him?) from back in the day.
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/impulse/images/H2_ap_1.gif
And another:
http://www.acoustica.org.uk/impulse/...2_WHF_0592.gif
So we hooked up the H2's to my SET amp and sat back to listen to some music.
Some things just "work", and the sound coming from the horn speakers with my SET amp was jaw dropping.
Never heard my amp sound like this, the scale, clarity the detail and the grunt...shocking how good it was.
Bought them on the spot with the proviso they worked as well in my room at home.
And they did.
Never thought I'd say this but I'm moving on from the Eddingdales.
Game changer for me, amazed how good they make my gear sound played through them, my last speakers short of a lottery win - which I think I'd need to better whats hitting my ears.
Valves and horn speakers, some things just "work" I guess.
Some pics in situ:
Still playing around with placement etc and trying to get them dialed into the room but great as is.
Eddingdales are huge speakers, but...https://i.imgur.com/dpH4w78.jpg
Bass horn comes out the bottom of the speaker, and spiked directly into the carpet they weren't working properly in the bass.
So sat them on some slabs to allow the gap at the bottom to let the bass work - much better now.
https://i.imgur.com/OQi6A4k.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dCe2RIg.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/3ZCo3t6.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/msnnnPz.jpg
Happy chocolate button, best sound at home by a country mile.
Depending on wether I sell the vinyl or not, one more stab at upgrading the digital front end then I'm done I think.
Happy days, just lets me enjoy my music better which is the point really of having a good system. :thumbsup:
Well done Garry. The Impulse H2s are one of the very few folded horn-loaded speaker designs I can listen to. A friend of mine has a pair, tri-wired to an Audio Innovations 500 amplifier.
Now you and Audio Al will be able to compare notes. :)
Great things the h2's. Surprised they worked so well tho. Guess I better get saving lol
Was surprised the open baffles didn’t work so well with my SET amp, on paper should be a great match?Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Funny old game this hifi lark, innit?
Wow - glad they're doing it for you. Lovely looking setup, too. :thumbsup:
Blinking heck, if anyone wants a set of H2s, there will be none left below Scotland lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Got to say, I'm really surprised you've moved on from the eddis but sometimes you just find a better match or hit a bit of synergy and it's time to move on.
Well done on the speakers and your room looks great BTW
Now, how much are those eddy's........? Lol
Great as the H2’s are, I find the Bastanis better still in my room/ system. Different matter with Gary’s amp though, they were made to be together. Synergy with a capital S!
I’m quite familiar with that amp having heard it on quite a few occasions, so I know how good it is- it’s the best 300b SE amp I’ve ever heard.
Never heard it sound like it does on the H2’s though. Jaw dropping is an over used phrase but an appropriate one in this instance I think.
Are you keeping your vinyl setup now Gary? :-)
System's looking fab mate . Those H2s must be huge because the Edingdales are large speakers and they look smallish compared to the H2s .
I'll have to get over to yours soon for a listen :)
Big? That's a matter of opinion!
Aye, you need to hear these Brian, just lovely.Quote:
Originally Posted by brian2957
a bake off beckons..pizza and chips for me:eyebrows:
LOL aye, board meeting time.
Aye , be good before the winter sets in :)
Board meeting coming up Gents,
‘You need to near this speaker amp combo.
This ones gonna be a good ‘un.
Pizza and chips for Grant naturally.... :-)
sounds good... i can bring my scooter:D
H2’s are great, I had a pair for over 10 years and replaced them with Taus. Sold them and still regret it. I’ll buy another pair one day.
In other News...
The games afoot.
Last piece of the puzzle dropping soon, then time for that Mafia Board meeting, been a while lots has changed.
https://i.imgur.com/jJEvzXL.jpg
Often feel the same about my Klipschorns-had for 20 years.Quote:
Originally Posted by killie99
Though having just been in my basement/hi-fi room, all ahew after damp found.....full of stuff piled up! No room for Ks!
is that the new rega?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Good spot that Man.
At my Dealer today, compared the new Rega Planar 8 and Planar 10.
If my Gorbe with SME V was a Bentley, this things an Ariel Atom.
The 10 is stunning.
But...
could never resist a bargain!
https://i.imgur.com/kZG7bSA.jpg
They both play records...so all good? :thumbsup:
And Bluetooth!
:eek: