+1:popcorn: Got an LDR on order so waiting with baited breath, get thee tea down sharpish lad and spill t'beans ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
+1:popcorn: Got an LDR on order so waiting with baited breath, get thee tea down sharpish lad and spill t'beans ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
:popcorn::popcorn::popcorn:
Ian, the difference really hit home when I put the LDR in my system....!
Got a few things to do and then want to watch The Apprentice, so da beanz will be spilled after that, Hudza :D
Marco.
Yer killin me!!! :steam: fook Sir Alan wes needz to knowz:D;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
Yeah. Come on Marco. Spill the beans!! :lol:
(I still think you should enter a TVC into the equation)
yeah, spill dem beans, you know we are all waiting :lol:
Attachment 15537
Ok, guys, to cut a long story short.... When I was round at Ian's house last night, we listened to the three passives (as previously outlined), and Ian's and mine (the Goldpoint) were pretty close in performance, with perhaps the Goldpoint just shading it, in terms of openness, top-end extension and leading edge attack. Not a lot in it, though.
However, when we put the LDR in (at Ian's) we both remarked that it sounded really good, and almost as if there was 'nothing there': just pure 'raw' music being pumped from the RPi straight into his (modded) Quad 405s, such was the extent that it appeared to get out of the way of the music. It really did rather take us aback! :eek:
Now bearing in mind that up until this point I hadn't listened to the LDR, as I'd been too busy with other things, and I thought it would be interesting to give it a first listen at Ian's. So we had a good listen to it, and the other passives, playing a wide variety of music through them (in the process I discovered a superb new artist called Sun Kil Moon: http://www.sunkilmoon.com/bio.html whom I intend to investigate more).
In the final analysis, we concluded that the LDR was probably best, as in Ian's system the other passives weren't notably far behind it in overall performance, but we agreed that the LDR did have a rather magic way of music making. Therefore, I drove home, and when I got in, connected the LDR to my system - and that's when it hit me that this little thing was doing something, musically, that NO other passive device has I've heard to date, and was immediately obvious as soon as I plugged it in.
It's the completely uncanny way it seems to 'disappear' from the equation, exhibiting almost no sense whatsoever that the signal passing through it is being 'strangled' or diluted in any way. I can detect almost no sonic signature from it all; it just seems to let music flow in the most effortless way imaginable, and so 'sounds' of nothing other than source music signal. Furthermore, it's the way the LDR reveals previously hidden micro-details in the mix, which almost leap out and say: 'hey, you've not heard me before, buster - check me out!' :eyebrows:, which never ceases to amaze and has you wanting immediately to rediscover your music collection!
Anyway, the long and short of it is that, based on what I'm hearing with the LDR, I really doubt that I'm going to be able to get the Goldpoint to sound as good, simply because of the simplistic nature of the design of the LDR, and the fact that there are so few 'bits' sitting in the signal path... I'll need to have a good think about where to take the Goldpoint (if anywhere) in order to be able to compete with the LDR, perhaps by using Z-Foils throughout.
The immediate plan for now, however, is to get used to the LDR and enjoy lots of music through it, then for the first time in about a month, plump the Croft back in, for line-level duties, and see where things are, and how it compares with the LDR. That will be a very interesting one, as with not having listened to the Croft for so long, the difference in how it sounds compared with the Goldpoint and LDR should become immediately obvious!
In the meantime, it's back to some more listening (currently playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No2, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales (conducted by Walter Weller) with John Lill, on piano, and it sounds mesmerisingly real!!
I should also point out that the LDR I have is the latest spec version, from Chris, with matched LDRs and the new pre control circuit, which apparently there are only three of in the world at present. More in due course, especially about how the respective cables are measuring up from Belden, NVA (SSCs) and MC5000s. That's also been rather interesting!
Laters :cool:
Marco.
Excellent. I had a funny feeling there'd be a rather positive outcome Marco.
Not heard an LDR yet, but I'm accumulating parts to try and build one.
me too ;-)
Enjoy the tunes.. I rediscovered my music collection with this little attenuator in the chain :)
Nice write up(not my speciality); nice unbiased reporting.... Good to hear you have made yet another step up sonically, and as you say, if you dont try things you will never know what you may or may not be missing.