A Visit to Jimbos

[Bigman80]

After months of trying to get our schedules to line up, I finally managed to get over to James's abode.

My main purpose for the visit was to get a listen to the Croft Pre and power amp.

The Man -

James is a very Gracious host and made me feel very welcome in his home. We spoke at great length about the artists we listened to and James demonstrated a vast knowledge of his favourite artists background. One thing that really came across was how passionate he is about sound. Like me, there is a NEED to get transparency and resolution from our systems.

The VPI

I was very close to purchasing a VPI Classic a little while back. I have always liked the ethos of VPI. High quality gear first and foremost.

I was very much looking forward to hearing it and here lies the problem. I didn't hear it, in fact it just totally disappeared whilst in use. Silent in operation, pure black background and Delivered a very beautiful sound. I am so impressed with the VPI. Beautiful craftsmanship and looks. Simply a stunning turntable. A rock steady pitch and never heard it falter. Exceptional turntable.

Ortofon 2M black -

I've not heard a 2M black before so this was a real eye opener. I said to James at the time that I didn't feel he was missing out on anything from MC but on review, I think there's an edge to the sound that you don't get with MC. Maybe MC is Smoother? Not sure but what a fantastic cartridge the 2M black is. Again very detailed and resolution was incredible.

Croft Preamp and Power amp -

This is the bit where I am supposed to think "I like it but not as much as ......."

Well I can't, in all honesty, I thought the croft gear was simply fantastic. Beautiful rendering of female vocals and guitar. Excellent timbre and depth. I was totally immersed in whatever we listened to. 3D soundstage and pinpoint accuracy. Decay and attack were natural and organic, I just loved listening to them. A worthwhile contender if you are looking for a new amp, preamp.

Spendor 2's -

Here are a pair of speakers that I enjoyed listening to immensely. However, and I say this with the understanding that the room dimensions are holding James back, I felt they didn't give out the full scale of the recording. James fully acknowledges this and his reasoning for not going bigger with the speaker's makes a lot of sense.

The treble and MIDs are delivered with absolute magnificence. Pure tone, smooth treble and everything is handled with delicately when needed. Guitar strings twang and resonate in the body of the guitars and recreate a feeling of being live incredibly well. They enable you to get right into the recording unlike anything I've heard previously. Such transparency is hard to find. The only thing missing from this set up is scale and James knows this.

And incredible system to listen to and completely well matched to provide what James wants, transparency and accurate tone.


Conclusion -

I could spend hours listening to James system and we did. Around 4 in total.

I think for any audiophile, the equipment must achieve the sound principles that one wants to achieve and here they do. A very well matched system by a very knowledgeable guy. It was an absolute pleasure to listen to and I'm grateful to Jimbo for the invite. I now have a list of LPs I need to buy due to the fantastic material he has!







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