I'm just a primary school teacher and I need help :(

[tornpower]

Yes Arthur, I'll go through you questions one by one -

So you have no problem with the Radford valve amp and its bass? It looks killer tbh. - Playing at home through Tannoys or Yamaha NS1000m's the Radford is fine as both are efficient speakers.

The Krell KSA80 looks like the one for me - This one will save you money in the winter as you won't need the heating on in winter.

I cant find the pre amps you suggested, are they vintage? These I had made by World Designs.

Do you disagree with the consensus that the JBL L100s are also good for the job? I have no knowledge of these.

What is your opinion of the Jah Tubby pre amps? - Hmmmm Jah Tubbys (Keith) from East London he makes sound system pre-amps mostly mono 3 or 4 way crossovers......with weight, mid and treble cutouts and parametric eq's

Joe Gibbs and Upsetter labels are my jam. - How can you leave out Bunny Lee productions with King Tubby's version sides? And Channel One and Freedom Sounds, Keith Hudson, Niney, Jammy's, Pablo etc etc.....I'm sure you know about them!


Build a mini sound system, a couple of twin Fane 18 inch bass reflex, some Celestion 12's or 10's on mid and some horn tweeters with some PA amps then run it through an EQ, some parametric, siren effects and an echo/delay unit.....you will be happy!

If I had the space (and not the neighbours), I would sell all of my gear and go down that road.....it's the music that matters and reggae is true full range music.......it was always mixed for sound system not Hi-Fi 5 inch in bass units!

Cheers

Sid

Thanks for such in depth response Sid!

Does the Krell KSA80 make a noise as well as produce a lot of heat? Will I have to wait after turning it on to actually play music?

Do you reckon the Jah Tubby preamp is good for me then because it has an EQ? Would you recommend it as a preamp or should I just get a separate EQ - is a preamp really important in terms of sound i.e. can a cheap preamp cheapen the whole operation sonically?

Your listing all the heroes - what about Scientist!? 'Striker' lee was behind so much - was Tubby his engineer or something?. Its the really early dub im trying to track down, still finding my way tbh trawling discogs - dropping crazy cash on good condition 45s, its mad pricey. Think the Japanese market has inflated things or at least that what I was told.

Of course one day I want to build a real soundsystem and will come straight back to your advice. Theres a little island in Scotland that I want to take it to on the Summer Equinox with a real squad of mums old Ladbroke Grove pals, play it loud. I'll drop you a line when it happens

[AJSki2fly]

That story is amazing Adrian. Im jealous, I often think I missed better days. You paint a mad picture but it doesn't put me off going big, that vibrating gut punching bass sounds boss. Take your point about sound reflecting and needing to shield turntable. Also about going for cheap Equalizer to start with.

Do you recommend a high end EQ that would work with the system being proposed?

Glad your getting out your reggae!

I remember there was a very good one in the 70s but I can’t remember it, I will do some investigation and see if I can find it.

I don’t know of any home user ones made nowadays, but I am sure there will be some professional gear for DJing or clubs, although a lot of it is done digitally nowadays.

I have some free time at the moment and see what I can find out. By the way don’t be put off by gear from the 70’s and 80’s some of it was very good and very well built, and to produce the same today would be very costly. Dog put old reviews on the www and you can weddle the good stuff out.

The was into punk as well which seemed to go along with reggae at the time.

Cheers

Adrian


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[tornpower]

Really appreciate this Macca, invaluable input.

Great you've seconded the Tannoy DMT15 IIs and will perhaps go for these but you've now really peaked my interest in the 'better' "big JBLs". Could you suggest some models. Maybe I should save some more! Love to see what you are talking about...

Can I ask is the Krell KSA100 better than the KSA80 that was also recommended? Amazing you have a specific preamp that works with the Krell. Not finding the Nelson Pass designed DCB1 anywhere, could you point me in the direction of 'Ollie' please?

I hear you re. the systems. For sure there is some esoteric magic in the handicraft of the big rigs but like you said I want to accurately reflect whats pressed on the vinyl as much as possible.

With that in mind can I ask what is better about the SL1200 GR over the more standard 1210s? Also do I need to buy some kind of weighted table or something to shield it as per lots of peoples suggestion. Is the risk that the record wobbles from the bass?

Do you have a recommendation as to an equaliser - I stand by wanting to fiddle for each tune to get the best sound. Is there a high-end option, can inferior models weaken the overall sound?

Agreed when you say not to skimp on the speakers. Please I would love to hear what the absolute perfect suggestion would be (even some outrageous dreams wouldn't hurt) but particularly the big better JBL models.

THANKS!

[tornpower]

+1 for Macca's suggestions, except I'd look for a tidy secondhand SL1200/1210 as opposed to a new deck, that would free up £500 or so to go towards the biggest badass JBLs you can afford, powered by a 70's jap amp (which will have a phono stage built in).

Thanks Pigmy Pony, definitely will look out for second hand. My issue is that as such a noob, I have no idea whether something on Ebay is well maintained or not, it all reads like jargon and I cant necessarily wheedle out the truth from the charlatans.

What are these biggest, baddest JBLs!!? Could you give me model numbers so i can get hunting! Cheers

[Bigman80]

Really appreciate this Macca, invaluable input.

Great you've seconded the Tannoy DMT15 IIs and will perhaps go for these but you've now really peaked my interest in the 'better' "big JBLs". Could you suggest some models. Maybe I should save some more! Love to see what you are talking about...

Can I ask is the Krell KSA100 better than the KSA80 that was also recommended? Amazing you have a specific preamp that works with the Krell. Not finding the Nelson Pass designed DCB1 anywhere, could you point me in the direction of 'Ollie' please?

I hear you re. the systems. For sure there is some esoteric magic in the handicraft of the big rigs but like you said I want to accurately reflect whats pressed on the vinyl as much as possible.

With that in mind can I ask what is better about the SL1200 GR over the more standard 1210s? Also do I need to buy some kind of weighted table or something to shield it as per lots of peoples suggestion. Is the risk that the record wobbles from the bass?

Do you have a recommendation as to an equaliser - I stand by wanting to fiddle for each tune to get the best sound. Is there a high-end option, can inferior models weaken the overall sound?

Agreed when you say not to skimp on the speakers. Please I would love to hear what the absolute perfect suggestion would be (even some outrageous dreams wouldn't hurt) but particularly the big better JBL models.

THANKS!

I am Ollie lol.

Ksa100 mk 2 is a legendary amp. Macca has my old one and it's an absolute beast. It is huge though.

No waiting to play music, just gets sweeter as it warms up. Luckily, if you want to recreate the Jamaican climate, the Krell will help you do that as it does warm the room nicely. Never an issue here and my room is smaller Than yours.

Big JBLs will be awesome but they start to get very expensive.

[tornpower]

I remember there was a very good one in the 70s but I can’t remember it, I will do some investigation and see if I can find it.

I don’t know of any home user ones made nowadays, but I am sure there will be some professional gear for DJing or clubs, although a lot of it is done digitally nowadays.

I have some free time at the moment and see what I can find out. By the way don’t be put off by gear from the 70’s and 80’s some of it was very good and very well built, and to produce the same today would be very costly. Dog put old reviews on the www and you can weddle the good stuff out.

The was into punk as well which seemed to go along with reggae at the time.

Cheers

Adrian


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you could find that 70s EQ it sounds really exciting - thank you Adrian. Cant tell you how grateful I am to all you guys. So generous with all your expertise. This should be costing me bucks!

In humble praise,

Arthur

back in school with the kinds tomorrow.... eek: rolleyes:

[Bigman80]

JBL DD55000

Yup, sizeable. Hahaha.

[tornpower]

I am Ollie lol.

Ksa100 mk 2 is a legendary amp. Macca has my old one and it's an absolute beast. It is huge though.

No waiting to play music, just gets sweeter as it warms up. Luckily, if you want to recreate the Jamaican climate, the Krell will help you do that as it does warm the room nicely. Never an issue here and my room is smaller Than yours.

Big JBLs will be awesome but they start to get very expensive.

Ah! Hi Ollie

lmao sounds great, ill be needing the heat in these coming winter months. Got to get more pennies saved.

However is the jump to the big JBLs considerable - money wise? Any chance you had a link to one I could see?

If they are out of my reach. Would you back the Tannoy Ardens ot Tannoy DMT15 IIs? If the smaller JBL L100 or their ilk are deemed not to have enough bass capacity.

Also could I commission a "Nelson Pass designed DCB1 pre amp" from you? and could you tell me rough cost?

Whats your opinion on vintage EQs?

cheers

[Bigman80]

Ah! Hi Ollie

lmao sounds great, ill be needing the heat in these coming winter months. Got to get more pennies saved.

However is the jump to the big JBLs considerable - money wise? Any chance you had a link to one I could see?

If they are out of my reach. Would you back the Tannoy Ardens ot Tannoy DMT15 IIs? If the smaller JBL L100 or their ilk are deemed not to have enough bass capacity.

Also could I commission a "Nelson Pass designed DCB1 pre amp" from you? and could you tell me rough cost?

Whats your opinion on vintage EQs?

cheers

Hi Arthur lol

I've personally never heard a set of tannoys!

What has held me back is my belief that they can't do what I like. It's not a criticism but I like bass to be heavy weight. Deep and powerful but also very detailed.

The Tannot design, of having a tweeter inside the cone does have a lot of fans but how can that design pump out the quality of bass I like when everything comes out of the same cone? I just don't think they can but I could be wrong. I'm no speaker expert. Macca is the man for that stuff.

Like I say, I haven't heard a pair and as for my speakers, they probably aren't as good as the stuff we're looking at here on the JBL front, but they do go low.

Big JBLs are mega bucks and the small ones won't have the bass. Transparent and clean, but not the bass.

As for a DCB1, sure, but there are a lot of options and each option has costs so drop me a PM and we can have a chat about it.

Vintage EQ, not something I'd want but I did hear you mention your need to tweak due to recordings.

Actually, all of your requirements have me questioning why I haven't recommended an I tegrated amplifier like the SANSUI 919.

that would have pre and power all build in. Bags of Watts and a good phonostage built in.

Ignore all the amp talk, get some good speakers and a SANSUI amplifier lol

[Bigman80]

Here we go:

SANSUI 919.

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F293036932749

Dont buy this one, Phonomac will probably go bonkers that the guy has messed with it. (resident Technics, Audio Technica and sansui expert)

Just to give you an idea.