My Garrard 301 journey... almost there.

[Bigbird]

Hi Karl,

Interesting you found the HL5 a bit boomy and warm and cuddly as that was my impression of them when I heard them and much preferred the SP2s! However now I have a much larger room which is almost twice the size of my old listening room the SP2s are struggling in the bass. They have never been particulary strong in bass as they cut out at about 50Hz but they suit smaller rooms.

I am seriously considering larger speakers and a friend of mine has the massive Dynaudio C4s which are just magnificent although they are difficult to drive so I would need either the 7R monos or something like the Neurochrome 686 Oli uses. I think the C4 would be a bit too big for my 12 x 22 foot listening room so I would be most interested in how you get on with the C30i. Do let me know how they sound in a bit more detail as you get aquainted to their capabilities.

All the best
Jim

Hi Jim ,

All I can say is that these work perfectly in my room. 6x4m . They are tall but the bass is not overpowering or boomy as it’s so tight and fast.
They cut off around 30hz so it’s a nice deep and detailed low end . I don’t feel I need to use the baffles in the rear ports. I’ve got them around 350mm away from the wall and toed in to my shoulders and it’s just sublime. I don’t feel like I need to adjust them anymore.

The monos have plenty of power to drive them too as they’re not particularly hard to drive but can handle 300w if you have it . A real good match with the Croft gear mate. A lovely balance ,finesse and smoothness that you get with elite speakers .

The soundstage literally engulfs you. It’s huge. Guitars snarl and screech with a live feel and you hear the micro details where people aren’t fretting the chords and notes properly .

I genuinely think you would love them but the c4 would be too much. These are perfect size for a medium room without being to imposing or forward .

I’ve found something rare for me in Hifi , and that’s something that will be a round for the long haul. I’ve chopped and changed and box swapped a lot these last 5 years to find the right formula and I’ve now struck a balance that is infectious.

Ive loved the spendors and their presentation but I knew they weren’t quite end game , and I enjoyed the Harbeths too but they weren’t quite the right sound for my tastes . I said I would go for D7 or C30 and whichever popped up at the right price first I would pursue. Thankfully the c30 did as they are the slightly better speaker .

I’ve listened for hours today and not got bored once . I’m absolutely ploughing through my records. That’s what it’s all about. I’m back Listening to the tunes now and not the equipment if that makes sense


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[Marco]

Ah I see, my mistake. From what I read on your thread , I wrongly assumed it was your only setup as it’s such top quality , and that it hasnt been getting used for a while. Doh!

Is the downstairs system of the same calibre?

Lol - no, not remotely! But it's none too shabby either, but much smaller. It's mainly for movies, but I also use it for streaming music, either via Tidal or through my own Seagate hard-drives (using a Raspberry Pi with Paul Hynes PSU) and OSMC/Kodi. I have three HDs, each with 3TB worth of music files on them, so no shortage of choons!

And also for playing CDs on my Sony 4K Blu-ray player, through a Beresford Bushmaster MKII DAC (with SB Booster) and Sony AV amp (which also works great on 2-channel duties), with a pair of modified Celestion Ditton 15XRs, which I now also use to great effect as a centre speaker (not pictured), along with a 48" Sony 4K TV. Here you go:





There are also two Yamaha YST-FSW050 10" subs secretly hidden, to give added 'crunch' to movie explosions!

And some little ceiling-mounted Gales for the rears:





It works really well in our lounge, which also has to function as a liveable room, not just a hi-fi den! I've also fed some speaker cables down through the ceiling space from the main system upstairs, so I can plug that into the Celestions and listen to them, fed from my main system, which is fun! Great for conducting blind listening tests, lol!

One of the main reasons I wasn't using the big system was because it's more comfortable (and sociable too, as my wife often joins me for music listening sessions) to enjoy music in the lounge, especially during the winter, as it's nice and cosy in front of the log burner, than being 'shut away' upstairs on my own... But I don't mind it for a bit, especially as big rig sounds so good!

I’m well sorted here now mate. The new speaks are end game for my budget. They’ve completely blown me away to be honest .

Such a beautiful balance with the rest of the supporting cast .

Yeah, I don't doubt it and I'm well pleased for you, so enjoy!

Marco.

[Jimbo]

Cheers, matey. I've always been enjoying music, just on a different system! My second system downstairs, which I use for music and movies

Glad to see though that you've got your system now so well sorted!

Marco.

P.S Hi Jim

Hope you're well, mate!

Hi Marco, all good thanks. Hope all well with you?

[Marco]

Yup, defo. Good to see you checking in again - feel free to make it a habit!

Marco.

[Jimbo]

Hi Jim ,

All I can say is that these work perfectly in my room. 6x4m . They are tall but the bass is not overpowering or boomy as it’s so tight and fast.
They cut off around 30hz so it’s a nice deep and detailed low end . I don’t feel I need to use the baffles in the rear ports. I’ve got them around 350mm away from the wall and toed in to my shoulders and it’s just sublime. I don’t feel like I need to adjust them anymore.

The monos have plenty of power to drive them too as they’re not particularly hard to drive but can handle 300w if you have it . A real good match with the Croft gear mate. A lovely balance ,finesse and smoothness that you get with elite speakers .

The soundstage literally engulfs you. It’s huge. Guitars snarl and screech with a live feel and you hear the micro details where people aren’t fretting the chords and notes properly .

I genuinely think you would love them but the c4 would be too much. These are perfect size for a medium room without being to imposing or forward .

I’ve found something rare for me in Hifi , and that’s something that will be a round for the long haul. I’ve chopped and changed and box swapped a lot these last 5 years to find the right formula and I’ve now struck a balance that is infectious.

Ive loved the spendors and their presentation but I knew they weren’t quite end game , and I enjoyed the Harbeths too but they weren’t quite the right sound for my tastes . I said I would go for D7 or C30 and whichever popped up at the right price first I would pursue. Thankfully the c30 did as they are the slightly better speaker .

I’ve listened for hours today and not got bored once . I’m absolutely ploughing through my records. That’s what it’s all about. I’m back Listening to the tunes now and not the equipment if that makes sense


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Excellent Karl, I think you now have a top notch system especially with that amazing turntable, superb amps and now you have the speakers to finish it off. It is now a real top notch music machine which I am sure will keep you satisfied for many years. Nice to see a great conclusion to a great system. I may have a look at the C30i myself as there are a few pairs knocking around.

[Bigbird]

Lol - no, not remotely! But it's none too shabby either, but much smaller. It's mainly for movies, but I also use it for streaming music, either via Tidal or through my own Seagate hard-drives (using a Raspberry Pi with Paul Hynes PSU) and OSMC/Kodi. I have three HDs, each with 3TB worth of music files on them, so no shortage of choons!

And also for playing CDs on my Sony 4K Blu-ray player, through a Beresford Bushmaster MKII DAC (with SB Booster) and Sony AV amp (which also works great on 2-channel duties), with a pair of modified Celestion Ditton 15XRs, which I now also use to great effect as a centre speaker (not pictured), along with a 48" Sony 4K TV. Here you go:





There are also two Yamaha YST-FSW050 10" subs secretly hidden, to give added 'crunch' to movie explosions!

And some little ceiling-mounted Gales for the rears:





It works really well in our lounge, which also has to function as a liveable room, not just a hi-fi den! I've also fed some speaker cables down through the ceiling space from the main system upstairs, so I can plug that into the Celestions and listen to them, fed from my main system, which is fun! Great for conducting blind listening tests, lol!

One of the main reasons I wasn't using the big system was because it's more comfortable (and sociable too, as my wife often joins me for music listening sessions) to enjoy music in the lounge, especially during the winter, as it's nice and cosy in front of the log burner, than being 'shut away' upstairs on my own... But I don't mind it for a bit, especially as big rig sounds so good!



Yeah, I don't doubt it and I'm well pleased for you, so enjoy!

Marco.

It’s still a fine little setup , not to sniffed at mate. I bet you get the full cinematic experience there don’t you ?

A decent dac is next on my list too. Seems to be a lot of good stuff out there now for sub £1k that really gives a top vinyl rig a run for its money .

I also need to dig out my long rca lead from the deepest darkest depths of the garage and get the tv rigged up for movie nights . Might look into that at the weekend as she asked me about that this week .


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[Bigbird]

Excellent Karl, I think you now have a top notch system especially with that amazing turntable, superb amps and now you have the speakers to finish it off. It is now a real top notch music machine which I am sure will keep you satisfied for many years. Nice to see a great conclusion to a great system. I may have a look at the C30i myself as there are a few pairs knocking around.

Cheers Jim. Honestly mate you can not go wrong with them. Having had them a few days now they are really phenomenal, in another league to the spendors .

Maybe a home demo is on the cards when your ready ? They will blow your socks off


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[Bigbird]

So it’s been a long time since I posted but as I’ve just finished building a Neurochrome 686 power amp I thought I’d share a few pics with you.

It was really very simple to put together . Tom has done a great job of supplying easy to follow and thorough instructions . It’s idiot proof to say the least .

As you can see it’s a proper beast. About 25kg in all and pretty much the same size and weight as my three Croft amps stacked together.

Modushop did a great job on the logo I provided too.

I went all in on this build. No compromises . The traffo from toroidy is their supreme audio grade with 4 windings to make it dual mono. Wiring is Neotech 7N ultra pure OCC copper. Binding posts and RCAs are top of the range Viborg pure copper ,Teflon and carbon fibre jobbies. I’ve sent my RCAs off to Oliver Bigbottle to strap some of his Spotfire cables onto for the input signal so I’m using Canare cable for the meantime .

So far the sound is a bit more detailed and transparent than my top spec Croft monoblocks but I now know that my 25R is the Bottleneck in my system and needs changing. It’s Cleary holding back information . I’ve known this for a while and even looked into sending it off to Glenn for an upgrade but I now feel like I’m moving away from that sound and on to something more neutral and thruthful to the recordings so the Croft’s will likely go into the classifieds soon .







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[Wakefield Turntables]

Great story. So what's replacing the croft??

[Bigbird]

Great story. So what's replacing the croft??

I’ve managed to persuade Oliver to build me one of Angus (phonomac) new preamp creations . I’ve got all the parts sorted now , I’m just waiting on Oliver to get back to health in order to build it all up. Hopefully won’t be too long now


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