Not so much taking the plunge with a 2M Bronze...

[Phil Lawton]

Before you put in a Christmas request for a Gyrodec have a read of this thread https://theartofsound.net/forum/show...=Gyrodec+tweak

There reasons that people have changed the suspension, spent lots of time trying isolate the arm mount from the chassis, changed the feet to gain better isolation from feed back. I had one with an SME IV arm and several MC cartridges and went through the aforementioned upgrades, and put an Orbe platter on it. I have owned a Pro-Ject 10 Signature for the past 3 years and love it, it may not be perfect, and I am sure there are similar priced TTs which will also do a good job, however it produces oodles of detail/depth, strong bass and control, and great timing, all the Gyrodec struggled with IMHO.

Yes…the perceived amount of tinkering and general pissing-aboutedness of the Michells is what’s always put me off looking into it with any serious intent.

Really happy with my Clearaudio at the moment (especially now it has the 2M Bronze strapped to it) and I’d be open to something else from the same stable.

I love the aesthetics of the Michells, but feel I might have a serious case of buyer’s regret if I actually shelled out for one.

[AJSki2fly]

Yes…the perceived amount of tinkering and general pissing-aboutedness of the Michells is what’s always put me off looking into it with any serious intent.

Really happy with my Clearaudio at the moment (especially now it has the 2M Bronze strapped to it) and I’d be open to something else from the same stable.

I love the aesthetics of the Michells, but feel I might have a serious case of buyer’s regret if I actually shelled out for one.

Hi Phil, Clearaudio make some good TTs with straight forward design concepts, yours should be quite good.

In my experience improvements are gained in vinyl replay from either a high mass platter or direct drive, isolation from external vibration(good stand/feet). Arm mounting with as little influence from the plinth as possible. Obviously there are other things to consider
Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pigmy Pony]

Makes about as much sense as Genesis 27.11: "Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man and I am a smooth man."

Hmm, sounds like Esau and his brother had different dads. Ok so they were twins, but this is the bible, so anything's possible...

[walpurgis]

Hmm, sounds like Esau and his brother had different dads. Ok so they were twins, but this is the bible, so anything's possible...

Or very unlikely or even impossible.

[Phil Lawton]

Hi Phil, Clearaudio make some good TTs with straight forward design concepts, yours should be quite good.

In my experience improvements are gained in vinyl replay from either a high mass platter or direct drive, isolation from external vibration(good stand/feet). Arm mounting with as little influence from the plinth as possible. Obviously there are other things to consider
Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed, Adrian.

The Clearaudio is very, very good…I think my head gets turned too easily by the profusion of gear porn that’s readily available on the net.

My next purchase will be speakers, anyhow…Monitor Audio and B&W are floating my boat currently.

[AJSki2fly]

Agreed, Adrian.

The Clearaudio is very, very good…I think my head gets turned too easily by the profusion of gear porn that’s readily available on the net.

My next purchase will be speakers, anyhow…Monitor Audio and B&W are floating my boat currently.

The B&W 700 series are reported good, and the 800s (pricey though) but I am unfamiliar with either. Not so sure about Monitor Audios nowadays, although the MONITOR AUDIO GOLD 300s are quite well liked. Speakers are a tricky and often quite a personal thing depending on what you listen to musically and what you lean towards tonally, and the limitations of your room.

I went through a rather painful and frustrating process of a speaker quest until I found some that floated my boat, luckily I did not loose to much money on the way. I also got confused along the way by swapping amplifier types and created an amp speaker mismatch, not in a terrible way but it restricted the speakers and what they achieve.

So my recent speaker history over the last 10 years is below. I have purchased most as used to gain more for my money.

Dali Ikon 6(new) - a very good VFM speaker at the time, but tricky to site, and easy to induce low end enhancement

Vienna Acoustic Mozart Grande SE's(used) - a lovely speaker and a much overlooked manufacturer in the UK, I had room and amp mismatch issues, I am sure that they would work very well now with my Krell and in my current home. I would love to hear a pair of Beethoven Grande SE's in my system.

Impulse H2's(used) - these are well known in the audio world as very good horn speakers, they sounded great with 300B valve amp, but had a slight mid drop off at around 550hz, also big boxes so the wife did not approve.

Wilson Benesch ARCs(ex-demos) - These were really good, clean top end and mids, very accurate, bass was surprisingly good for effectively monitors, however I was not driving them with the right type of amp, and this restricted the low end control.

Tannoy Heritage Legacy Arden's(ex-demos) - Well these produced bass and worked well with my valve amp, top end was good but I was never quite happy with them overall. I think you either love Tannoys or not.

Wilson Benesch Vectors(Used) - I returned to this make as I knew what the ARCs could do and the Vector being a floor stander could produce more bass and better mids, and they do sound lovely.

I came to realise that even though the overall sound had improved the key issue left was that the low end frequencies were not being produced or controlled as well as they should be, after some investigation and asking several people who knew better than me I swapped amps from valve and went to a Krell Class A solid state, and my system came alive, and after 3 years I still love the Vectors. I would only change them for a pair of Avalons, but that is not likely to happen unless I have a Lottery win.

So my advice is this, for what it is worth. Speakers are probably the most important part of the system as they produce the sound that you listen to, amp and other gear is important as well, and getting a good amp that can drive your speaker choice efficiently is very important. As long as the amp is generally neutral and capable with the right speakers it will sound good. How the speakers will go in the room and where they can be positioned is critical, so for example a rear ported speaker that can only be placed in a room close to the wall behind will not sound great, and big speakers in small rooms generally don't work well either, and monitors in a large room won't be great unless the listener is going to do near field listening.

I would say the key is to get whatever you are thinking of getting on a home trial for at least a week and have lots of time to listen to set them up in the room and listen to them with a variety of music. In my experience it can take several days if not more to decide if you like a speaker or if it work with system and room. Once you have a couple of speakers that you think you like try and home trial them together at home at the same time so you can compare. Hopefully if you do this you will avoid my mistakes, which I been told are not uncommon.

Perhaps for your Birthday https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234774623...6-393437363761

[Lawrence001]

Those WB speakers have a nice veneer but I think the baffles and drive units look cheap. I know they're not but I just don't like the look of them.

[AJSki2fly]

Those WB speakers have a nice veneer but I think the baffles and drive units look cheap. I know they're not but I just don't like the look of them.

The drivers are made by WB both the Mid and Bass drivers being what the call Tactic II technology and the tweeter is a Silk-Carbon hybrid dome tweeter, if you are referring the centre caps they all look like that, it is how they come from the factory. "Sharing it’s drive technology with the flagship Cardinal loudspeaker" you might find this an interesting read https://www.hienaudio.com/vector/. WB did change their product range last year from Geometry to FIBONACCI SERIES, effectively the same speakers but upgrading some and streamliniing the choice.

Irrespective of how the drivers look I can assure you they sound astounding, you are welcome to come and have a listen if you are ever in East Devon.

[Barry]

Hmm, sounds like Esau and his brother had different dads. Ok so they were twins, but this is the bible, so anything's possible...

If Adam only fathered two sons with Eve, where did the women in the world come from? A bit of mother 'love'?

[Phil Lawton]

The B&W 700 series are reported good, and the 800s (pricey though) but I am unfamiliar with either. Not so sure about Monitor Audios nowadays, although the MONITOR AUDIO GOLD 300s are quite well liked. Speakers are a tricky and often quite a personal thing depending on what you listen to musically and what you lean towards tonally, and the limitations of your room.

I went through a rather painful and frustrating process of a speaker quest until I found some that floated my boat, luckily I did not loose to much money on the way. I also got confused along the way by swapping amplifier types and created an amp speaker mismatch, not in a terrible way but it restricted the speakers and what they achieve.

So my recent speaker history over the last 10 years is below. I have purchased most as used to gain more for my money.

Dali Ikon 6(new) - a very good VFM speaker at the time, but tricky to site, and easy to induce low end enhancement

Vienna Acoustic Mozart Grande SE's(used) - a lovely speaker and a much overlooked manufacturer in the UK, I had room and amp mismatch issues, I am sure that they would work very well now with my Krell and in my current home. I would love to hear a pair of Beethoven Grande SE's in my system.

Impulse H2's(used) - these are well known in the audio world as very good horn speakers, they sounded great with 300B valve amp, but had a slight mid drop off at around 550hz, also big boxes so the wife did not approve.

Wilson Benesch ARCs(ex-demos) - These were really good, clean top end and mids, very accurate, bass was surprisingly good for effectively monitors, however I was not driving them with the right type of amp, and this restricted the low end control.

Tannoy Heritage Legacy Arden's(ex-demos) - Well these produced bass and worked well with my valve amp, top end was good but I was never quite happy with them overall. I think you either love Tannoys or not.

Wilson Benesch Vectors(Used) - I returned to this make as I knew what the ARCs could do and the Vector being a floor stander could produce more bass and better mids, and they do sound lovely.

I came to realise that even though the overall sound had improved the key issue left was that the low end frequencies were not being produced or controlled as well as they should be, after some investigation and asking several people who knew better than me I swapped amps from valve and went to a Krell Class A solid state, and my system came alive, and after 3 years I still love the Vectors. I would only change them for a pair of Avalons, but that is not likely to happen unless I have a Lottery win.

So my advice is this, for what it is worth. Speakers are probably the most important part of the system as they produce the sound that you listen to, amp and other gear is important as well, and getting a good amp that can drive your speaker choice efficiently is very important. As long as the amp is generally neutral and capable with the right speakers it will sound good. How the speakers will go in the room and where they can be positioned is critical, so for example a rear ported speaker that can only be placed in a room close to the wall behind will not sound great, and big speakers in small rooms generally don't work well either, and monitors in a large room won't be great unless the listener is going to do near field listening.

I would say the key is to get whatever you are thinking of getting on a home trial for at least a week and have lots of time to listen to set them up in the room and listen to them with a variety of music. In my experience it can take several days if not more to decide if you like a speaker or if it work with system and room. Once you have a couple of speakers that you think you like try and home trial them together at home at the same time so you can compare. Hopefully if you do this you will avoid my mistakes, which I been told are not uncommon.

Perhaps for your Birthday https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234774623...6-393437363761

Thanks, Adrian - very informative.

I'm planning to have some demo time at various specialist outlets later in the year.

Those WBs look a bit special, but even a good boy like me wouldn't merit that asking price.