Richard's thread is reopened for him to rant away. No personal insults though please Richard.![]()
Lounge:
Samsung QE65QN80F 65" QLED TV
Echo Link streamer
RME Audio ADI-2 FS (AK4493) DAC
XMOS DSD Async
Emotiva A2+ power amplifier
Neat Motive SX1 speakers
Van Damme 4.00mm tour grade speaker cable
Audiocrast Spreizbar banana plugs
Chord Clearway XLR interconnects
Audioquest Crimson USB interconnect
QED Quartz Reference optical interconnect
Studio:
2022 MacBook Pro 14" M1 Pro 10/16/16/16
SMSL SU-1 DAC
Modified Fosi P4 preamp
Adam Audio T5Vs
Fenton 10" active sub
Fosi V1.0G integrated amp
Roxel RBS 300s
Several small valve preamps
Well seeing as I got gagged for trying to be a fair voice on the "wallah" thread,and being told via PM that the reason the thread was closed all of a sudden (after I had asked via PM) was because the thread "was going nowhere" in spite of the fact that a post I had made previously was answered by Steve Toy(the main man on this site AFAIK) to which I replied via PM to the effect that how could the thread be going nowhere when the main man is replying to my posts?? To which I've still not received an answer (via PM) but I suppose there was a sort of back-handed answer in the last couple of public posts on the thread in question.All I was trying to do was be a fair and impartial voice,but as far as I can see from what has transpired,isthat this is not allowed on this site unless it fits in with the admin team's designs.I therefore have come to the conclusion that I will no longer visit or contribute to this site.I believe in free speech and freedom for all human beings,so will not tolerate the totalitarianism as practised by the persons running this place.I've no idea why I'm typing this,as I guess that the admin team will delete it anyway,but at least I got it off my chest.I wish all the members here all the very best.
Ali.
Hi Ali,
Get a grip, mate. No-one is being gagged. You have a PM
Btw, there is no "main man" here. Steve, Rob and I all have equal authority.
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and Denon AU-310 SUT.
Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.
CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.
Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.
Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp, fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.
Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.
Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.
Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.
LOL! "Totalitarianism". That's a slightly strong word to describe a forum's management isn't it? Ali, if you feel you have to leave due to our 'regime' then that's your decision mate. I'm sorry you feel that way though, especially as I can't see where, how or by whom you have been "gagged".
But then what do I know, I'm not the "main man" obviously?![]()
Lounge:
Samsung QE65QN80F 65" QLED TV
Echo Link streamer
RME Audio ADI-2 FS (AK4493) DAC
XMOS DSD Async
Emotiva A2+ power amplifier
Neat Motive SX1 speakers
Van Damme 4.00mm tour grade speaker cable
Audiocrast Spreizbar banana plugs
Chord Clearway XLR interconnects
Audioquest Crimson USB interconnect
QED Quartz Reference optical interconnect
Studio:
2022 MacBook Pro 14" M1 Pro 10/16/16/16
SMSL SU-1 DAC
Modified Fosi P4 preamp
Adam Audio T5Vs
Fenton 10" active sub
Fosi V1.0G integrated amp
Roxel RBS 300s
Several small valve preamps
Ali,
Before you bugger off, I don't suppose I can have my digi cable back could I, please?
![]()
Shian7
--------------------------------------------------------
Kudakutemo
kudakutemo
ari mizu-no tsuki
Though it be be broken -
broken again - still it's there:
the moon on the water.
- Choshu.
Ali. Don't bugger off. The Art of Sound is about valves and DIY as much as anything else. We'll work through this shite but it isn't easy.
And no, there is no main man. The three admin members have equal say and a 2/3rds majority carries.
Posts: 544
OK so lets get back on topic!
They say the electorate of this country get the politicians they deserve. Well could it be equally said that you Hi-Fi buffs get the industry you deserve.
Do you all secretly like the bullshite that dominates this industry, are you all so in deference to Hi-Fi reviewers and designers that you don't see them for the w* they are. Celebrities in an industry as small and as strange as ours, quite bizzarre.
So what happens, you get a buff who makes some changes or makes some good choices in Hi-Fi or just bluffs his way to people asking his opinion, next step he is a reviewer, next step he thinks he is god! Where as the ones that make changes get to be known as tweakers, so people ask then to make things and before they know it they design product and then they are a *designer* and then large numbers of you treat them like they are gods. In some cases they only have to pretend to be designers like Anthony M and Ivor T.
Audio electronics is not rocket science it is *bloody simple* and the simpler the better. The basics are common sense and a decent set of ears.
The real guys are never happier than with a soldering iron in hand and solder blobs on the jersey. Hey one recently has given up being a maker and gone back to being a tweaker, good old Crofty, I bet he is happier with it as well.
Tweakers (that also have made their own kit from scratch) are the good guys (Glen Croft and Anthony Matthews included.) I know because my valve amp has improved enormously since it was extensively tweaked, or 'raped' as one chap put it on another forum.
With a host of rare NOS valves and still-manufactured output valves that are the ones that wear out, I'm happy indeed.
Bespoke is the way to go - it cuts out all the marketing and distributor costs to produce something that would probably cost over £3,000 were it available as an off-the-peg commercial item.